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Not the exact bottle…but close
~$50, 750mL bottle
- Gifted to me
Background
If you’ve been with me on this cigar journey long enough (it goes back over 12 years now) you may remember when I interviewed one of the originators of the Chattanooga Whiskey brand. At the time whiskey was not legally made in Chattanooga and the original 1816 Reserve and Cask whiskies were made from whiskey produced and aged in Indiana. The company succeeded in changing the law in Hamilton County and set up the first legal distillery in over a century. While waiting for their own regular product to be aged long enough to be proud of, they started playing around in the “Experimental Distillery” area. And they never stopped.
Along with their regular releases, they have produced a staggering number of experimental batches, single barrel, bottled-in-bond, and other special releases. For my last birthday, my business partner got me a bottle of one of these one-and-done releases. This was a special one, really, in that it was selected by the Chattanooga Fire Fighters Union with some proceeds going to them and their members. The Local 820 is a client of our marketing company, so it’s hard to deny the “civic good” of supporting local fire fighters…and a client…while getting hard-to-find whiskey. It’s like a perfect storm of good causes! This particular release is (was?) only available at Riverside Wine & Spirits in Chattanooga.
I had to do some research to figure this one out, but this is what I found out… They used mash bill B004 for this barrel. This consists of yellow corn (it is listed as a “straight bourbon whiskey” so it must be at least 51% corn), peated malted barley, naked malted oat, and honey malted barley. The “barreled date” reads “0519170” next to the “bottled date” of “05/17/21.” Other notes indicate that the whiskey is “great than 4 years” old so I’m guessing the barrel date is May 19, 2017, or so. It was bottled at 119.1 proof, or 59.55% ABV. Their website lists a bunch of different char and toast profiles, but those details were not listed on the bottle.
Notes
The Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel was a dark amber in the glass, doubtlessly owing to its 4 years or so resting in a barrel. The nose was sweet with vanilla and corn and oak, but with a subtle whiff of the peat smoke used on one portion of the barley. It’s an interesting interplay.
Peated bourbons have become a “thing” in the last few months as distilleries try to experiment with new ideas to differentiate their offerings (and charge more money for them). I first read about it shortly after getting this bottle and wanted to try one, but didn’t even realize I had done so until I took a closer look at the bottle a week or two after that. Surprise!
Taking a sip, I was greeted with a really wonderful mix of molasses sweetness, vanilla, and oak, backed up with that slight peatiness that I enjoy so much in Islay Scotch. What’s really interesting is how the peat plays so well here when it tends to be the dominant characteristic of Islay whiskies. Even though this is a high proof whiskey, I didn’t get the sense of an overpowering heat as there was practically no alcohol vapor burn until the very end.
I smoked a Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro with the Chattanooga Whiskey today. The SG Maduro is a Nicaraguan blend with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and simply one of the best things in the Rocky Patel catalog.
I was continually amazed at both how well the peat worked with the traditional bourbon flavors and how it all played with such joy with the cigar. It left me thinking that this whole “peated bourbon” thing is not just a gimmick, but a valuable addition to a company’s catalog.
This Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel was probably the best thing I’ve had from the company…and they usually make some very good bourbons. If they don’t make some version of this a regular release, they are missing a big opportunity.
