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.
“Not much more thought went into naming it,” she said.
Listening to Wanda talk about the filters of pure copper and the distillates needed to formulate their rum, whiskey, gin, absinthe, and agave was like being in a science class yet fun and entertaining. Every spirit is bottled on-site and labeled in-house.
Wanda said their agave is basically tequila but because it is not distilled in Jalisco Mexico, they can’t call it tequila. She added they do source some of the agave from Jalisco to produce top quality Salazar Blanco, Salazar Reposado and Salazar Anejo. She said they call their rum brand Patois because it’s made using French and British methods with molasses and cane sugar.
Wanda is also the master scientist behind their newest blend and product line - Absinthe.
Distilled with whole botanicals using time-honored methods, their Infâme brand of absinthe takes you back in time when absinthe was once banned from being made or served.
Wanda developed two Absinthe products, Verte and Blanche.
I was able to see the liquids moving through the stills and watch the magic happen right in front of me. She showed me the machine Bill designed and built to extract the maximum amount of anise for their absinthe.
She explained the importance of breaking down the still to clean them and even showed me an app on her phone that helps her know what needs to be done to proof a specific spirit.
“Geez, they have an app for everything,” I said and she nodded in agreement. She said Bill could do the proof formulation process in his head.
After the tour I sat at the bar where Zintia (“Z”) showed me the products I could sample. She also taught me a bit more about each spirit. First, she mentioned that each spirit is distilled three times. She said I should try their gin because it was among the fourth best in the world.
Fourth best in the world from this tiny distillery?
Well, according to Edible Nashville Magazine, in April 2026, Gate 11 Distillery’s flagship Gin was named among the world’s best by the Beverage Tasting Institute and featured in Forbes. The spirit was awarded an exceptional rating of 93/100, on par with some of the world’s finest.
How about that!
The gin had this perfect balance between floral and herbal tones. It didn’t burn going down and had a delicate after taste. I tried one of their whiskeys. It had woodsy notes and went down smoothly. Their 151 overproof rum reminded me of Bacardi Gold which is how “Z” described it after our conversation revealed she was of Puerto Rican descent, and I was from Cuban descent, meaning we know our Bacardi. She said their aged rum makes a perfect Cuba Libre so, of course, I sampled that one as well.
Wanda asked how I was doing and she mentioned that on Monday nights they have live Blues Jams with live musicians. Tuesday evenings they host Chattanooga’s only Comedy Challenge, and they have Cocktail classes where you can learn how to create various types of drinks throughout the year. Each cocktail class is $30 for ages 21 and up and you’ll learn how to make two cocktails per class. Throughout the rest of the week, Gate 11 hosts a variety of different musical performers.
Gate 11 Distillery is also part of the Tennessee Whiskey Trail. Monday and Tuesday they’re open from 1-11 p.m. Wednesday from 1-10 p.m. Thursday from 1-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 7 p.m.
Book a tour online.
Gate 11 Distillery
- 1400 Market Street, Suite 108, Chattanooga, TN
- (423) 762-4763
- www.gate11distillery.com