Frank “Frog” Bobo

Born in Lynchburg, Tennessee on June 2, 1929, to Roy Holt Bobo and Marie Hobbs Bobo, Frank “Frog” Bobo was the fifth Master Distiller at Jack Daniel’s from 1966 until he retired in 1988. Frank grew up in Lynchburg, Tennessee and worked most of his formative years on the Lynchburg Square at Bobo’s Market (Bobo and Son’s Grocery Store)

Working at the family grocery store is where Frank was given his nickname. Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller, Chris Fletcher, who is Frank’s grandson stated one of the gentlemen in town that would come into the family’s grocery had the name Frank Thomas, which was Frank Bobo’s first and middle names. The elder Mr. Thomas had “protruding”, large eyes like a frog and his nickname was Frogeye. When he discovered that they shared a name, the elder Frank Thomas passed the nickname down to his grandfather and a lot of the old-timers kept calling him Frogeye, and that was later shortened to Frog.

To locals Frank was not only known as “Frog”. He was also known as a US Army Korean War veteran, a true southern gentle, a Raider fan, and a man with a deep, abiding love for his beloved wife, Avalee. According to his grandson he was also known as “the guy who got the calls to go fix something at the distillery in the middle of the night.”

In 1966, J. Reagor Motlow, Jack Daniel’s grandnephew-who famously gave Frank a nickel every time he saw him, offered him a job in the still house. He was quickly led to the role as Master Distiller. Master Distillers Jess Gamble (Master Distiller from 1964 -1966) and Frank Bobo (’66 -‘88) oversaw Old No. 7’s grow from a regional brand to an American icon.

Jack Daniel’s began to advertise regularly, and advertising led to more demand. That demand then exceeded supply. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, it was on allocation. According to Nelson Eddy, the brand historian, “The sales representatives would literally go into an establishment and let them know how many bottles or cases they could have. When other companies would pull back from advertising, Jack Daniel’s spent money on ads to tell people they couldn’t get it.”

Demand was stoked by adverts that proclaimed: “We’d rather ask for your patience than your forgiveness,” with text explaining the time-consuming process of filtering the spirit through maple charcoal and maturing it in charred oak. Bobo diligently stuck to the Lincoln County Process. He was committed to making the whiskey the “same way Jack did” despite the ever growing pressure to produce more of it.

Jack Daniel’s made a positive out of having to go on allocation, but it didn’t want to frustrate large numbers of customers permanently. The challenge was to increase supply of an artisan-made product. While Jack Daniel’s remained available only on allocation through the 1970s, popular culture continued to associate it with maverick independence. Jack Daniel’s then grew into a global brand, almost tripling sales from 1973 to 1986.  Frank Bobo oversaw the transformation from a southern sippin’ whiskey into a whiskey recognized around the world.

During his tenure, Brown-Forman tore down the existing distillery and built bigger facilities on the same site, while the distillery employees continued to go about their work in the open air, walking on temporary wooden catwalks built around the still. The distillery went from operating just two stills to five.

Jack Daniel Distillery Senior Vice President and General Manager Larry Combs stated that Frank Bobo was instrumental to the brand’s success. “Frank and his team worked tirelessly to meet the world’s demand for our Tennessee Whiskey, and Jack Daniel’s would not be what it is today without his many contributions,” Combs stated. “There will never be another one quite like Mr. Frank Bobo. As Master Distiller, he set the standard for Jack Daniel’s and represented the hard work, dedication, and attention to our founding principles that we all strive to meet today.”

Contributed by: Tiffany Floyd, Chicago, Illinois

with support from Daniel Snyder, Whiskey Founders Sub Committee Chair, Champaign, Illinois