Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tim Piersant. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

A lot of risks taken to bring Chattanooga Whiskey to life. Many stories untold. Here is a snapshot…

In 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey was founded without a business plan and on significant mezzanine debt from family friends to secure 1200 bourbon barrels. Our first capital round in 2013 to pay the whiskey debt hinged on our Vote Whiskey campaign, changing a 100 year old prohibition era distilling law in Tennessee. Once that was successful, we hired Grant McCracken (Head Brewer from Boston Beer) to be our Head Distiller, which led to distilling and trademarking our own malt-forward style of bourbon whiskey called Tennessee High Malt. In an effort to significantly scale our operation after spending two years trialing hundreds of recipes, I signed a multi-million dollar personal guarantee with very little personal liquidity (a fraction of 1% of my PG). After we scaling, in 2019, we hit the stop button on an outsourced 18K case product (Chattanooga Whiskey 1816) in order to launch a 100% authentically made product, Chattanooga Whiskey 91, “The Only Tennessee High Malt.” From that point, we grew to become Tennessee’s most successful premium craft whiskey distributed in 28 states, and have earned America’s Best Craft Producer two times (2023 and 2026).

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In need of a personal change and a creative outlet beyond the family business I was previously working in, Chattanooga Whiskey was founded after a friend called regarding the history of whiskey in Chattanooga pre-prohibition. The goal became reviving that history. Chattanooga Whiskey is an American Whiskey maker focusing on highly complex malt-forward whiskies at an affordable price point. I like to think of us as the dark chocolate versus every other American Whiskey/Bourbon’s milk chocolate, which comes from our unique Tennessee High Malt approach utilizing roasted and toasted grains. This unique style along with our incredible body of work through experimentation is why we are recognized as America’s Best Craft Producer by Whisky Magazine. We have made over 500 Experimental barrels featuring hundreds of malted grains and recipes, released hundreds of labels to the public, all while keeping product integrity at the forefront of everything we make. For example, 100% of our corn is locally grown by Catesa Farms, a 5th generation farm in Tennessee, and much of our malt comes from Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, NC.

I’m most proud of our team of creatives, our ability to freely innovate as an independently owned product maker, and the high level of product integrity that we hold throughout innovation. I want to be known for being the best craft whiskey in the world (authentic from grain to glass), with the added benefit that we are affordable to the average consumer.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Innovation, high quality packaging, and a good value has built our reputation nationally at face value, but all of that hinges on our story as well as our reputation locally. From galvanizing the Chattanooga community through our Vote Whiskey campaign to building the first distillery in Chattanooga in 100 years and finally bringing real Chattanooga Whiskey back to the people.

We have an entire city behind our brand because of our body of work and follow through. Changing TN laws, raising local capital from high integrity investors, building a high quality team, and following through on building two distilleries in downtown has cemented a legacy in Tennessee that we can build on top of for many years to come.

Our unique selling proposition, TN High Malt, has quickly gained popularity within the whiskey enthusiast market. Most of our PR has come from this style and our American Whiskey innovation. Though we pride ourselves on more creative releases per year than any other whiskey company, we also make sure to have a consistent brand presence through our flagship products, Chattanooga 91 and 111. It’s easy to get carried away with innovation and forget about focus and consistency, which I think for a small brand we’ve done a pretty good job managing.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Undercapitalizing is a leading cause for death to startups, but it’s not necessarily the amount of money you raise, rather the quality of people that you raise it from. From the operating agreement to mezzanine debt to bank loans to capital rounds. The quality of all of it matters. One of the best things to ever happen to Chattanooga Whiskey was being able to tap into high net worth local individuals and their personal networks that put people over profits.

Chattanooga provided a unique launching pad because of this network of community-driven leaders. The mezzanine debt that got it all started was a close family friend and business owner. He walked with us through building pro forma’s and counseling us as cofounders.
The multiple cap rounds were built through a network of new-money entrepreneurs leading a local business incubator, old-money/family office investors, and long time local manufacturing executives. A dynamic group of local investors that mutually respected one another as individuals serving the local community.

At one point or another, the operating agreement saved the company, the board saved the company, and different investors for years kept me from dropping out of the race. One of my early requirements was to make it known this is a high risk investment, and therefore it should be a very low percentage of your investment portfolio. Although I’ve always taken my fiduciary responsibility seriously, not having investors breathing down my neck for a return everyday has been a significant relief that allows me to focus on my business. Start your business with investors that genuinely want to see you as a person succeed in life, not just their money.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chattanoogawhiskey.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/chattwhiskey
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/chattanoogawhiskey
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/chattwhiskey
• Youtube: https://YouTube.com/chattwhiskey

Image Credits

thescoutguide.com/chattanooga
Brooke Bragger Photography
Sarah Catherine Photography
Chattanooga Whiskey