🥃 Review #25 - Chattanooga Whiskey Founder's 12th Anniversary Blend 2024

 

📚Background:  Released by Chattanooga Whiskey in commemoration of 12 years of operation, this annual edition is hand blended by Tim Piersant, the founder, from three whiskies: each one an aspirational representation of past, present, and future. Tim's signature can be seen on the neck of the bottle just above a nice "story" booklet detailing the blend components. All component whiskies are solera barrel aged though a fractional blending process in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as time passes. Chattanooga is known for its distinctive "high malt" style which involves using at least 25% malted grains in its mash bills. They also use a prolonged primary fermentation period of 7 days at lower temperatures as opposed to a typical 3 days at higher heat. This results in a toasty, almost-beery flavor profile in many bottles, though their experiments can range broadly in terms of ingredients used and resulting taste.

Flyer at the Distillery

🛒Sourced: Chattanooga Experimental Distillery in downtown Chattanooga Tennessee for $59.99. I did the tasting tour there and cannot recommend it enough, full thoughts linked. My local Costco got a single case in June for $48.99 and I am kicking myself for not picking up a few of these then. 

🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV 

🎨Color: R7- a nice roast almond color, darker than its age would suggest. We'll talk more about ages below, but with the Solera method, age is sort of an asymptotic moving target, a directional measure at most. Fairly leggy. 

🥔Mash Bill: A blend of three whiskies, noted mash bills below

• 12% 1816RES - "The past" - MGP sourced distillate from Lawrenceburg, IN  aged for more than four years. 1816 Reserve is a high rye bourbon mash bill with 75% corn, 21% rye, & 4% malted barley.  This is the smallest Solera Barrel of the batch with a volume of 625 gallons. 
• 60% SB091 - "The Present" Chattanooga's signature Tennessee High Malt Bourbon recipe that forms the basis of their 91, 111 Cask, and Bottled-in-Bond bottles. It comes from the 91st barrel produced by their Experimental distillery in downtown Chattanooga. Aged more than 2 years. Though the ratios are not disclosed, it features yellow corn, malted rye, caramel malted barley, honey malted barley. Very high in malt, it is purported to have strong honey and citrus notes. Barrel volume is noted at 4000 gallons. 
• 28% INFINITY - "The Future" - Aged greater than 3 years, a blend of blend of innovative recipes - distilled at the downtown and Riverfront distilleries. This main contain some finished whiskies as it is a blend of straight whiskies instead of being straight bourbon whiskey like the above.

Cooperage is noted as being 53-gallon, toasted and charred, oak barrels blended in batches of 9-11 barrels each. Chattanooga Whiskey is known for varying char and toast levels across experiments. Note that this blend is chill filtered. All relatively young whiskies, the solera process and high malt style rely on the character of the grain to star as opposed to extended time in wood. 

👃Nose: Honey, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and raisins - Almost breakfast smelling. Light on the nose. Oaky and decadent. 

😜Palate: Mild heat and very spice forward with some sweetness. Thicker than I would have expected for the components' ages. Baking spices shift into a pleasing honey oatmeal peak before the finish. Both on the nose and on the palate, I get a hint of what I can only describe as Tequila or Agave though it always stays to the side of the main flavors. There is a bit of musky funk here of which I'm not a huge fan, but there are plenty of other flavors to fixate on instead.

💦Finish: Very long lingering warmth, pear, raisin, and nutmeg in addition to the wood. 

🏆 Overall:  6/10 - Interesting - This pour is a tongue scavenger hunt with some caveats. The more I sat and sipped, the more I started to uncover. I was initially a little taken aback by the spiciness on the tongue, but it does truly blossom over the course of the dram. My summary for this bottle would be "overnight oats" with fruited thoughtfulness. The finish goes 100 yards to the end zone, truly one of the longest lasting that I've experienced without being abrasive. Tim nailed the proof on this one, any higher and I would be worried about it tipping over into hot land. Not particularly wood forward, but that is typical for most of Chattanooga's relatively young whiskies. There is a sawdusty off note that does creep in intermittently. I'm not sure this is a casual drinking whiskey as it takes some attentiveness to feel out all the nuances of this pour. As the weather changes, this will be the perfect porch pour for welcoming fall's crisp evenings. Grab two glasses and a friend for good conversation. 

10/3/2024 - Impromptu session versus EC Toasted, OGD111, and James E. Pepper, definitely a step below all of those, though I still do like it fine.

1/16/2025 - Bottle kill - It still drinks a bit hot for the proof. Shared it with a few more casual whiskey drinkers visiting over the holidays and none could get past the heat. With oxidation I get a lot more of the chocolate and malt while losing the fruit and spice. Overall I am still happy to have purchased the bottle, but I'm not sure it lived up to its "Founder's" tagline.

💵Would buy again? No, it was interesting but I'm glad there is variation year to year. Will try next year's edition. 

⚖️Rating Scale: 

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out 
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice. 
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.
10 | Perfect | You didn't think anything could be this good | A clear champion.