Rounding out my tours of the local distilleries in the Scenic City, I stopped in at Gate 11 Distillery where Wanda Lee, the wife of distiller Bill Lee, gave me a personal tour of their small batch distillery located inside the Choo Choo Terminal building.
Bill is a former chemical engineer and the brains behind the distillery’s design, construction and distilling. Wanda is a retired teacher who is the mastermind of botanical blending and formulas. Together the couple founded Gate 11 in 2018.
Compared to Dam Whiskey and Chattanooga Whiskey, the distillery is much smaller but also much more complex stretching from the ground floor and upwards to a second floor where a lot of chemical science and distillation occurs. The bar area is quaint and comfortable.
Wanda said the name came from the fact that where their distillery starts and ends was called Gate 11 of the former train station…