Jeff Arnett’s to-do list seems as typical as any other plant manager's, but his job is anything but typical. He oversees production of the world’s most popular whiskey: Jack Daniel’s.

Regular meetings in Lynchburg, Tennessee, include the tasting panel he heads to sample barrels of whiskey before they go to market. Lab tests ensure the whiskey possesses certain characteristics, but taste is the most important test—and Arnett’s taste buds have veto power.

The 42-year-old Arnett is just the seventh master distiller in the 144-year history of Jack Daniel’s, the oldest registered distillery in the United States.

An engineer by education who had 11 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Arnett took the job in the spring of 2008 after seven years with the company. A native Tennessean from Jackson, Arnett is the first master distiller who wasn’t born in Lynchburg and the third who isn’t directly related to the first, Jack Daniel.

“Of all the things I’ve done in my life, I don’t think any are as fascinating as whiskey making,” said Arnett, who noted the average tenure of a Jack Daniel’s master distiller is 24 years and the longest was more than 40 years by Daniel.

With 375 employees, Jack Daniel’s is the largest employer in tiny Moore County, Tennessee, which has a population of 6,195, according to the Census Bureau.

Arnett has an expansive knowledge of both the creation of Jack Daniel’s and the subtle intricacies of its final products. On a recent visit to the distillery—which 250,000 people tour a year—he talked with passion and authority about both.

Arnett also understands the whiskey business beyond the 1,800-acre campus, and he finds himself at the production helm of a product that is confronting both a recession and an increasingly fragmented global marketplace.

In the six months that ended October 31, worldwide sales of Jack Daniel’s whiskey products fell 2 percent. But the brand fared better than its parent company, Brown-Forman Corp., as a whole. The alcoholic-beverage company based in Louisville, Kentucky, which also includes brands such as Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Canadian Mist, Woodford Reserve, and El Jimador—saw its overall sales decrease 5 percent to $1.6 billion in the same six-month period.

Industrywide, revenue was flat in 2009, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Peter Cressy, the council’s CEO, said growth was inhibited by consumers “trading down” from premium brands such as Jack Daniel’s to cheaper liquor products. Customers also are drinking more at home instead of at bars and restaurants, the council reported.