Twice a year, I look forward to the latest release of Chattanooga Whiskey’s limited bottled-in-bond offering, and it’s that time of year again! Why do I anticipate this particular event so much? Unlike many other great distilleries that come out with a BIB every year (that’s basically some really good barrels selected that happen to be at least 4 years old, come from the same distilling season at a particular distillery and bottled at 100 proof), Chattanooga Whiskey always strives to do something different with each release.

Their production team selects at least three of their favorite experimental projects from past years and blends them together to create something unique — and usually wonderful. For their seventh bottled-in-bond release, which represents their spring 2020 distilling season, Chattanooga Whiskey has decided to showcase some of their wheated mash bills along with their core SB091 Tennessee High Malt standard recipe and SB005 base wheat whiskey variant.

This may seem a little confusing at first. It’s a bourbon? Yes. But it’s a Tennessee High Malt? Also yes, as each component contains at least 25 percent specialty malted grains, the differentiating factor that sets the malty maestros at Chattanooga Whiskey apart from many other bourbon makers. And it’s a wheated whiskey? Yes, the three experimental whiskey components of the blend each feature both malted wheat and malted barley, including Tennessee-grown malted wheat, honey malted barley, and a small amount of cherrywood smoked malted barley.

Are you still with me? More importantly — how does it taste? In a word, fascinating.

People who love “wheaters” like Maker’s Mark, Weller, Old Fitzgerald and Pappy van Winkle generally appreciate the softer and sweeter notes that wheat contributes to the whiskey when it is substituted instead of rye as a flavoring grain. Think about the difference between wheat bread and rye bread for an idea of how the smaller components of these two grains might change the whiskey.

But the wheat used by most distilleries is a raw wheat, whereas Chattanooga Whiskey first malts their wheat, allowing the grains to germinate and release additional enzymes and flavors that would normally be trapped inside the grain. Consider this like smacking leaves of mint or basil between your palms before adding them to a cocktail. It really does make a difference!

The final result is actually made up of five different mash bills blended together, each contributing something special to the party. There’s honey and vanilla on the nose that invites the first sip which explodes with sweet, malty custard and a hint of mint. The long finish is complex with a base note of oak, plus some wildflower notes.

I wouldn’t even try to come up with a cocktail to pair with all of these components, so I’m content to just enjoy it straight from a snifter with maybe a drop or two of water or a single rock to open it up a little bit more. For $52.99 as a suggested retail price, I think you might enjoy it too — but they only made 40 barrels of this elixir, so don’t dawdle.

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