Jimmy Bedford

James Howard Bedford (aka “Jimmy”) was born into a farm family in rural Franklin County, Tennessee on January 30th , 1940. Jimmy attended and graduated from Moore County High School in Lynchburg, TN, and then attended and graduated from Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (“TPI”) (now Tennessee Tech University) in Cookeville, TN. Jimmy met his future wife, Emily, while attending TPI. The newlyweds settled back to Lynchburg after they were married. In 1968, Jimmy was hired by Jack Daniel’s Distillery in a supervisory role of oversight of the milling, yeasting, fermenting and distillation processes at the Distillery. Jimmy oversaw and enhanced upon the intricate distillation process involved in making the world’s largest selling brand of whiskey, Jack Daniel Tennessee Straight Whiskey (aka “Old #7).

Jimmy was remembered by people who knew him as a quiet, kind man of principles, much more comfortable in smaller, intimate settings than speaking to large audiences and assemblies. One of Jimmy’s gifts of talent was his sense of taste and smell; an ability that is very critical to excel in the whiskey industry. Whiskey must be consistent; the consumer must have the implicit trust that when they purchase a bottle of Jack Daniel whiskey it will taste like the previous bottle(s) that they have grown to enjoy over time. Jimmy would “inspect” new batches of whiskey and compare with the older batches by sipping, but not swallowing, the “thiefed” samples from the new barrels prior to charcoal mellowing and bottling. Jimmy’s goal was to make sure that their whiskey product “never changes” from barrel to barrel. Jimmy would often state that he wanted to make sure Old No.7 remained the “biggest constant in Lynchburg”. Under Jimmy’s leadership, as smooth as a wonderful sip of “Old No.7”, Jimmy helped introduce an extension of the Jack Daniel whiskey repertoire, Jack Daniel’s “Single Barrel” and “Gentleman Jack” which was introduced in 1988 to become one of their “super-premium” brands.

After working 20 years at Jack Daniel Distillery, Jimmy was honored with the promotion to become the 6 th Master Distiller in the Jack Daniel Distillery’s storied history in 1988. Interestingly, as Jimmy ascended to the esteemed position of Master Distiller, the whiskey industry was beginning to expect more from a Master Distiller of a signature brand of whiskey than simply overseeing the consistency and production of legendary Tennessee Whiskey. The shy Jimmy Bedford was called upon to become the “face” of Jack Daniel’s whiskey; its Brand Ambassador. Jimmy was thrust into a new (and probably unexpected) phase and job description within the Spirits industry! He was a worldwide ambassador for the Jack Daniel’s product, doing advertisements and traveling worldwide often to talk to consumers, distributors, retailers, and small groups. He also signed everything from whiskey bottles to whiskey barrels, but most enjoyed hosting tasting seminars. Jimmy Bedford was recognized by Whisky magazine as one of the Icons of Whisky Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

In 2008, Jimmy was asked to resign as master distiller after being the subject of a $3.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit, which was later settled out of court. Jimmy then retired to his rural roots, living on a farm in rural Franklin County, Tennessee. On August 7, 2009, at age 69, Jimmy Bedford was found dead outside his barn from an apparent heart attack. According to his obituary in The New York Times, he had what he considered one of the most enviable jobs imaginable — “(I was) making sure Jack Daniel’s Old Number 7 Tennessee Whiskey tasted just the way it had since 1866”. To those of us that still enjoy the smoothness and special taste of a Jack Daniel whiskey product, we can tip our hats to the legacy of Jimmy Bedford and exclaim with a smile, Jimmy, yes you did your job!!! Cheers!!

Contributed by: Todd Rust, Durham, North Carolina

with support from M. J. (Michael) Jacobs, Tennessee Whiskey Section Editor, Smyrna, Tennessee