Chattanooga Whiskey Continues Barrel Finishing Series With an Expression Celebrating Portugal’s Terroir

Chattanooga Whiskey unveiled an expression finished in white port barrels. (Photo: Chattanooga Whiskey)

Fred Minnick reported on Friday that Chattanooga Whiskey released a new expression within its Barrel Finishing Series: a bourbon finished in white port casks. The limited-edition series released its inaugural expression in 2021, and Chattanooga Whiskey White Port Cask Finished marks the fourth installment in the rollout.

“Since our Barrel Finishing Series began in 2021, our goal has always been the same: enhance the character of both the whiskey and the finishing cask,” Chattanooga Whiskey Chief Product Officer Grant McCracken said. “To do that, our team gets specific. Instead of using just one mashbill, we pull from our wide library of recipes that can speak specifically to the character of the finishing cask; and instead of using finishing barrels from a large area, we select barrels from very specific regions with their own unique terroir.”

The Tennessee whiskey producer took to the Douro Valley to discover the region’s distinctive terroir. These white port casks were chosen from the Carrazeda de Ansiães portion of the Douro Valley, which often produces fruity and aromatic expressions of port. For production, Chattanooga Whiskey created a custom blend implementing three bourbon mashbills to highlight the distinctive components of the finishing cask. One of the bourbons was a wheated bourbon recipe with three varietals of toasted wheat malt. The distillate was aged for five years, and two of which were aged in the white port casks.

Chattanooga Whiskey White Port Cask hosts a suggested retail price of $59.99 per 750-milliliter bottle. The whiskey is bottled at 94 proof and was drawn from a batch of 6-10 barrels. The brand describes this whiskey as possessing tasting notes of white peach, tropical coconut, shortbread and orange marmalade on the finish.

In March, Chattanooga Whiskey passed the mantle of head distiller to Tiana Saul. Saul has been with the company since 2015 and has demonstrated a “unique sense of style,” a “keen eye for the details,” and a natural leadership sense.

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