Peyton Manning and other celebrities launch Tennessee bourbon inspired by golf course
Peyton Manning and other celebrities are launching a Tennessee bourbon whiskey inspired by a “hand-crafted masterpiece” golf course.
The retired football star is joined by former tennis player Andy Roddick, singer Drew Holcomb and others in the creation of Sweetens Cove Tennessee Bourbon. Tennessee residents will get the first shot to buy the inaugural batch of 500 bottles when online sales begin next week — with availability to others expected to follow.
The bourbon is inspired by the Sweetens Cove Golf Club, a 9-hole course ranked among the best in the country with a “cult following” in a “breathtaking setting” near Chattanooga. Among it’s traditions, first timers take a shot of whiskey on the first tee.
Manning and much of the same cast behind the bourbon took ownership of the course in 2019.
Manning, who was known for drinking Budweiser after a football win, told Esquire he’s no bourbon expert and still considers himself a beer drinker.
“Like a lot of things I’ve done, it’s: Let’s go find a great team,” Manning told Esquire. “We went out and hired a star, got this 13-year aged bourbon distilled in Tennessee. The fact that people do a shot before they play makes it authentic. I’ve trusted in the people who are the experts in this.”
The “star” Manning refers to is Marianne Eaves, the master blender of Sweetens Cove. She is the first female bourbon master distiller since Prohibition in Kentucky, according to the bourbon’s website.
The bourbon will cost $200, according to Esquire.
In the near future, retailers in Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville will sell the whiskey and later expand to bars and restaurants in Georgia, The Tennessean reported.
Mark Rivers, an investor behind the bourbon and the golf course, told The Tennessean the whiskey is a “love letter” to Tennessee.
“Now (the course) has become sort of a pilgrimage site for golf lovers, and I think that’s what we hope with the whiskey as well,” Rivers told the news outlet.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Peyton Manning and other celebrities launch Tennessee bourbon inspired by golf course."