Behind Experimental Batch 043: Pre Prohibition Style
With our Pre Prohibition Style, our goal was to make a high malt whiskey that was evocative of a specific place and time: Chattanooga, Tennessee, pre-1920s. 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 develop this character, our 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 4 years in a range of custom toasted and charred oak barrels. This wide selection of cooperage was collectively meant to mimic the variation of the toasting and charring process during the late 19th/early 20th century – and the complexity of flavors which result from those methods!
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!
Batch 043: Pre Prohibition Style will be available at our Experimental Distillery starting Thursday, March 13.