The rotational quantum state population distribution of the nascent HCl (nu' = 0) products of the reaction of Cl(P-2) atoms with methanol has been measured using photoinitiation of reaction and 2+1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization detection of the products. At an average reagent collision energy of 5.6 kcal mol(-1), the HCl (nu' = 0) is formed in a distribution of rotational states which peaks at J' = 3-5, and has a mean rotational energy of (E-rot) = 262 +/- 25 cm(-1) (1 sigma errors). The results are interpreted with reference to recent ab initio calculations of the energetics of the reaction pathway [J.T. Jodkowski et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 102 (1998) 9230], and comparisons are drawn with the much colder rotational distributions for the HCl products of reaction of Cl(P-2) atoms with alkanes.