Sweetens Cove: This celebrity-backed premium Tennessee bourbon set for second release

The second release of premium Tennessee bourbon Sweetens Cove hits Memphis liquor stores  this month. A limited-batch of Sweetens Cove will be available in select Memphis stores starting Sept. 8.

In May, Sweetens Cove Spirits Company released the first batch of its limited-edition premium Tennessee whiskey bourbon. Word of the new hand-crafted bourbon spread quickly among bourbon aficionados and the first release sold out quickly. 

The story behind this bourbon starts on a golf course. The tale also involves a few celebrities and a history-making distiller.

Tucked away in the hills around Chattanooga sits a world-class course that golfers consider a hidden gem. A year ago, a group of golfers bought Sweetens Cove Golf Club to preserve what co-owner Mark Rivers describes as “a wonderfully authentic treasure.”

Rivers bought the course in 2019 with several friends, including celebrities like football player Peyton Manning, tennis star Andy Roddick, sportscaster Jim Nantz and Memphis born and bred musician Drew Holcomb.

Turns out, these golfers were also bourbon fans.

The investor group released a premium Tennessee whiskey bourbon under the name of the golf course. The first release of the limited batch bourbon from Sweetens Cove Spirits Company sold out quickly. 

Rivers recounted that while Sweetens Cove does not have a club house, it did have a tradition of players taking a shot of whiskey before the first tee.

“There was a shed on the property and players would leave a bottle," he said. "In pre-COVID times, we would just shake the dust of the shot glass and all share a shot of whatever was in there. Some of it was good, some not."

That tradition inspired the Sweetens Cove owners to create their own bourbon.

“We really wanted to create a product that celebrated Tennessee,” Rivers said. “And like the golf course, it had to be a treasure and authentic to its roots.”

The Sweetens team was able to get their hands on 100 exclusive barrels of 13-year aged Tennessee product that was being housed in a warehouse in Kentucky. They brought it back to Tennessee — its rightful place, said Rivers — and sought a master distiller to head the meticulous process of blending the product.

Marianne Eaves, who was born in Chattanooga, was brought home from Kentucky to lead the project. Eaves not only is a talented distiller, but she will forever hold a place in history as Kentucky’s First Female Bourbon Master Distiller since Prohibition.

Eaves spent several days tasting and charting out every individual barrel.

“They were all unique and I had a ton of fun imagining ways they could be mingled together to create beautiful flavors,” Eaves said. “It became a strategy of creating five different batches, aligning different flavor profiles along the way.”

Sweetens Cove only has about 14,000 bottles — not cases — in total. “This is a hyper-limited, handcrafted release,” Eaves said.

The bourbon is currently only available in Tennessee and Georgia. It retails for $200 a bottle. Three stores in Memphis will carry the bourbon that is distributed by West Tennessee Crown: Buster’s Liquors & Wines, Corks Wine and Spirits, and The Loft Wine & Spirits.

Holcomb said the decision to invest in Sweetens Cove was an easy yes. “I love the state of Tennessee, I love the golf course and I love bourbon.”

He said he is excited to help bring a premium Tennessee bourbon to the market, noting that Tennessee often gets “crushed” by Kentucky in the premium market.

“The heartbeat of a good bourbon is when you can sit on your back porch on a summer night and enjoy a glass with friends,” Holcomb said. "This is a sipping conversation whiskey.”

Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.