Chattanooga Whiskey Single Barrel

Neat. Sample. I tried this last night in a blind and I was not jiving with it. It could have been my palate or something ate/drank last night, so I capped it to give it a more in depth tasting now. The prospect of a Chattanooga single barrel is weird though. I know they are doing some great blending to create the 111 I adore, but always wondered if the sum was better than the parts. On the nose, there is a note I cannot escape. It’s Grippo’s BBQ chips. That is a regional brand so it may not translate but it’s a sweet BBQ rub with a lot of mesquite. Even though it is so dark, there is a youngness to it too. The combo of this and the high malt made me lean Texas even during the blind. There is a deep forest and earthiness to the nose as well. Lacks any dessert sweetness or fruit. Maybe some apple but it faint. I do like it better than last night so glad I took a break from it. Nice syrupy mouthfeel, quite dark on the tongue. Bit of brown sugar and molasses. Wow, that Grippo note is inescapable. It pops mid palate and then dominates the finish too. I’m trying to explore around it but it’s hard. Mmm I just found a nice toasted oak note and but more of that apple. Apple has some salted caramel on it. The malt is really coming through on subsequent sips. Okay! I am finding some depth here versus last night’s first impression. I would say this pour is redeemed, interesting, but if I owned the bottle I would not be grabbing it often. I would be giving it as samples to those who could get nerdy breaking it down too. The BBQ element is more interesting than delicious. I suspect these Single Barrels are going to have extreme ranges and now I want to try another.