The Tennessee-based Chattanooga Whiskey has announced the launch of the eighth release in its acclaimed Barrel Finishing Series.

Chattanooga Whiskey Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished (47.5% ABV) is a Tennessee High Malt comprising a blend of straight whiskies, aged for at least four years and finished in sweet Moldovan Ice Wine casks sourced from one of Moldova’s oldest and most highly awarded wineries, located in the hills above the Black Sea.

To capture the character of the finishing barrels, the distilling team assembled a complex blend of six mash bills: five malt whiskies and one bourbon. Each recipe draws on a range of toasted specialty malts, including malted barley grown on Italy’s coast near Venice and two types of malted wheat.

Chattanooga Whiskey Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished is said to deliver notes of French toast, wildflower honey, toasted oak, cream soda and candied ginger.

Founded in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey fought to change Tennessee law, winning the right to distil whiskey in Chattanooga for the first time in over a century. That bold beginning laid the foundation for everything that followed, including the creation of the Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery and the development of its distinctive Tennessee High Malt style.

Commenting on the launch, Grant McCracken, Founding Distiller, said: “Ice wine grapes are left on the vine until they freeze solid, and are then hand-picked and pressed while still frozen, yielding just a few precious drops of intensely flavoured juice from each cluster. Because of its intense flavour profile, we needed to pull out our most intensely flavoured whiskies – namely malt whiskey.”

Limited in quantity, Chattanooga Whiskey Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished is now available from specialist retailers in selected US states, for a RRP of $59.99.