A Closer Look at Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished

Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished marks the eighth release in our acclaimed Barrel Finishing Series, which celebrates the union of Tennessee High Malt into a variety of classic finishing casks. This time we turned to Eastern Europe, selecting ice wine casks from one of Moldova’s oldest and most awarded wineries, set in the hills above the Black Sea.
 

Since launching our Finishing Series in 2021, our distilling team’s aim has been simple: elevate both the whiskey and the finishing cask. To do that, we get precise. Instead of relying on one mash bill, we use specific mash bills to match the finishing cask’s character. And instead of sourcing finishing barrels broadly, we select barrels from specific regions to showcase their unique terroir.

Ice wine is one of the rarest sweet wines in the world, and the ice wine casks were some of the most intensely flavored finishing barrels we’ve ever worked with. The wine is sweet, it’s aromatic, and it doesn’t leave much room for other flavors to come through. Most of our finishes take two or three mash bills to get where we want, but this one took six.
 

But we weren’t trying to overpower the cask — we were trying to give it a worthy partner. To carry the character of the ice wine barrels, the distilling team assembled a complex blend of five malt whiskeys and one bourbon. Each of these recipes draw from a range of toasted specialty malts including: a malted barley grown on Italy’s coast near Venice, reminiscent of honeydew melon; and two types of malted wheat, which build a rich, bready backbone reminiscent of poundcake.

Aged for over 4 years, including more than a year in the finishing casks, the whiskey was bottled at 95 proof – offering notes of French toast, wildflower honey, toasted oak, cream soda, and candied ginger. Find Ice Wine Cask Finished at the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery starting on Thursday, August 13th, and on shelves in select states (D.C., FL, GA, IL, MD, MN, MO, NJ, NY, TN, TX, WI).