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Please read and drink responsibly.
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Bourbon is a business where competitors often collaborate. Be it Jim Beam and Brown-Forman distilling for Heaven Hill after their historically devastating 1996 fire, Buffalo Trace distilling for Wild Turkey during their 2010-2011 expansion, or Bardstown Bourbon Company’s growing list of contract distillation customers - one thing is certain: While companies in the bourbon and American whiskey space might be direct competitors, many are interconnected sharing resources and knowledge with a shared mission of making quality whiskey.
The Confluence Project is named in honor of the meeting of the rivers each distillery is located on - Tennessee and Ohio - which come together in Paducah, Kentucky, and brings together two whiskey distilleries who are known for carving their own unique paths - New Riff Distilling and Chattanooga Whiskey Co. A long-term collaboration that is now 7 years in the making, Volume 1 is the first release in a multi-year series that will explore higher age and other mashbills, among other unique variables specific to each distillery.
he project wouldn’t be what it is without the intertwined relationship between Chattanooga Whiskey Co.’s Grant McCracken and New Riff Distilling’s Brian Sprance. According to McCracken, he “wouldn’t be here today without Brian…wouldn’t have found a career in brewing, or found Chattanooga Whiskey.” Sprance hired McCracken for his first job in craft brewing, introduced him to the Chattanooga Whiskey team back in 2014, and helped him learn distilling through a week-long shadowing session at New Riff. Sprance considers McCracken “one of the most talented brewers and distillers” he knows, noting “a great deal of [his] own success is because of him.” Despite their praise for one another, it’s clear there’s a lively competitive edge between the two distillers. “For some people, seeing two friends - and competitors - put [their] whiskeys side by side might seem like a big risk…but that’s precisely the point,” McCracken states.
For this inaugural release, the distilleries agreed on a mashbill neither had made before, a 100% wheated mashbill featuring Red Turkey wheat, which “originally was carried overseas from Mennonite farmers living in Crimea in the late 1800s who wanted to escape Russian conscription,” according to McCracken. “They ended up settling in the Kansas area and planting their wheat, [where it became] *THE* wheat that earned Kansas the title of being the ‘Breadbasket of the United States’ at the turn of the century. After the rise of industrialized farming in the United States, this grain was almost completely ignored, but has now started making a comeback.”
Broken down as 60% Red Turkey wheat, 24% Appalachian malted wheat, 8% dark malted wheat, and 8% caramel malted wheat, this was the key aspect of the project that remained the same between the distilleries. From there, a “distiller swap” was done in March 2019, where each visited the other to “compare notes,” educating the other on their own unique whiskey-making process. They diverged on mash, distillation, cask types, entry proof, and, of course, aging location in their respective Kentucky and Tennessee locations.
The first release, dubbed Volume 1, hit the market on October 30, 2025, as single barrel collections bottled at cask strength. More will be released as the project unfolds, but for now let’s dive into the details of the first edition.
What’s the same:
Classification: Straight Wheat Whiskey
Mashbill: 60% Red Turkey Wheat, 24% Appalachian Malted Wheat, 8% Dark Malted Wheat, 8% Caramel Malted Wheat
Style: Single Barrel Collection Release
Proof: Barrel Proof (Varies by barrel)
SRP: $70 / 750mL
What’s different:
Chattanooga Confluence Project: Volume 1
Age: 6 Years, 6 Months
Fermentation: 78 Fahrenheit, 7 Days
Yeast: Blend of Two House Yeasts (Bourbon and malt whiskey yeast)
Distillation Proof: 132-133
Release Size: 11 Barrels
Availability: On-site and via Seelbach’s
Additional Details:
New Riff Confluence Project: Volume 1
Age: 6 Years, 5 Months
Fermentation: 68 Fahrenheit, free rise to 90 Fahrenheit, 4 Days
Yeast: Standard House Yeast (Bourbon and rye strain)
Distillation Proof: Beer Stills 120, Doubler 135
Release Size: 16 Barrels
Availability: New Riff Whiskey Club, onsite, and online
Additional Details:
Cooperage includes the following variants:
Tasting Notes
Chattanooga Confluence Project: Volume 1 (Barrel V1C)
N: Caramel | Honey | Cinnamon bun | Allspice
P: Candy apple | Caramel | Pie crust | Cinnamon | Sweet
F: Baking spices | Cinnamon candy | Toasted oak | Nougat | Long
New Riff Confluence Project: Volume 1
N: Cocoa | Clove | Cinnamon | Allspice
P: Milk chocolate | Graham cracker | Caramel | Honey | Allspice
F: Allspice | Cinnamon | Peppery oak | Malt-steeped tea | Lingering warmth
The Confluence Project is a deep dive into the current state of American whiskey making, highlighting the whiskey renaissance we’re currently experiencing. It’s the first chapter in a story about collaboration and competition; two core elements that permeate throughout nearly every facet of American whiskey. Volume 1 is the first chapter in what is hopefully a long story featuring two of the country’s premier craft distilleries, which have made waves since their beginnings, experimenting with different production techniques within the American whiskey space.
