Lincoln County, Tennessee, which has a population of just over 35,000, say the whole region, including trees, homes, streets, and public places, has a coating of black mold courtesy of the vapor from the Jack Daniels distillery.
Jack Daniels’ distilling process creating black mold over entire county
The residents of Lincoln County, Tennessee, say the ethanol vapor given off by Jack Daniels’ distilling process is coating everything in the area in black mold.
If there’s one thing Lincoln County is known for, it’s whiskey. In fact, the method used there is called “The Lincoln County Process.” A 2013 law requires all Tennessee whiskey to use the Lincoln County Process, a method in which whiskey is filtered through or steeped in charcoal chips before going into the casks for aging.
While Jack Daniels‘ headquarters and its distillery are in Lynchburg, Tennessee, located in Moore County – a dry county – it was originally in Lincoln County, and the company still operates six barrel houses there. The company was going to construct 14 more before a recent lawsuit stopped those plans, Food & Wine reports.
Lincoln County residents complained that Jack Daniels’ barrel houses, which are used to age whiskey, give off an ethanol-fueled fungus, that has thrived for centuries around the distilleries, Yahoo News reported.
Similar complaints exist in other areas, such as near Bourbon distilleries in Kentucky, whiskey makers in Canada, and rum manufacturers in the Caribbean.
Locals are calling on Jack Daniels to install air filters to combat the problem.
“If you take your fingernail and run your fingernail down our tree branch, it will just coat the tip of your finger,” Patrick Long said. “It’s just disgusting.”
“This fungus is now on steroids,” Christi Long said, adding that her corner of Lincoln County “is going to be black as coal” unless Jack Daniels installs air filters.
“We are committed to protecting the environment and the safety and health of our employees and neighbors,” Melvin Keebler, general manager of the Jack Daniel Distillery, said in a statement, adding that the company “complies with all local, state, and federal regulations regarding the design, construction, and permitting of our barrelhouses.”
However, Lincoln County Chancellor J.B. Cox instructed Lincoln County zoning officials to order construction to be halted on at least one Jack Daniels’ barrel house after he ruled the permitting process was never fully completed, Yahoo Life reported.
Fungus destroys plants, outdoor surfaces, trees, and homes
The residents say that a sooty, dark crust has blanketed homes, cars, road signs, bird feeders, patio furniture, and trees as the fungus has spread uncontrollably. The fungus is fed by alcohol vapors that waft from charred oak barrels.
The technical name for the black mold referred to as “whiskey fungus” is baudoinia compniacensis, Insider reported.
Appears to have no impact on human health
According to a researcher from the University of Toronto who studied the fungus, “It wrecks patio furniture, house siding, almost any outdoor surface. I’ve seen trees choked to death by it. It is a small mercy that it does not also appear to have a negative impact on human health.”
