Like a train, Chattanooga Whiskey Co.’s growth comes from strong momentum

Timelines in stories rarely help unless they provide momentum to a retelling. The backstory of Chattanooga Whiskey Co.’s creation does just that.

·      When the state of Tennessee stopped legal distillation in 1909, clearly it was eager to get on to Prohibition—which didn’t start until 11 years later. That sense of urgency to stop distilling created long-term ripple effects such as the following:

·      Even after national Prohibition ended in 1933, teetotaling Tennesseans resisted reversing it. Thanks in large part to Lem Motlow, owner of Jack Daniel Distillery, who became an elected official to help lift the liquor-making ban, distilling resumed in 1938—but in only three of Tennessee’s 95 counties: Lincoln (at Prichard’s), Moore (at Jack Daniel) and Coffee (at George Dickel).

·      Fifty-nine years passed before others in the state (perhaps eyeing the tax revenue generated by American whiskey’s rebirth) said, “Hey, we want to make whiskey, too!” In 2009, Tennessee allowed spirits production to return in 41 additional counties—an expansion that did not include Hamilton County and its county seat, Chattanooga.

·      Aware that prior to Prohibition, Chattanooga’s downtown was home to more than 30 distilleries, locals Tim Piersant and Joe Ledbetter were particularly peeved by the no-spirits snub. The diss soon drove men to revive spirits distillation downtown.

·      Their efforts began in 2011 with an unlikely Facebook campaign asking, “Would you Drink Chattanooga Whiskey?” The community response to the post was so positive that Piersant and Ledbetter founded Chattanooga Whiskey Co. that same year. With 20 barrels of sourced bourbon from MGPI to create its first release, 1816 Reserve, they were in business.

·      Piersant described his and Ledbetter’s fight for legislation to distill there as “hard and fun.” And in May 2013, their tenacity was rewarded when House Bill 102, a.k.a. “The Whiskey Bill,” became law. That fall saw construction begin on Chattanooga Whiskey Co.’s first distillery, a modest setup with a 100-gallon pot still.

 ·      With its liquor selling well and American whiskey moving like a runaway Chattanooga choo-choo, Piersant (Ledbetter left the partnership) led a round of fundraising in 2017 for the construction of a 46,000 square foot distillery with a column still capable of making 55 barrels per day.

Eight years afterward in 2025, Chattanooga Whiskey Co. is a significant craft distillery: a 50,000-case brand with distribution in 17 states, and accolades for its Tennessee High Malt whiskies, including Craft Producer of the Year in the 2023 Icons of Whisky America judging.

Piersant credits those successes to 14 years of deliberate planning and steady investment for manageable growth and a commitment to high-quality innovative whiskies. Fifty-thousand cases is about 10 times the volume of most of America’s 2,700 craft distilleries, Piersant said, but “it’s so much less than the biggest distilleries, the people everybody is competing with. … Getting to 10,000 cases was really hard. And 20,000 cases … we were scratching and clawing, growing 30 to 40 percent every year for nine years to get there.”

And yet the move to 50,000 cases took just two years.

“Exploding to 50,000 cases in a matter of 24 months … man, that’s a whole new arena for us,” said Piersant, also the distillery's CEO. “You figure out quickly that you’re competing with the new group of competitors.”

Have a product and a genuine story—and get patient investors

The decade-and-a-half-year gap between launching the brand with sourced whiskey and selling 50,000 cases of one’s own annually may seem long to some. But since the company continues to evolve and grow as it has feels more like a gradual continuum to Piersant. His team and investors created and committed to a conservative expansion strategy to ensure smart expansion without risky backsliding.

Chattanooga has a direct sales team of six people covering 17 markets, which Piersant called “unusual for a distillery our size.” Too many young brands, he said, rely on distributors for product promotion when the reality is there are too many spirits to promote equitably. His sales team’s mission, therefore, is to connect directly with accounts, tell them the Chattanooga story, turn them on to the product, and stay in distributors’ ears so they’ll remain mindful of his brand.

“In whiskey, authenticity and story, along with product quality, reign supreme. And no one is going to tell your story better than you as a supplier,” he began. “That has a big impact on whether our products get on shelves at the right place and that reorders arrive at the right time.”

A direct sales team for such a small company “is a big investment for us,” he said. “And if your company isn’t prepared to make that investment, you’re not going to get into distributors’ top 10 lists. And if you’re not there, they’re not inspired to sell your products.”

Part of why he believes Chattanooga has enjoyed double-digit growth over so many years is its affordable price. The SRP of its flagship 91 proof, priced at $35, is well within the reach of everyday drinker preferences. Depending on age and quantity, its Experimental releases range from $50 to $80.

While many distilleries raised prices as American whiskey boomed, Chattanooga did not. And now that consumer price sensitivity is high, Piersant believes buyers are backing away from once spendy options in search of higher-value whiskies.  

“We were really, really cautious about price increases, while a lot of companies tried to take every additional dollar they could take when they thought demand was there,” he said. “They’re getting slammed now (at retail).”

Like every distillery’s product costs, Chattanooga’s also are higher than ever, but Piersant chose instead to hold the line on whiskey prices. Based on market feedback, he believes those companies which did raise prices—both when market demand was high and when the cost of goods soared—are seeing sales constrict.  

“I'm proud that we held our ground through that,” he said. “Those high prices, those $100 bottles (others marketed), they weren’t sustainable.”

What is sustainable, he said, is a company fully focused on measured growth and trusting backers. Without those investors, Piersant doubts Chattanooga would have done nearly as well.

“Honestly, I couldn’t have been surrounded with better investors in any other town in America, and Chattanooga is a perfect city to do something like this,” he said.

Its original group of stakeholders—mostly friends and family—has changed little since the brand’s outset. Whenever the whiskey company encountered fiscal challenges, the group always stepped up with cash and commitment.

Before it began distilling its own whiskey, another NDP wanted to buy MGP stocks being aged for Chattanooga. The Indiana distiller essentially said, if you want them, you’ve got to buy them, or they’ll be sold to another whiskey maker.

The next few weeks saw Piersant scramble to raise the money to secure the sourced whiskey, and in the end, he bought 1,200 barrels for $660,000—a laughably low price compared to recent years when contract barrels cost six times that.

“Yeah, a lot of help from friends and family,” he said, grinning. “And that was mezzanine debt, too. I was paying 12 percent (interest) … on that big purchase. … We’re so lucky to have investors who really buy into this brand and just love being involved.”

In our next story about Chattanooga Whiskey Co., we’ll talk Tennessee High Malt whiskey with Grant McCraken, chief product officer and founding distiller.