Lynchburg Lemonade
Lynchburg Lemonade is Tennessee whiskey, triple sec, fresh lemon and sparkling lemonade over ice, named for the town where Jack Daniel's is distilled. It drinks dangerously easily, which was always both the point and the problem, and the reason a distillery eventually wanted it for itself. Tony Mason built it in 1980 at his bar in Huntsville, Alabama, and by the middle of the decade the distillery was running it as a national campaign. Mason sued for misappropriation. By the usual account a jury found in his favour and awarded him one dollar in nominal damages, on the grounds that he could not demonstrate a financial loss. That is the drink's permanent garnish: a genuinely good highball, a national marketing campaign, and an inventor who won his case and collected a dollar. Naming him is the least the recipe can do, and the story has outlived the campaign it lost to.
Glassware: Collins Glass
Garnish: Lemon Wheel and Maraschino Cherry
Ingredients
40ml
The Lynchburg in the name. Charcoal-mellowed before barrelling, which softens it enough to sit under fruit and lemonade where a high-rye bourbon would compete.
20ml
The citrus doubler, and part of the sweetening. Twenty millilitres of orange against twenty of lemon is what turns a whiskey and lemonade into something with a structure.
20ml
The actual acid. The lemonade is sweetened and cannot do this job, and without fresh juice the drink is sweet from front to back with nothing cutting through it.
90ml
The length and most of the volume. A drier, cloudier, properly acidic lemonade makes a considerably better drink than a sweet one, because the sugar is already covered.
Instructions
Fill a collins glass with cubed ice.
Add the whiskey, triple sec and lemon juice, and stir briefly.
Top with the sparkling lemonade and stir once more, gently.
Garnish with a lemon wheel and a good cherry.
Expert Tip
Squeeze the lemon even though there is lemonade in the glass. They do different jobs: the lemonade is sweetened and carbonated and provides the length, while the fresh juice provides the actual acid. Leave it out and the drink is sweet all the way through with nothing cutting it. Build it in the glass and stir gently. There is nothing here that needs shaking, and shaking anything about to meet ninety millilitres of sparkling lemonade wastes both. Use a drier, sharper lemonade if you can find one. The build already carries sugar from the triple sec, and a cloudy, properly acidic lemonade makes a considerably better drink than a sweet one.
Behind the Lynchburg Lemonade
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Tony Mason ran a bar in Huntsville, Alabama, and in 1980 he built a whiskey highball there that he named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, where Jack Daniel's is distilled.
Within a few years the distillery was running the drink as a national campaign. Mason sued, claiming the recipe had been taken after a company representative visited his bar and asked how it was made.
By the usual account a jury found in his favour on misappropriation and awarded one dollar in nominal damages, on the grounds that he could not demonstrate a quantifiable financial loss. That outcome is why the story survives: a verdict that agrees with you and a settlement that fits in a pocket is the kind of thing people remember.
Why It Works
Four ingredients, and each one is doing a distinct job.
The Tennessee whiskey supplies the base and the reason for the name. Charcoal mellowing before barrelling takes an edge off, which is what lets it sit under fruit without arguing.
The triple sec supplies orange and part of the sweetening. It is what separates this from a plain whiskey and lemonade, and twenty millilitres is enough to be structural.
The fresh lemon supplies the acid, which the sweetened lemonade cannot.
And the lemonade supplies the length and the sparkle. Take any one out and the drink is noticeably worse; take two out and it is a completely different thing.
Why It Drinks So Easily
This is worth stating plainly, because it is the drink's actual hazard and also the reason for its commercial success.
Forty millilitres of whiskey and twenty of triple sec in a glass of a hundred and seventy is not a weak drink, but nothing in the flavour announces it. The lemonade dominates the nose, the fresh lemon dominates the front of the palate, and the whiskey arrives as warmth rather than as spirit.
That gap between actual and apparent strength is precisely why a distillery wanted it. It is also why the second one is a decision worth making consciously.
Tennessee Whiskey Specifically
Tennessee whiskey is made to bourbon's rules with one extra step: the new spirit is filtered through several feet of sugar maple charcoal before it goes into barrel.
That process strips out some of the harsher congeners and produces a softer, slightly sweeter spirit. In a glass with this much fruit in it, softness is the useful property.
A high-rye bourbon has a peppery edge that competes with the citrus, and a very soft wheated bourbon disappears underneath it. Tennessee whiskey sits in the right place, which is presumably why the drink is named after where it comes from.
How to Serve It
Built in a collins glass over plenty of ice: whiskey, triple sec and lemon stirred briefly, then the lemonade on top and one more gentle stir.
A lemon wheel and a good cherry. Tall, cold and refilled, and it is a summer drink first and an all-year one second.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Jack Daniel's Tennessee WhiskeyCharcoal-mellowed before the barrel, which is what makes it Tennessee whiskey rather than bourbon. The filtering strips some of the sharper grain notes, so it arrives softer and sweeter than a bourbon of comparable age and suits a long drink accordingly.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Lynchburg Lemonade?
What is the story about the lawsuit?
Why fresh lemon if there is lemonade in it?
Why Tennessee whiskey rather than bourbon?
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits