Monday, October 31, 2011

A day at A. Smith Bowman Distillery

This past Saturday I traveled to Fredericksburg, VA with about a dozen other folks to meet up with Truman Cox, the new Master Distiller at A. Smith Bowman Distillery. The day started off with snow, and plenty of it. I've lived here in the Northern VA area for 26 years and don't ever remember snow in October and that's because maybe it hasn't. The last snowfall in October was 1979. I'm not a lover of snow so clearing my vehicle of about 2 inches of snow wasn't a good start. Thankfully the weather didn't temper the anticipation of the distillery visit as well as the planned barrel tasting.

We arrived shortly before 11:00 a.m. and were met outside by Truman. I'm not sure what a typical Master Distiller is supposed to look like but Truman reminded me more of my brother in law ready to sit down with a beer and watch the Sunday game or maybe grab his bow and spend an afternoon sitting in a tree stand. Truman was affable and polite at first but shortly he realized that our group were a bunch of wiseacres and quickly adjusted his posture to dishing it out which kept us laughing throughout the afternoon.

Sazerac purchased A. Smith Bowman late in 2003. At the time and up until about two months ago the Master Distiller was Joe Dangler who worked for Bowman for about 32 years. Back in 1927 Abram Bowman moved to Virginia and purchased about 4,000 acres in the area now known as Reston and started Sunset Hills Farm establishing a dairy and eventually added cattle where the beef and dairy were sold to the local community as well as the White House. After prohibition Bowman began distilling around 1935 and produced Virginia Gentleman. Reston, VA was the first planned community in the U.S. and as such zoning laws were rather strict so while the reasons for moving the operation to Fredericksburg in 1988 may be multiple, Truman indicated one of the reasons for the move was due to increasing real estate prices which my own speculation would include an increase in personal property taxes.

Sazerac is investing some serious capital into the distillery which interestingly enough, the land is still owed by the Bowman family. Upgrades and renovations are currently underway as the distillery buildings smell of fresh paint and fresh coats of sealer on being applied to the floors in some of the buildings. The bottling operation for the Bowman value bourbons has been moved out of the facility and is now operated out of the Barton-Maryland (formerly Majestic) plant. The visitor center will reside in one of the existing buildings and is currently going through construction.

For the most part, Truman was forthright and answered some aggressive questioning in an honest and open manner. When he couldn't answer the question directly, he made that known.

The tour finished up in the storage warehouse where pallets were stacked one on top of the other with barrels of bourbon stored upright. On the floor in the corner were five barrels of 14 year old bourbon ready for tasting. The particular group I associate with have purchased 15 barrels of bourbon in the last 2 1/2 years so this process was nothing new to us. It was new to Bowman as our group is the first to conduct an on-site pick of the new Bowman barrel selection program. We were thrilled that this tasting included a nicely aged selection. Truman popped the bung on the first barrel (like a pro, bung was out after two hits). He asked for volunteers for the second barrel to which I happily stepped forward and four strikes with the wooden mallet on the barrel next to the bung hole produced the expected result. Each barrel was tasted at proof and again at 100 proof. These barrels would be bottled as John J. Bowman which is labeled at 100 proof. My personal preference would be to take it at barrel proof but at this time (repeat, at this time), that's not an option. After tasting through the barrels, a selection was made and now we'll discuss as a group on how to go forward.

During the tour Truman brought out three Bowman products; Bowman Brothers Small Batch (replaces Virginia Gentleman "The Fox"), John J. Bowman a single barrel and Abraham Bowman barrel strength. John J. and Abraham were both very nice both of which I purchased in the makeshift gift shop. I'll provide reviews in a separate blog entry.

I would like to thank Truman publicly for being a gracious host and taking the time to have lunch with the group after the tour and tasting. In spite of the crappy weather, it was a great day touring the distillery, tasting some great whiskey and socializing with likeminded dorks.

