Chattanooga Whiskey announced the newest release in its award-winning Experimental Single Batch Series – Batch 043: Pre-Prohibition Style. 

This commemorative offering celebrates a decade of Experimentation at the company’s Experimental Distillery, which in 2015 became Chattanooga’s first legal production distillery since Prohibition. To honor this milestone, the Chattanooga Whiskey distilling team crafted an “ode” to pre-Prohibition whiskey, designed to simulate the flavors of early 20th  century whiskey. 

“For this Experimental Batch, our goal was to make a high malt whiskey that was evocative of a specific place and time: Chattanooga, Tennessee, pre-Prohibition,” Grant McCracken, Founding Distiller, said in a news release. “To do that, our distillers used every ingredient and process step  to mimic the flavors found in old-world whiskey. Although a lot has changed in the world of farming, malting,  whiskey-making, and coopering over the past 100 years, our team relished the challenge to recreate the flavors of bourbon from that era.”

Made from a high malt bourbon mash, this commemorative recipe starts with a unique harder variety of yellow corn – similar to those grown in that time period. Additionally, a blend of multiple slow toasted barleys, spelt, and rye malts were selected to showcase a wider gradient of flavors inherent to heritage malting techniques – including a heritage-style toasted barley malt and a unique acidulated rye malt. 

After its initial cooking, a portion of the recipe was fermented via a two-part process – designed to express a pronounced fruitiness – common to whiskey made during this time. To accomplish this, the team employed a unique overnight sour mash coupled with a multi-strain fermentation of bourbon and malt whiskey yeasts, which together replicate the less-controlled, multi-strain yeast cultures used within distilleries of the era.  

After a traditional double pot distillation, the whiskey entered the barrels at an average of 111 proof and was aged for more than four years in a range of custom toasted and charred oak barrels. This wide selection of  cooperage was collectively meant to mimic the fire-driven stave bending process, as well as the variability of  charring during the late 19th/early 20th century.  

Finally, the whiskey was bottled unfiltered at an assertive 110 proof – perhaps one of the highest proofs available in whiskey prior to the Alcohol Administration Act of 1935. Together, the blend of grains, fermentation methods, barrel types, and bottling methods offer a glimpse into the world of craft whiskey prior to Prohibition. 

“What began as a project to recreate a whiskey style eventually became the blueprint of a dream whiskey from  another era,” McCracken said. “If our distilling team had a time machine, we’d go back and make a whiskey like this. Then again,  who says we didn’t? And who says this isn’t that whiskey?” 

Experimental Batch 043: Pre Prohibition Style, bottled at 110 proof, will be available at the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery at $69.99 for a 750ml bottle and available online for shipping to select states on Seelbachs.com.  

Read more: Chattanooga Whiskey Rolls Out Rye Single Barrel Series

About Chattanooga Whiskey

Starting in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey challenged the laws and won the right to distill whiskey in Chattanooga for the first time in 100 years. As a result, the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery was born. The distillery now hosts over 50,000 visitors annually and  serves as a hub of innovation and creativity to push the boundaries of craft whiskey. In 2017, the Chattanooga Whiskey Riverfront Distillery opened as the production home of Chattanooga Whiskey’s signature expressions: Chattanooga Whiskey 91, Cask 111, and 99 Rye, as well as their Bottled in Bond Vintage Series, Barrel Finishing Series, and Founder’s Anniversary Blend. For more information, visit http://www.chattanoogawhiskey.com.