Regardless, we don’t age anything for less than two years. We do not climate control our warehouses, and we use 53 gallon new American White Oak, so these hot summers are important to the aging process. TP: Absolutely, being in TN has a positive effect on the maturation of the product with the hot, hot summers. We use a variety of specialty malts, which are not readily available or well grown in our immediate area.ĭoes the geographic location and the climate affect the maturation process? All of our corn for the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery is local. TP: We source as much locally as possible. We’ll also be releasing a line called Chattanooga Whiskey “Native” that is a beer barrel aged bourbon, using our own barrels in partnership with breweries. We are releasing Chattanooga Whiskey “Experimental Series” this summer, which will be 100% made in Chattanooga, and is a straight bourbon whiskey line north of 2 years old. It is a 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley that we sourced from LDI/MGP due to the legality of distilling in Chattanooga. TP: We currently sell 1816 Reserve (90 proof straight bourbon), 1816 Cask (113.6 proof straight bourbon), and 1816 Single Barrel (barrel proof straight bourbon whiskey).īoth Reserve and Cask are big award winners: Double Gold in San Francisco, and Best Small Batch Bourbon at International Whisky Competition. What whiskey expressions are you currently producing? TP: Lessons: Spend time finding the right partners, setting up a good operating agreement, spend money on high quality equipment, get the right general contractor, don’t under-capitalize, don’t let laws stand in your way, don’t underestimate your marketing budget, don’t focus on too many products/product lines. What lessons have you learned in this industry that you can share with our readers looking to get into the spirit distillation themselves? The best parts have been having our head distiller, Grant McCracken, on the team producing amazing product, indulging in the space with our team, and most importantly seeing the enjoyment our customers get out of the distillery. The first two were difficult, but finding our head distiller was fortunately the easy part. The challenges to setting up the first distillery were changing the laws, finding the right location, and finding the right distiller. Fortunately, we won the law battle and we are growing faster than ever before today, but unfortunately the co founder relationship was painfully lost during the battle. TP: The two biggest obstacles were having to change Tennessee state laws in order to be able to distill, which took 2 years of fighting/lobbying, along with managing a co founder relationship throughout the ebbs and flows of starting a business. What have been the main challenges involved in setting up a new distillery? And what has been the part you’ve enjoyed most? The vision was to be the first distillery back in Chattanooga in 100 years, only produce a high quality aged whiskey (bourbon whiskey), and be a staple in the Chattanooga community. TP: A friend of mine and I had the idea to start Chattanooga Whiskey back in 2011, and then immediately launched a Facebook page without a plan, which received a lot of attention quickly. Please tell me how the distillery came about? What was your vision. We’ve been married for 12 years have two daughters, 5 and 3. Graduated from Auburn where I met my wife, and we moved back to downtown Chattanooga to start our lives back in 2005. TP: I was born and raised in Chattanooga, TN. We spoke to the CEO and Founder Tim Piersant about the whisky making experience. Each tour concludes with a full tasting of Chattanooga Whiskey and locally-produced Dr. It’s a place to showcase the craft process and the whiskey tradition we come from, while also allowing us to get creative with techniques and showcase our current product. It’s part experiment and innovation lab, part museum and all good. Opened in Spring of 2015, the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery is making the first legal whiskey distilled in Chattanooga in over 100 years.
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