I have had many inquires as to what happened to Bourbon Bill. Bourbon Bill is back although I never went anywhere in this past Pandemic Year. Life and work got in the way of my writing and blogging. I have missed my readers, and hope to spend a lot of time communicating with you in 2021.

On a recent trip to Virginia, we visited our first distillery of 2021. In January, we took a tour of the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This was time well spend and very serendipitous. This is Virginia’s oldest and most award-winning distillery. Anyone who has spent any time in the bourbon aisle of a good liquor store knows the Bowman name. They make some excellent bourbons at a very reasonable price. I could spend the rest of this article detailing all the top awards they have won in competitions the last few years. Don’t take my word for the quality and taste. This bourbon is available at many liquor retailers.

The distillery offers a complimentary tour every day of the week. A great activity when there is not much you can do right now. We were fortunate while on our tour to have the pleasure of getting to meet and ask questions of Master Distiller Brian Prewitt. Brian was game for all our questions and talked about why they stand their barrels on end. They believe it gives more to the bourbon and they are easier to handle being on pallets. Brian talked most about all the experimental barrels they have in their barrelhouses.

The distillery also makes some very nice gins, which you can only buy at the distillery. We took several home we were so impressed with them. The gift shop has many fun items, and you can buy all their products at the distillery. Virginia has created a Spirits Trail like the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We have made it to six of their distilleries. I highly suggest you do the same.