NEW PRODUCT RELEASE: Silverback ups their game on Virginia Honey Rye Whiskey.

Their best selling 70 Proof Blackback Honey Rye now has a big bother, 90 Proof Silverback Alpha Series Honey Rye Whiskey. Made with a local Honey liqueur and Virginia Rye, this recipe is a winner.
https://www.sbdistillery.com/

Crafted from a 65% Rye mash bill and aged for a minimum of 4 years. This rye malt creation from Cape Charles Distillery results in spicy notes with a sweet, subtle fruity body. 90 Proof. Congrats on producing a beautiful bottle of Virginia Rye LOVE! 
​

3 Roanoke natives, Tim, Brian and Andy decided a while back to bring something to their hometown that had not been done in over 100 years.  Founded in 2020, Brady's Distillery offers carefully blended and aged craft spirts. https://bradysdistillery.com/

The distillery is located at  711 Pocahontas Ave Ne, Roanoke, VA 24012

Featuring their Toasted Rye:
"2 years and the rye is good.  It's amazing how much flavor a rye whiskey can pull from a barrel in such a short amount of time.  Bourbon has such subtle nuances that take many more years for the flavors to mellow.  A rye whiskey has a spiciness to it that lends itself to a more oak forward flavor that you get during the first few years of aging.  So we took it a step forward.  We got toasted barrels (not just the barrel head, the whole barrel) and transferred the two year rye into a toasted barrel for a secondary aging process.  It has been amazing to watch the flavor change so drastically week by week, month by month, until we got it right where we wanted it.  Look for our twice aged, double oaked, rye whiskey coming soon." - Brady's Distillery

Congratulations Ragged Branch on taking home The Best-in-Category for your delicious Virginia Straight Rye! 2022 New Orleans Spirits Competition. 

Ragged Branch Distillery, a farm-to-bottle whiskey distillery in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is proud to announce a sweeping victory at the prestigious New Orleans Spirits Competition. Three Ragged Branch bottled-in-bond whiskeys took home Best of Category awards, outshining a worthy class of contenders and showcasing the hard work and craftsmanship of the artisan distillery. https://www.raggedbranch.com/

• Ragged Branch Straight Rye – Bottled in Bond: Best of Category, Straight Rye Whiskey

• Ragged Branch Signature Bourbon – Bottled in Bond: Best of Category Bourbon, Bottled in Bond
• Ragged Branch Wheated Bourbon – Bottled in Bond: Best of Category, Wheated Bourbon, Bottled in Bond

"We couldn't be prouder that the whiskeys we sent to New Orleans are coming home with such distinguished awards," says Alex Toomy, founding partner and head distiller at Ragged Branch Distillery. "We work hard every day to make the best whiskey we can, and it's wonderful to receive independent affirmation that we're succeeding."

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ragged-branch-bourbons-and-rye-take-home-best-of-category-awards-at-2022-new-orleans-spirits-competition-301601839.html?fbclid=IwAR0kfyqK2G8RURcLOdhAwX87dq1eTkIfF4pcKW41GzRqmpg_Q6yMGGAmDps

Virginia is for Rye Lovers series. #4

Enjoy Virginia Rye Whiskey from the wettest county in US history. Franklin County, Virginia. Visit Twin Creeks Distillery https://www.twincreeksdistillery.com/ and Franklin County Distillers. https://fcdmoonshine.com/

Three Crosses Noble Hound Dark Virginia Rye takes home Double-Gold in the NY International Spirits Competition! And was scored at 96 points. Congratulations!

The NY International Spirits Competition received more than 1400 products from 39 different countries this year. Among all those entries, the judges unanimously awarded Noble Hound Dark Rye a Double Gold Medal. This unique Virginia Rye whiskey by Three Crosses is a traditional high rye whiskey finished in port-style wine barrels.

Three Crosses also won the NYIS Virginia Flavored Whiskey Distillery of the Year Award. Visit Three Crosses in Powhatan, Virginia for a taste of great Virginia Whiskies.
http://www.threecrossesdistilling.com/

Report from Three Crosses Distilling Company:

"TWO SILVERS AND A GOLD - Our spirits each brought home awards this year from the US Whiskey Championship. If you haven't tried our whiskeys yet, come see why they are award winning." - Three Crosses 
​
Congrats on the GOLD for Noble Hound Virginia Dark Rye! And a SILVER for Noble Hound Virginia Rye.

​Report from Catoctin Creek Distillery, Purcellville, Virginia:

" We have arrived at Mecca: the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, London. So proud just to be in this building, 133 years of cocktail history. Hullo, London! How's about some fine Virginia rye?"

Check out the replay of the new ZAVVY conversation with Catoctin Creek co-founder and Head Distiller Becky Harris. Learn just how much see knows about making beautiful Virginia Ryes.
https://zavvy.co/movie/3-29-a-sip-of-knowledge-with-catoctin-creek-distilling/?fbclid=IwAR1gL7LgSulkQ-5ox6EdDdfrlsQi8NeZukgFWfjODiSKha21ScUfGKENwyo

Lots of Virginia Rye Whiskey LOVE in the new Whisky Advocate magazine RYE issue. Congratulations to Catoctin Creek Distilling and Copperfox Distillery on some great ratings.

