It’s that time of year again when Chattanooga Whiskey cracks open its rare and limited Vault Series – a collection of offshoot experiments, alternate concepts, and rare single barrels culled from its barrelhouse archives.  

This year’s release revisits three of the most beloved finished bourbons born from the distillery’s Experimental Single Batch Series: Apricot Brandy, XA Tequila, and Sauternes. This time, though, the distilling team opted to extend each single barrel’s finishing time to a more dramatic four to five years.  

“Those original batches had varying finishing times between 3-19 months and yielded a range of subtle to  pronounced effects … whereas for these barrels, we threw caution to the wind and pushed our finishing times to four to five years, leading to much more dramatic results,” Grant McCracken, Founding Distiller, said in a news release.

Although finished bourbons have become relatively commonplace in craft whiskey, Chattanooga Whiskey has  always taken a much more nuanced approach to the tradition. Historically, the company’s Experimental Single Batch and Finishing Series have both leveraged their vast library of different mash bills to complement the characteristics of each specific finishing cask. This time, the distilling team did something they don’t usually do: they filled these casks with their signature mash bill. 

“Rather than building a specific profile through mash bill curation and blending, we took a more restrained approach with these long finishes,” Tiana Saul, Head Distiller, said. “Using the strong foundation of our signature mash bill as the ‘canvas’, we gave  these barrels the time and space to develop on their own – resulting in a series of familiar yet evocative profiles with  deep, sophisticated characteristics.” 

The 2025 Vault Series (375ml) will be available exclusively at the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery on December 11th for $46.99 per bottle. Limited to only 3 single barrels ranging in proofs from 123.2 to 132.0, and yielding less than 800 bottles in total, this collection offers a wide variety of tasting notes from orange marmalade  and jasmine (Apricot Brandy), to banana bread and crème brûlée (XA Tequila), to white peach and wildflower honey (Sauternes). 

Read more: Chattanooga Whiskey Releases Signature Whiskey in 1.5 Liter Size

About Chattanooga Whiskey 

Founded in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey challenged the laws and won the right to distill whiskey in Chattanooga  for the first time in 100 years. As a result, the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery – the only standalone experimental distillery in the country – was born. The distillery now hosts over 50,000 visitors annually and  serves as a hub of innovation and creativity to push the boundaries of craft whiskey. For more information, visit https://chattanoogawhiskey.com/.