Ice wine is one of the world’s rarest sweet wines, made from grapes left to freeze solid on the vine before they are handpicked and pressed, giving up only a few drops of intense juice per cluster. Chattanooga Whiskey has now put its malt whiskey into casks that once held it.
The result is Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished, the eighth release in the Tennessee distillery’s Barrel Finishing Series. It arrives at the brand’s Experimental Distillery in Chattanooga on Thursday 13 August, priced at $59.99 for a 750ml bottle.
The finishing casks were sourced from one of Moldova’s oldest and most awarded wineries, set in the hills above the Black Sea. The whiskey was aged for more than four years, including over a year in the ice wine casks, and bottled at 95 proof, which is 47.5% ABV.
What Chattanooga did differently: matching six mash bills to the cask
Ice wine is sweet, aromatic and dense, and it does not leave much room for other flavours to sit alongside it. Rather than let the cask dominate, the distilling team set out to give it a whiskey with enough intensity to stand up to it.
To do that, they assembled a blend of six mash bills: five malt whiskeys and one bourbon. The recipes draw on a range of toasted specialty malts, including a malted barley grown on the Italian coast near Venice and two types of malted wheat.
“Ice wine grapes are left on the vine until they freeze solid, and are then handpicked and pressed while still frozen, yielding just a few precious drops of intensely flavored juice from each cluster,” said founding distiller Grant McCracken. “Because of its intense flavor profile, we needed to pull out our most intensely flavored whiskeys, namely malt whiskey.”
That approach is the throughline of the whole series. Since the Finishing Series launched in 2021, the team has sourced finishing barrels from specific regions to bring out their terroir, rather than buying casks broadly. Moldova, better known to wine drinkers than to whiskey drinkers, fits that brief neatly.
Official tasting notes
The notes below are the distillery’s own. We have not tasted the bottle yet, and will add full Nose, Palate and Finish notes once we do.
Flavour profile (official): French toast, wildflower honey, toasted oak, cream soda, candied ginger
ABV: 47.5% (95 proof) | Cask: Moldovan ice wine finish | Age: 4+ years, over 1 year in finishing casks | Size: 750ml | Price: $59.99
Who makes it: Chattanooga Whiskey
Founded in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey is built around a Tennessee High Malt style, its own take on straight bourbon that leans on high proportions of specialty malt. The Barrel Finishing Series is where the distillery experiments most openly, taking that malt-forward spirit into wine, port and other casks.
The distillery was named Craft Producer of the Year for 2026 by Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky, and its Experimental Distillery draws more than 50,000 visitors a year. Ice wine casks are among the most intensely flavoured barrels the team says it has worked with, which makes this a natural fit for a series built on pushing the malt into unfamiliar territory.
Price and availability
Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished is $59.99 for a 750ml bottle. It goes on sale first at the Experimental Distillery in Chattanooga on 13 August, then reaches shelves in select US states, including Florida, Georgia, New York and Texas.
For readers outside the US, this is a domestic release for now. The most realistic route to a bottle is online through Seelbach’s, which lists limited quantities and ships to a range of destinations, so it is worth checking whether they deliver to your country before the allocation sells through. We will update this piece if wider international distribution is confirmed.
Is it worth it?
At $59.99, this sits at the accessible end of experimental cask-finished whiskey, and the concept alone earns attention. Ice wine is rarely used as a finishing cask, and a Moldovan source is genuinely unusual, so this is one for the drinker who likes their whiskey to bring a story and a flavour they have not met before.
The official notes point to a dessert-leaning, sweet-and-spiced profile, French toast and honey against candied ginger and toasted oak, which suggests a bottle built for slow evening sipping rather than mixing. If you enjoyed earlier wine-cask entries in the Finishing Series, or you simply like tracking what a malt-forward American distillery can do with an unexpected barrel, this is an easy one to reach for at the price.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chattanooga Whiskey Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished? It is the eighth release in Chattanooga Whiskey’s Barrel Finishing Series, a malt-forward American whiskey finished in ice wine casks from Moldova. It is bottled at 47.5% ABV, aged more than four years with over a year in the finishing casks, and released on 13 August 2026.
What does Moldovan Ice Wine Cask Finished taste like? The distillery’s official tasting notes cite French toast, wildflower honey, toasted oak, cream soda and candied ginger. That points to a sweet, dessert-leaning profile with warm spice and an oak backbone. It is built from a blend of five malt whiskeys and one bourbon to match the intensity of the ice wine cask.
How much does it cost? The recommended price is $59.99 for a 750ml bottle. That places it at the more accessible end of experimental cask-finished American whiskey, and in line with earlier entries in the Barrel Finishing Series.
Where can I buy it? It launches at Chattanooga Whiskey’s Experimental Distillery on 13 August 2026, then reaches select US states including Florida, Georgia, New York and Texas. Limited quantities are offered online via Seelbach’s, which is the most practical option for buyers outside those states.
What casks are used? The whiskey is finished in ice wine casks sourced from one of Moldova’s oldest and most awarded wineries, in the hills above the Black Sea. Ice wine is one of the rarest sweet wines in the world, and these are among the most intensely flavoured casks the distillery has used.
What is Chattanooga Whiskey known for? Founded in 2011, Chattanooga Whiskey is known for its Tennessee High Malt style and its experimental Barrel Finishing Series. It was named Craft Producer of the Year for 2026 by Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky, and its Experimental Distillery welcomes more than 50,000 visitors a year.
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