15 comments:

  1. "Bowman as our group is the first to participate in the new Bowman barrel selection program" - nice review, but this statement is not true. You could "among the first"

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  2. I forget where I read about this distillery and the barrel strength product but it sounded great. Hoping to score a bottle someday but I'm guessing I'll have to do that online or on my next swing thru VA since Miami doesn't seem to get anything new when it first comes out (except Angel's Envy but that's because a few investors in that company are down here). Thanks for sharing, sounds like a good trip!

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  3. Wade - I saw the barrel picks by the other group so you are correct. I'll rephrase and say, we were the first to conduct an on-site barrel selection.

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  4. Steve - I would encourage a stop off at Bowman on your next trek through VA as they are right off I95. The 18 year is worth seeking out.

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  5. Greg, What group is it you associate with that buys barrels and for what reason do you buy them? Are you a distributor of some sort?

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  6. Ryan

    It's a group of like minded enthusiasts and the barrel picks are for personal consumption. Years past my discretionary dollars were spent on retail bourbon offerings but now the focus is on personal picks.

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  7. Wow, that's really cool. If you don't mind me asking, approximately how much do you pay for a full barrel of good whiskey? And the distilleries are receptive to private purchase of single barrels like this?

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  8. Ryan - the cost depends on a couple of factors but for personal reasons, I don't talk about the financial end. There are a number of distilleries that have barrel purchase programs; Four Roses, Kentucky Bourbon Distillers and Buffalo Trace just to name a few. Purchasing a barrel isn't as hard as it may appear, you just need to do some leg work to set up the relationship/distribution to your local retailer.

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  9. What were the 15 barrels purchased?

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  10. Barrel picks came from Four Roses, Kentucky Bourbon Distillers and Buffalo Trace. The Four Roses were all barrel strength that ranged in age from 9-11 years. Willetts (KDB) also barrel strength ranged from 6-18 years and the Old Weller (BT) are 8 year at 107.

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  11. The first barrel picks of Bowman Whiskey were actually done via samples and that was their cask strength Rye. It was picked by Jay at the Party Source. Jay also picked Bowman's first private cask strength bourbon which was the 18YO. So clearly Jay holds the distinction of being the first buyer of Bowman Private Barrels.

    There may have been other folks since Jay, who "broke the Bowman cherry", but they probably picked barrels from samples provided for the standard 90 proof shelf offering... nothing like the honey cask strength barrels Jay at TPS selected.

    The group I believe you are speaking of was actually the first group to physically pick from the barrels at the Bowman distillery in Virginia with the Master Distiller.... there is always something special about picking at the distillery directly from the actual barrel.

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  12. Greg, great post! My brother lives in Fred'burg and I'm definitely visiting during the turkey-day holiday. My other brother recently gave me a bottle of Wasmunds'single malt (there in Rappahonnock, Sperryville to be exact), have you every tried them?

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  13. Deadbait - I've had the Wasmunds and for me, not to my taste as I'm not fan of very young whiskey. The one caveat being a 3 year Willett Rye barrel strength that's quite good. I used to live in F'burg; great town and great history. If you have time, stop by Bowman and grab a bottle of the John J or Abraham Bowman; both are great. You won't find the AB 18 year in VA ABC yet. Due to stupidity by this Gov't run entity they are using the same stock number for the barrel strength 18 yr bourbon as they did with the last release that was a barrel strength rye. So, they won't stock the shelves with the 18 year bourbon until all the Rye is sold out. I know, sounds kooky but that's the way it is here in the Commonwealth.

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  14. Hey Greg- I am hoping to put together a private group tour in early December to the A. Smith Bowman distillery - if I'm in the Northern VA area - is there another trip you suggest? Or, a great lunch/dinner option in Fredericksburg for after the tour?

    Thanks!

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  15. Casey - you should enjoy that tour and hopefully Truman will be available to host your group. I would highly suggest you pick up the Bowman 18 year in the gift shop as it's a very good bourbon. As for lunch, I would visit Blue and Gray Brewery. They age some of their brews in used Bowman bourbon barrels. The food is decent and the beer is pretty good also.

    http://blueandgraybrewingco.com/

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