It all started with a nine-hole golf course near Chattanooga, Tennessee. One night in 2018, real estate developer Mark Rivers and retired tennis great Andy Roddick sat down to discuss the future of golf over a bottle of pinot noir. During the evening, they came across an “endangered” golf course online called Sweetens Cove. What the course lacked in basic amenities, it more than made up for in natural beauty, and the two friends loved Sweeten Cove’s tradition of taking a shot of whiskey on the first tee. They decided then and there to purchase the property and take the venture one step further. “We were on our second bottle [of wine],” Roddick reports, “when we looked at each other and said, ‘Why don’t we make bourbon?’”
The investors they collected include—among others—NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and his brothers Eli and Cooper, pro golfer and Furman alum Brad Faxon, and singer/songwriter Drew Holcomb. Though the partnership comprises some impressive celebrities, it’s Marianne Eaves, Kentucky’s first female Bourbon Master Distiller, who shines as the all-star. “We’re rookies in the bourbon world,” admits Roddick, “so we wanted a pro’s pro to make our bourbon.”
Her 2021 release is a blend of five different lots in three ages—4, 6, and 16 years—all distilled in Tennessee. On the palate, Sweeten Cove’s warm spice gives way to dried citrus fruit and honey, and finishes with a hint of clove and dark red fruit.
Find Sweetens Cove Tennessee-blended straight bourbon whiskey ($200) in Greenville at Bouharoun’s Fine Wines & Spirits, 301 Falls St; bouharouns.com or online at sweetenscovespirits.com
Photographs (Marianne Eaves/Peyton Manning, Andy Roddick, and Drew Holcomb) courtesy of Sweetens Cove.
