Peyton Manning’s New Bourbon Is So Legit I Can’t Even Call It a ‘Celebrity Bourbon’
I must get a press release once a month about a celebrity launching a liquor brand. Kate Hudson with her new vodka. The Rock now has a tequila. The Breaking Bad “hombres” released a mezcal. They all bore me, a drinks writer who's seen pretty much everything. And, yet, I was intrigued when I heard legendary quarterback Peyton Manning was doing his part to bring a bourbon into the world. Say what you will, but Manning is a pitchman par excellence, and his associations with Papa John’s, Nationwide, Mastercard, and Budweiser have often been charming confluences (“Cut that meat!”) of mega-corporation and mega-celebrity, elevating both in the process.
This story starts in early 2019, when Manning, tennis great Andy Roddick, and sports announcer Jim Nantz joined a small ownership group that purchased Sweetens Cove Golf Club. The rural public course, just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is said to be a hidden treasure. It has developed a cult following amongst in-the-know golfers. Costing a mere $25 fee, it’s the only nine-hole track on Golfweek’s Top 100 course rankings. Though, with a gravel parking lot, and no locker room or clubhouse, just a prefabricated shed from Home Depot, it's lacking in the expected amenities. As real estate developer Mark Rivers, a fellow co-owner, told me, “It’s Field of Dream meets Tin Cup.”
It was there, in that no-frills shed, where a course ritual organically started: Each player would take a shot of bourbon before his or her round began. Soon a collection of bourbons and other whiskeys started piling up on a makeshift bookshelf as golfers brought a bottle, took their shots, and then left the rest for future players. “Why don’t we take it to another level here?” thought Rivers one day. “Figure out how to have our own bourbon?”
The group acquired a stash of a hundred barrels of 13-year-old Tennessee bourbon and tapped acclaimed master distiller Marianne Eaves to blend it. She was still pregnant with her daughter earlier this year when she began sampling (and spitting!) each barrel, and was a new mom hunkered down in quarantine by the time she had blended together the final batch at her kitchen table just a few weeks ago.
Only fourteen thousand bottles of Sweetens Cove bourbon will be available to Tennessee residents starting May 26 via pre-sale. By June, the $200 product is expected to surface in Georgia and other markets. I’ve already tried it and found it quite good, with a rich, peanut-y aroma and a mature flavor profile, not unexpectedly heavy on the oak. At a proof of 102.18, this is definitely a bourbon meant for connoisseurs, not just Peyton fan-boys.
“This was never a vanity product, a celebrity product,” says Rivers. Indeed, Manning (and Roddick) are barely in the marketing materials I’ve seen so far. But, even if it isn’t your typical “celebrity bourbon,” I wouldn’t be writing this story if the great Peyton Manning wasn’t involved. So let’s talk to him about it.
ESQ: Where are you quarantining?
PM: We’re in Denver, been here for a while. The kids are finishing school on Monday. We’ve been here probably the majority of time, just trying to keep everybody healthy and safe, thinking about others. My role in homeschooling is I’ve been their P.E. teacher—about all I can help with—making them do all the things my P.E. teacher made me do: up/downs, wall sits, old-school stuff from back when I was in P.E. I tried to do a little math, and I’m asking for help from my wife, how the common denominators work.
ESQ: Any football?
PM: There are lots of parents in the neighborhood who are very hesitant when I say we’re having a flag football practice at 9 o’clock. “Are you going to hit my kid in the face with a football?” [joking] No. But I may do that later in the season if he’s not doing things right.
ESQ: In a way, this bourbon brand starts with golf—what made you want to own a nine-hole public course?
PM: I joined the Honors Course right out of college, right there outside of Chattanooga, in Ooltewah. My wife worked [in Chattanooga] for three years after college, and we have a home there. So we’ve had a great presence in Chattanooga, spent a lot of time there, [that’s where I] worked out in the off-season. I had heard about Sweetens Cove prior to becoming involved, though I’d not played it. Tom Nolan [former president of Ralph Lauren Golf and another co-owner] reached out to me via Brad Faxon. I had no idea what Tom was going to talk about. I said, “Let’s make this real easy. Before we do this over the phone, I’m headed toward Chattanooga, meet me over there.”
ESQ: What did you think?
PM: Any time I enter the state of Tennessee, I feel good. Right away I felt good. I loved everything about it. I love that it’s nine holes, anybody can play it. You can go for a second loop, because there’s two pins on [each hole]. I loved the shed. I probably hung out in the shed as much as playing the golf course, looking at the same shirts for the tenth time. There’s something cozy about it.
ESQ: Did you do the traditional shot of bourbon to start your first-ever round there?
PM: I did. Look, if you’re gonna go in, you gotta go all in. It was kinda a rainy day. That was something I learned was a tradition, which I think is cool. People are leaving a bottle for the next group coming in from Atlanta, or Charlotte. The time I was there, a couple from California was just there playing. We haven’t had to tell anybody how cool this place is, because everybody tells everybody else. That’s the same approach with the bourbon. We’ve hired an all-star in Marianne, and she’s the quarterback of the team. Believe me, I’d be in her huddle any time, she’s a star.
ESQ: You were famous for drinking Budweisers after a big win. What has your relationship been with bourbon throughout your life?
PM: I’ll be honest, I’m not an expert. I still am a beer drinker—that’s been an authentic relationship going back to growing up in New Orleans, where you grow up pretty fast. My dad [another great quarterback, Archie Manning] was a beer drinker, and I followed that suit. Like a lot of things I’ve done, it's: Let’s go find a great team. We went out and hired a star [in Eaves], 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.
ESQ: I understand the golf course is still open during quarantine. Drinking bourbon while golfing might be the only socially safe activity to still do these days.
PM: I agree. Well, I mean, we certainly knew that March was not the right time [to launch the brand, as had been intended]. We’ve tried to be very aware of what’s going on; that was a no-brainer to pull everything. But maybe in some ways this can be part of the recovery process as things get back going and businesses get going. And we’re going to participate in some Covid-19 relief efforts via auctioning off bottles.
ESQ: On Sunday, May 24, you’re teaming up with Tiger Woods to take on Tom Brady and Phil Mickelson in The Match: Champions for Charity at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. You like your chances?
PM: I tried to get it moved to Sweetens Cove. I liked the public course, but it’s Tiger’s home course and I wasn’t going to argue with him. Wherever he was going to want to play it, that’s where it was going to be. It’s a golf event but it’s to raise money for Covid-19 relief [some $10 million has been committed so far] and help a lot of organizations. Look, I’ve realized that we can live without sports and [the pandemic] has probably reemphasized what our priorities should be. But sports can be a distraction from a tough time, so hopefully we can help a little with this golf match.
ESQ: The real question is, are you going to make Tiger have a shot of bourbon before the round?
PM: I need to talk to Tiger about that. I need to see what his routine is. I am going to go down a day or two early to play a practice round. The last time I played that course with Tiger I had a teammate, Brandon Stokley, with me, and we had to play from the “Tiger tees,” which was a lot of fun. But we got to the eighteenth hole and I said, “Hey dude, I’m out of golf balls.” Stokley told me, “All I have is a yellow ball.” I said, “I cannot play a yellow ball in front of Tiger Woods.” I’m digging in the swamp, there’s an alligator nearby, just trying to find a normal golf ball. So I’m going to be leaning heavily on Tiger, and I’ll do whatever his routine is. Actually, I may need a shot of Sweetens Cove to calm my nerves.
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