A gentleman I know did this. He said years ago he and several friends decided they would move south from their area that was getting too crowded. They got out a map and one guy closed his eyes and pointed to a spot. Turned out it was in Virginia, towards the south west. They all moved to that area and love it.
I've never tasted and know nothing about good or bad bourbon or whiskey but I read there is a controversy over which is which. I found some stuff about TN bourbon:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-ten...ave-the-answer I know when we travel to Europe when people find out we came from TN they almost always light up and say "Jack Daniels!"
Anywhere close to the big cities of Memphis or Nasheville will be loaded with people. Chattanooga and Knoxville are significantly smaller. The areas between can be out-in-the-sticks rural or with farms everywhere. A LOT of people seem to be moving to the areas around Crossville and Cookville and friends there say the prices are rising like crazy, probably in other areas too. I'd still say take a look at East TN. Areas both east and west of Knoxville have a lot of gently rolling hills covered with farms. Take a drive through the mountains, maybe on the Foothills parkway and stop at the overlooks. You can get way out in the sticks if you don't want neighbors or fairly close to an interstate if you like to be out and about. The far east towards NC and Asheville and south can be pretty mountainous (or "hilly" if you are used to the Rockies), expensive to build on but the views can be incredible.
There is a huge amount of rural land between the TN cities. If you zoom in and scroll around the satellite pictures you can get an idea of what areas are less dense and likely to be less expensive, if that is an issue. If you want land on the water it seems sky high everywhere. For example a realtor friend told me undeveloped land along the Clinch River below Norris Lake is generally appraised at $100,000 and acre for tax purposes and that's not any where near the selling prices. Other rural land can be far less expensive, sometimes downright cheap if undeveloped. If you are looking to buy developed land with a decent and fairly new house it still will be nothing like the prices in many other states. There are lots of web sites that compare home prices in different areas and states.
I like areas in North Carolina and Kentucky too - we lived between Winston Salem and Greensboro for some years and went to school in Berea KY - both great areas, very similar to TN of course.
JKJ