KO DISTILLING DISTILLER’S RESERVE RYE
Country: USA
Region: Virginia
Type: Rye
Bottler: Distiller
ABV: 50%
Score: 90 points

KO Distilling Distiller's Reserve Rye. Image courtesy KO Distilling. This bottled in bond rye was matured for four years and seven months, and the nose has nice warm notes of baking spices, black cherries, a hint of peaches, and a soft oakiness. The taste is full of black cherries, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and hints of peaches, red apples, caramel, and vanilla in the background. The spices linger nicely on the finish with a nice balance. (March, 2022)
https://whiskycast.com/ratings/ko-distilling-distillers-reserve-rye/

Third in the "Virginia is for Rye Lovers" series.

Get out to the village of Powhatan, Virginia and enjoy the award winning spirits created by the Davenports at Three Crosses Distilling Company. Especially intriguing is their Noble Hound Dark Virginia Rye Whiskey.

Besides creative libations and friendly service, you will experience tasty food from their full service gastro bar, and lots of fun events. http://www.threecrossesdistilling.com/

Lycurgus Ezekiel Savage (1827-1893) established L.E. Savage's Sons Virginia Rye Whiskey Distillery, Kernstown, VA (Northern Shenandoah Valley) in 1868 with S.R. Pritchard. He gained full control of the business in 1875 after Pritchard's death and eventually moved it to the nearby city of Winchester and added salesrooms in the region. Joseph H. Savage continued the business after his father's passing. In 1907 you could bring your own jug to the distillery and pick up a gallon for between $1.58 and $2.95 per gallon depending on the age.

Virginia Rye Distillers take home the bacon in the 2022 Best of the Blue Ridge Readers Choice Awards from Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine.

Congratulations to Five Mile Mountain Distillery, Twin Creeks Distillery, Silverback Distillery, and Catoctin Creek Distilling!

Top Distillery Winner - Five Mile Mountain Distillery (Floyd, Va.)
Named for one of the main roads used to transport moonshine out of the area during Prohibition, Five Mile Mountain Distillery is continuing southwest Virginia’s storied history of producing spirits. “Being from this area, we were always around moonshine,” said co-owner and distiller Patrick Sisk. “People were constantly making it in their sheds.” You can visit the tasting room and sit on the porch as you sip favorites like Five Mile’s Elderberry Moonshine. Made from grains sourced locally in a distillery the owners renovated themselves, these spirits combine the traditions of the past with the innovation of the present.

Runners Up
Twin Creeks (Rocky Mount, Va.)
Silverback Distillery (Afton, Va.)

Top Spirits Winner -
Peg Hatcher’s Straight (Rye) Whiskey—Twin Creeks Distillery (Rocky Mount, Va.)

Runners Up
Tie – Big Level Bourbon—Smooth Ambler Spirits (Maxwelton, W.Va.) and Amaro Flora—Eda Rhyne (Asheville, N.C.) Roundstone Rye—Catoctin Creek (Purcellville, Va.)

From our friends at Reservoir Distillery in Richmond, VA.

Reservoir’s Cask Experience. A very limited release and special collaboration with renowned French cognac maker Francois Voyer, a wheated Virginia Rye Whiskey finished in cognac cask, 86 proof. 

NEWS from Phenomenal Spirits, Virginia Beach, VA: "First barrel pick of the year heading to beautiful Australia and we couldn’t be more excited. At 58.9% ABV, this handcrafted, blended and rum cask finished Ry3 Whiskey is bottled at Cask Strength."

RY3 continues to expand their unique blended Virginia Rye across the globe. Learn more by visiting: https://www.ry3whiskey.com/ 
​

The first in a series of ads promoting the Virginia Rye Trail. 

From The Whiskey Jar in Charlottesville, Virginia: "Ever wanted to try two Virginia whiskeys you've never had for the price of one? Monday-Friday 3-6 = 1/2 off Virginia whiskeys! It's a 2022 miracle!"

It's a great place to hang on on the Charlottesville Downtown Pedestrian Mall and they have a wonderful selection of Virginia Ryes. 
​

The latest issue of Chilled Magazine covers two of the leading Virginia Rye Brands, KO Distilling and Catoctin Creek. KO's new release of their Distiller's Reserve Bottled-in-Bond Straight Virginia Rye, which has received many accolades, is front and center. Master Distiller and Co-founder Becky Harris of Catoctin Creek is featured in a multiple part interview, see more on the magazine website.   ​https://chilledmagazine.com/catoctin-creeks-becky-harris-talks-women-in-whisky

Axe Handle Distilling in Pennington Gap becomes the latest stop on the Virginia Rye Trail. Located all the way in the tip of Southwest Virginia, this custom built distillery and music venue offers great views, great whiskey, music, food and fun for all.

With 21 stops, the Virginia Rye Trail now covers the entire state, north, south, east and west. Making it easy for you to venture out and discover a Virginia Rye maker near you.
Virginia Rye Trail Map