The opposite of my experience with Barrell, with Chattanooga I’ve had two whiskies (Islay Finished Bourbon; Cabernet Cask) and both were fantastic. We can’t get Chattanooga in my neck of the woods, so this is the third of the bottles my wife has picked up on trips to the South. This one initially was the weakest of the three. It’s funny because when my wife hit the checkout counter with the Islay bottles, the clerk pulled the “special stuff” out of the back, which included this. She sent me pictures and I chose this because an anniversary whisky sounds fun. But it didn’t start out with the neck pour as special stuff. It actually came off as astringent, cutting, but I let it sit a few weeks, maybe four, and coming back to it, it’s really good. The result of its sitting in my cabinet is that the astringent edge disappeared. It’s become a rich experience. The nose reminds me a lot of Knob 12, it’s chocolatey, oaky, full of berry cherry aromas. On the palate this continues with some tobacco leaf on the back end. It’s reminiscent of the best parts of a cask strength whisky in that the flavors are very prominent and strong. There’s nothing watery about this, and it’s got a great mouthfeel. It’s still not my favorite of the Chattanooga I’ve had and in fact, still remains in third place, but it’s a strong damn third place because this is very good stuff. I wish they’d actually get Chattanooga whiskies in my State. I’d love to try the Bottled-in-Bond expressions, and I’d really love to get my hands on the rye. Don’t worry, I’ll track them down eventually, but this is a distillery whose very existence I celebrate. And it’s wonderful, that they’re decently priced.