Chattanooga Whiskey has unveiled its latest seasonal release, Bottled in Bond: Fall 2022 Vintage, introducing two mash bills new to the series. The blend features Barrel 54 and Barrel 177, and launches at the company’s Experimental Distillery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on 3 September.
Barrel 54 was developed in late 2015 at the company’s Experimental Distillery. It remains one of the earliest and most unusual recipes in the distillery’s library.
Rather than using rye or wheat, the mash bill combines malted spelt and a huskless malted oat. The grains add fuller texture and weight to the palate.
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“The Barrel 54 recipe passes every legal test for a bourbon, but its mash bill is very unconventional – not only which grains are used, but the textural characteristics they bring to the whiskey,” said Grant McCracken, founding distiller. “We originally named it ‘second cousin’ as an analogy, because it’s clearly related to what we do…but not directly. A recipe like this isn’t showing up at every family reunion, but things get interesting when it does.”
Barrel 177 uses its malted grains for aroma and flavor rather than texture. Its melanoidin malt is kilned to brown from the inside, developing compounds associated with graham crackers. The recipe also uses Carafa, a German chocolate malt that is drum roasted until it tastes like dark chocolate.
“Fall vintages have to earn the name, and this one is appropriately built like a s’more,” McCracken said. “The melanoidin malt is the graham cracker, the German Carafa malt is the chocolate, and the oats and spelt in Barrel 54 are the toasted marshmallow, giving you that same textural contrast straight off the fire.”
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READ THE STORYMade in accordance with the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, every component was distilled and barreled between July and December 2022 at the company’s Riverfront Distillery. The blend was created by the full distilling team over several months of blind tastings.
The whiskey will reach shelves in select states in the weeks following release, priced at $52.99 for a 750ml bottle. Limited quantities will also be available online at Seelbachs.com.
Official tasting notes from the brand cite s’mores, dark chocolate, clove, and coffee bean.
Founded in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey was recently named Craft Producer of the Year for 2026 by Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky. Its Experimental Distillery welcomes more than 50,000 visitors annually.
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