A Toast to Service: Heroes Selection

9:42 a.m. Sept. 8, 2025

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

In the quiet hollows of Lynchburg, whiskey is more than a craft – it’s a story. And this fall, that story belongs to two brothers who have lived it on both the battlefield and the barrelhouse floor.

Twin brothers J.B. and L.B. McGowan, U.S. Army veterans and longtime Jack Daniel’s employees, were chosen to select this year’s Jack Daniel’s Heroes Selection, a limited-edition Single Barrel Barrel Proof Tennessee Whiskey. The 2025 release marks the third installment in an annual series designed to honor the nation’s military community.

For the McGowans, it’s a fitting tribute. After decades of service to both country and distillery, their fingerprints are now literally on a whiskey crafted “by heroes, for heroes.”

The whiskey itself is bold and complex, bottled between 125 and 140 proof and drawn from barrels aged high in Jack Daniel’s storied Lynchburg barrelhouses. Each sip opens with sweet brown sugar on the nose, giving way to warm baking spices and toasted oak on the palate, and lingers with notes of vanilla, tobacco, and spice.

Packaged in a collectible box and adorned with a medallion that nods to Jack Daniel’s long-standing military ties, the bottle is as symbolic as it is flavorful.

“At Jack Daniel’s, every barrel tells a story, and the Heroes Selection is our way of honoring the courage, dedication, and service of the military community,” said Master Distiller Chris Fletcher. “It’s even more meaningful when that selection is made by veterans who have been part of our distillery family for decades.”

The annual release extends Jack Daniel’s commitment to those in uniform. Since 2011, the distillery’s Operation Ride Home program, in partnership with the Armed Services YMCA, has raised more than $4 million to send over 14,000 junior-enlisted service members and their families home for the holidays. The 2024 campaign set a record for both dollars raised and the number of service members assisted.

The 2025 Heroes Selection (750ml, $69.99) will be available in October (around the time of The Jack on Oct. 10-11) at military duty-free stores, select military retail outlets, and in limited quantities at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop in Lynchburg.