Cody Y.
Yelp
An easy five star review and Shangri-La for whiskey lovers, Virginia Distillery Company will surprise you with its size, its elegance, and its fabulous spirits.
Where the heck did this place come from? I must be really late to this game, as I didn't even hear about Virginia Distillery Company until my fiancee and I visited a few short weeks ago. It's located in, for all intents and purposes, the middle of the woods just off Route 29, 40 minutes south of Charlottesville. Turn off that road into the forest and emerge to the massive and beautiful whiskey making facilities and tasting room with plenty of parking. The inside of the tasting room is your grandfather's cigar smoking room, with big leather chairs, a fireplace, and a long inviting bar. Don't forget all the seating outside as well, with access to that bar through a retractable glass window. You can pick up all the merchandise you desire as well in the gift shop and book a tour while you're there.
Admittedly, it's a little touristy, but how is the whiskey? Oh, it's easily some of the best in all of Virginia. Per (antiquated but probably for good reasons) VA ABC law, you're only allowed three ounces per day, so you can choose either a three tasting (.5 oz each) of either the whiskey or a mixed drink or a full cocktail (or I guess both and that's it). When we tasted there were six options to choose from, so bring a friend and you can try everything on the menu. Our bartender was fantastic and enthusiastic, giving us suggestions and trivia, and even little droppers to add some water to the whiskey so we can see the changes in taste. Best $10 we spent that trip.
We started with their Commonwealth Collection whiskey, the Chardonnay Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whiskey. As the name suggests, the whiskey (which is brought over from Scotland and finished in VA) is finished in Chardonnay barrels, which gives the already smooth whiskey some complexity and fruit flavors, such as pear and apple and a hint of vanilla. After that, we were ready to try the flagship Port Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky, which goes for $65 a bottle and was extremely well reviewed. I'm not a whiskey guy nor know that much about it, but even my novice sensibilities understood that this was extremely well-crafted, flavorful, and rich whiskey. I love the idea of cask finishing the whiskey in wine barrels (from nearby King Family and Veritas Vineyards), and as a wine guy I can appreciate those additional flavors of toffee and raisins. The rest of the tasting were cocktails, with all recipes available on their website. The most interesting and maybe my favorite was the Highlander's Duel, which features the aforementioned whiskey mixed with coffee and orange juice. It shouldn't work but it really does, and why this isn't a staple of brunches along with bloody mary's and mimosas I will never know. So if there can be only one (cocktail), pick this one.
Overall, I walked out of Virginia Distillery Company seriously contemplating starting to drink whiskey. They produce some interesting and high quality whiskey here, and the beautiful facilities just completes the experience and more than justifies the drive. A must visit for the area and really any area even remotely nearby.