There’s a hill above downtown Sturgis with a giant American flag snapping in the wind. Once a year, about a hundred people meet on that hill, glasses in hand, sampling Jack Daniel’s that goes from the everyday bottle on the shelf all the way up to single barrel rarities you’ll likely never find at your local liquor store. That’s the Jack Daniel’s Tasting and Barbecue, and this year it lands on Tuesday, August 11, from 1 to 3 pm.

If you want in, move fast. Tickets are nearly gone, and you can grab the last of them at loudamericantasting.com.

The man running the show is Jed Lirette, Senior Homeplace Ambassador for Jack Daniel’s. This will be his fourth year on that hill, and he still gets a charge out of walking up and seeing the overlook. “The excitement of being there, definitely,” he told us. He thinks this year carries a little extra weight, coming right off the Fourth of July and the country’s 250th anniversary. “We’ll still be celebrating. So, I mean, I think it’ll hit a little different this year.”

A family cookout on the hill

When you hear “whiskey tasting”, some of you think of stuffed suites and weird accents. “This couldn’t be more different”, Jed laughs, in his weird accent.

“It’s like a family cookout,” he said. “You show up, you get to see friends. And if you’re new to that whole environment, believe me, you’ll definitely be received. You’ll be accepted into the group really quickly.” His Tennessee charm will make sure of it. 

People shuttle up from main street, find a seat, and settle in for a couple of hours. The food’s great. The drinks are flowing. Jed hosts a private tasting, and Kevin “Barrel Man” Sanders shows up to talk through his personal barrel selection. You’re elbow to elbow with longtime Jack folks who are happy to talk about anything you want.

When I asked how he keeps a hundred-plus people from feeling like a cattle call, Jed didn’t overthink it. “It’s a cookout, man. You’re hanging out with people, you’re meeting new friends. There’s great camaraderie up there.”

A day in the life at the Homeplace

So what does an ambassador actually do when he’s back home in Lynchburg? Plenty. The morning we talked, Jed had already been to QC, qualifying the whiskey they’d set out for the day. He called that a recovery day, which tells you something about the normal ones.

On a regular day he’s hosting tastings for barrel selections. VIPs roll through for tours. There’s a backstage experience too, where guests go deep into the operation. “They go into the lab, they’ll go into our yeast room, they sleep on the property,” he said. He’d hosted a group from New York the day before we spoke, and one from Texas the day before that.

These aren’t casual visitors. “We host them for an in-depth training, because they’re the bartenders or bar managers who are actually going to be talking about our whiskey to the consumer.” The same care he brings to that training is what he carries up the hill in Sturgis.

Tasting through the lineup

The lineup has a purpose. It starts with Old Number Seven, the flagship, because Jed won’t run a tasting without it. From there you move through Gentleman Jack and a 14-year, plus a couple of barrel proof pours including a Sturgis Single Barrel and Kevin the Barrel Man’s own pick.

“We can’t start a tasting without our flagship on board,” Jed said. Sipping them side by side turns into something fun. “You can compare, at that moment, Old Number Seven against Gentleman Jack against 14. It’s a fun exercise of seeing where the evolution of our whiskey has taken us and where our origins are.”

Jed loves watching first-timers slow down and actually taste. “If you can slow them down, you can talk them through the smell and the taste, the nuances, the complexity of the whiskey.” Plenty of folks walk up thinking Jack belongs in a Coke, which it certainly can, but you’ll learn it’s so much more.

Two special bottles are coming up the hill this year. Jed’s keeping those quiet. “Why rip the side of the packaging on the present?”

Whiskey with a purpose

The tasting raises real money. Every penny goes to Sturgis Charities, and the event has pulled in tens of thousands of dollars over the years for the local community. That giving back sits at the heart of what Jed wants people to understand about the brand.

“We’re committed to our country and what we’re doing here and being part of the charity, give back to the public and to the community,” he said. Jack’s been working with the USO this year, leaning into its support for service members. “We care… we’re there to support.”

Jed flies into Sioux Falls the week the rally starts, does a pre-rally stop in Mitchell, then drives in. He’ll be in town for day one.

Get your tickets at loudamericantasting.com before they vanish. Tuesday, August 11. One o’clock. Bring a friend.