What is the mash bill for Tennessee whiskey?

Tennessee whiskey has no mash bill of its own. The law inherits bourbon's grain rule wholesale: at least 51% corn, with the rest typically rye and malted barley (or wheat, in the softer "wheated" style). On paper, that leaves a lot of room. On the shelf, it does not. Jack Daniel's runs 80% corn. George Dickel runs 84%. The legal minimum is one story; the high-corn recipes that actually define the category are a different one.

What Mash Bills Do the Major Tennessee Whiskey Producers Use?

The two distilleries that define the category in the public mind run almost identical recipes, both leaning hard on corn.

Jack Daniel's standard mash bill is 80% corn, 8% rye, and 12% malted barley. The same recipe goes into Gentleman Jack, which is set apart by being charcoal-mellowed a second time after maturation, not by a different grain mix. George Dickel runs even higher on corn at 84%, with 8% rye and 8% malted barley.

The outlier is Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye, which inverts the formula: 70% rye, 18% corn, 12% malted barley. It is still made in Tennessee and still charcoal-filtered, so it is still legally a Tennessee whiskey, just one built around a different grain.

Brand	Corn %	Rye %	Malted Barley %
Jack Daniel's (Old No. 7)	80	8	12
Gentleman Jack	80	8	12
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye	18	70	12
George Dickel (No. 8 / No. 12)	84	8	8

The pattern is clear: aside from the rye expression, the major producers all sit at 80% corn or higher, well above the 51% legal floor. That is why standard Tennessee whiskey tastes corn-forward and sweet-leaning, with the rye and barley playing supporting roles.

Why Doesn't Tennessee Whiskey Have Its Own Mash Bill Rule?

Tennessee whiskey is defined by Tennessee state law, specifically TN Code § 57-2-106. The statute adds two requirements on top of the federal bourbon standard: the spirit has to be made in Tennessee, and it has to go through the Lincoln County Process, which is filtration through sugar-maple charcoal before the whiskey goes into the barrel. The statute does not write a new grain rule. It points back at the bourbon definition and uses that.

The mash bill (the recipe of grains a whiskey is made from, given as percentages) is therefore borrowed from federal law: at least 51% corn, with the rest left up to the distiller. There is no Tennessee-specific cap, floor, or required secondary grain. A distiller can choose rye, wheat, or malted barley for the remaining 49%, in whatever proportions they like.

One distillery is exempted from the Lincoln County Process. Prichard's, in Kelso, was carved out of the 2013 statute and is allowed to call its product Tennessee whiskey without the charcoal filtration step. The mash bill rule, however, still applies the same way to every producer.

The mash bill is one piece of what the law requires of a Tennessee whiskey; the location rule, the Lincoln County Process, and the Prichard's exception are the others.

How Does the Tennessee Whiskey Mash Bill Compare to Bourbon?

On the grain rule alone, Tennessee whiskey and bourbon are identical. Both require at least 51% corn. Both leave the remaining 49% to the distiller. Both can be made with rye, wheat, or malted barley as the secondary grain, in any proportions. If you put a Tennessee whiskey and a bourbon side by side on the basis of grain rules alone, you cannot tell them apart.

The differences are not in the recipe. They are in two other places. Bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States; Tennessee whiskey has to be made in Tennessee. And Tennessee whiskey has to be charcoal-filtered through sugar maple before barreling, while bourbon does not. The charcoal step is what most distillers point to when they explain why their Tennessee whiskey tastes softer and sweeter than a comparable bourbon, since it strips out some of the heavier congeners in the new-make spirit.

In practice, Tennessee whiskey producers also lean higher on corn than the bourbon average. The legal floor is the same, but the working recipes are not: 80% corn is on the higher end for bourbon and the norm for Tennessee whiskey. That difference, combined with the charcoal filtration, is most of what separates how the two categories actually taste. Functionally, then, a Tennessee whiskey is a Kentucky-style bourbon with a Tennessee zip code and a charcoal step.

Can a Tennessee Whiskey Be Made Without Corn as the Main Grain?

Yes. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye is the working example: 70% rye, 18% corn, 12% malted barley. The corn fraction sits well below the 51% bourbon floor, which means the spirit is not legally a bourbon. It is, however, legally a Tennessee whiskey.

The reason that works is how the state statute is written. The Tennessee rule asks two things of the spirit: it has to be made in Tennessee, and it has to go through the Lincoln County Process. It does not also require the spirit to meet the federal bourbon mash bill rule. So a rye-led whiskey made in Lynchburg and charcoal-filtered before barreling is, by the letter of the law, a Tennessee whiskey. Jack Daniel's labels it "Tennessee Rye" to be specific about the grain, but it sits inside the same legal category as Old No. 7.

That gap between the law and the shelf is worth holding onto. Most Tennessee whiskey you will ever see is high-corn and bourbon-style, because the two distilleries that dominate the category have always made it that way. Jack Daniel's and George Dickel set the public face of Tennessee whiskey at 80% corn and above, and that is the flavor profile most readers expect when they hear the name. But the legal possibility space is wider than the shelf suggests. A Tennessee whiskey can be a rye, a wheater, or any other grain mix that hits 51% of something the distiller chooses, as long as it is made in Tennessee and filtered through sugar-maple charcoal on the way to the barrel.