Chattanooga Straight Bourbon Whiskey 111 Proof

Chattanooga Whiskey was born from a bold idea in 2011, when founders Tim Piersant and Joe Ledbetter asked a provocative question online: “Would you drink Chattanooga whiskey?” At the time, distilling in their home of Hamilton County, Tennessee, was still illegal, a remnant of laws dating back to 1909. This sparked a grassroots campaign—“Vote Whiskey”—that successfully pushed to repeal the law in 2013, reigniting a whiskey-making tradition that once saw over 30 distilleries on Chattanooga’s Market Street. With legislation overturned, the team established a small experimental distillery and set out to redefine Tennessee whiskey on their own terms.

Their mission was to “challenge the paradigm of American whiskey” through innovation and a brewer’s mindset. Working with MGP-sourced whiskey initially, they spent years experimenting before landing on a recipe that would become their signature: Tennessee High Malt. Launched in 2019 with the 91 Proof Straight Bourbon. Tennessee High Malt embodies the “brewer’s mindset” of highlighting the flavors of malted grain. “Great whiskey comes from great beer,” says McCracken, and this philosophy informs each stage of Chattanooga Whiskey’s production. Their core 91 Proof Straight Bourbon recipe offers, from grain to glass, a clear picture of how production reflects intent.

As a straight bourbon, the expression of course has a representative proportion of raw yellow dent corn. But it also contains a generous 25% proportion of specialty malted grain, itself composed of 12% pale malted rye, 7% caramel malted barley, and 6% honey malted barley. The mash is fermented over seven days at a low temperature, using a specially selected yeast strain conventionally used in single malt production. This style of fermentation actively promotes the development of esters and phenols—compounds that present distinctive fruit and spice notes. Low entry proofs finish the work the long fermentations started, and further polish is added by aging the new-make spirit in custom-toasted Char #3 and #4 barrels. In a distinctive final step, the aged spirit is married in a 4000-gallon finishing solera from which 15% is drawn at any given time for bottling.