Hundreds of folks gathered in Jack’s Whiskey Garden on November 19th to celebrate the start of Christmas season and to ‘countdown from seven’ to light the annual barrel tree. This year’s festivities also served as a time to honor two very important people retiring from the Jack Daniel’s Homeplace, Randy ‘Goose’ Baxter and Randall Fanning. Serving as ‘Faces of Jack Daniel’s’, multiple Tennessee Squires from near and far in the crowd that night remarked that the Squire House just wouldn’t be the same without the two men around. The tree was constructed with 200+ barrels marked with the Tennessee Squire logo as well as the logo for the newly released Jack Daniel's Distillery Series selection #10 Whiskey, personally chosen by Goose himself.
Squires Wayne and Pam Hall have traveled from Indiana for the Barrel Tree Lighting every year since 2013. The two travel down to our neck of the woods several times a year and shared that they love to spend time in Lynchburg during the holidays. It was the first year in attendance for Squires Mike and Pat Biter, who traveled down from Murfreesboro for the event.
Strawberry Moon Catering out of Shelbyville provided guests with a cookie and hot cocoa station stocked with marshmallows and candy canes near the tree, and 90 Proof performed bluegrass tunes, of course performing “Rocky Top”, riling up the crowd. Raffle prizes were announced and the tree was lit, officially declaring it CHRISTMAS!
