Becca D.
Yelp
A distillery gem nestled among wine country, Virginia! I was doing a week-long staycation in DC and looking for opportunities to branch out and do something different. Looking for some type of booze place that gave tours, I was lead to Catoctin Creek! I booked the tour online the day before to make sure I had a spot.
The distillery sits in the quaint downtown of Purcellville, VA. The space was beautiful and rustic! I approached the bar and said I was there for a tour, party of one they asked? That's me! They even had a little reservation sign with my name on it sitting at the bar for my arrival. Since I had gotten there a bit earlier before the tour, they suggested I do my tasting first. I had opted to splurge for the cocktail flight. I was then presented with an adorable board of 3 cocktails - an eggnog type, a Mexican hot chocolate type (both with rye) and the Poinsheddia which had their gin. First off, you should know that I hate eggnog with a fiery passion but this was no typical eggnog and I really enjoyed it! It was a homemade concoction, not that junk you get in the grocery store, and that made all the difference for me. The hot chocolate was sooo good and was garnished with some marshmallows. And my favorite, the Poinsheddia, was very refreshing and surprisingly very approachable for a gin drink!
Ok, now onto the tour! Which was just in the back rooms. It was really neat to learn about the process and seeing them making everything while we were back there. I've been on both winery and brewery tours before, but this was my first distillery tour. It's crazy how popular Catoctin Creek has become and awesome to hear their need to expand due to their popularity! Also super cool to hear that the founder was the first female distiller in the State of VA!
After the tour, went back to the tasting bar to finish my drinks and I also got one full pour - I went with the Buttered Rye. I have never had anything like this before and man was it perfect on this cold day! I hung out for a bit, sipping my drink and checking out the tasting room. Ended up buying a book and the small gift pack with the white whiskey, rye, and gin. I was told to hold on to the whiskey as long as possible since it's not readily available!
Only minor downside was that the staff didn't really engage with me while I was at the bar. There were other people there, but all with groups, so I was on my own (which is fine). But they pretty much only spoke to me when dropping of my tasting pours and I actually had to grab someone to get my Buttered Rye. No idea if this amount of people was busy for them (it didn't seem like a lot) but the staff was super nice when I did talk to them. In any case, I def will be back and want to try one of their dinners at some point in the future!