RICHMOND, Va. — Nine Virginia craft distilleries, including Richmond's Reservoir Distillery and Virago Spirits, have joined forces to create a limited-edition spirits collection honoring America's 250th birthday. The Virginia Spirits 250th Celebration Trio Pack is now available in ABC stores across the commonwealth.
The pack features collaboratively-made whiskey, gin and rum representing Virginia's role as the birthplace of American spirits.
Only 2,400 three-bottle sets were produced in partnership with Virginia's American Revolution 250 Commission and Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control.
"Virginia is really the birthplace of the United States, and it's also the birthplace of spirits," said Dave Cuttino, founder of Reservoir Distillery in Scott's Addition. "When Kentucky likes to say that they invented bourbon, actually, we did it first."
Cuttino points to Berkeley Plantation, just outside Richmond, where he said Virginia Company settler George Thorpe distilled corn whiskey in 1620, creating what historians believe was America's first aged bourbon when two barrels sat for 15 years before being discovered in his estate.
"We've got this incredible heritage that goes back 400 years, and this project really showcases what we're capable of when we work together," Cuttino said.
Industry Collaboration
The project represents a collaboration among Virginia distillers, organized into three blending teams representing the commonwealth's distinct regions.
The rum blend, dubbed "Coast," was led by Barry Hanenberg of Richmond's Virago Spirits, working with Pete Morgner of Vitae Spirits, Chuck Miller of Belmont Farm Distillery and Chris Richeson of Chesapeake Bay Distillery.
The four-grain whiskey, called "Heartland," was led by Amanda Beckwith of Virginia Distillery Co., with contributions from Scott Harris of Catoctin Creek, Chuck Miller of Belmont Farm, plus spirits from Richmond's Reservoir Distillery and Ironclad Distillery.
The gin, representing Virginia's "Mountains," was led by Peter Ahlf of Mt. Defiance Cidery & Distillery, working with Pete Morgner of Vitae Spirits and Barry Hanenberg of Virago Spirits.
"It's really cool to see how different our approaches are, but when you blend them together, you get something that's greater than the sum of its parts," Cuttino said. "This isn't just Richmond-specific. We're creating something for the whole state and the whole country."
Local Ingredients Tell Virginia's Story
The collaboration showcases what distillers call Virginia's unique "terroir," the combination of local grains, wild yeast, water and climate that creates distinctive flavors impossible to replicate elsewhere.
At Reservoir, head distiller Mary Allison uses corn and wheat from Charles City County and rye from New Kent County, all within 45 minutes of the Scott's Addition facility.
Even the barrels come from Virginia oak trees, creating what Cuttino calls "a fully vertically integrated business."
"Everything in these bottles is all Virginia ingredients," Cuttino said. "You could take our setup and move it to Texas and do the exact same thing, it will not taste the same."
Warehouse manager Nick Vaughan said a six-year-old, 100% wheat whiskey barrel from 2019 was Reservoir's contribution to the state blend.
The wheat whiskey provides "mouth feel and length of finish" that helps "round out sharp edges" of other distillates in the collaborative blend.
Rum Returns to Virginia Roots
The collection's rum component tells an often-forgotten chapter of American history, according to Hanenberg, who led the rum blending team.
"America's first spirit was rum," Hanenberg said. "For a solid 150-plus years, that's what we drank."
Colonial-era Virginia was a major rum trading hub, with Richmond serving as a key port for molasses imported from Caribbean sugar plantations, he said.
George Washington served rum at political events and provided rum rations to Continental Army soldiers.
"When Washington was inaugurated in 1792, he brought two barrels of rum from Barbados because he had spent time there in his youth. Rum was what people drank. We're trying to reintroduce Americans to what rum really can be. It doesn't have to come out of a plastic bottle," Hanenberg said.
Virago's collaboration with distilleries across Virginia created what Hanenberg calls "a sipping rum" that will surprise whiskey drinkers with preconceived notions.
"My favorite person drinking this is a whiskey drinker that says they don't like rum because they think rum is going to be sweet or spiced," Hanenberg said. "They're going to do a double take and say, 'That's a rum?' And their world has just been opened to a whole new range of products."
Art Reflects Virginia's Geography
The packaging, designed by Norfolk artist Mark Todd, features a triptych-style box showing the James River flowing through Virginia's mountains, heartlands and coast.
Each section corresponds with a spirit — gin, whiskey and rum, respectively.
The box includes a window shaped like the James River, allowing the bottles to be viewed inside.
The river serves as a connector between the three regions and represents the shared spirit that runs through all Virginians.
Preserving Craft Traditions
"The Virginia Spirits 250th Celebration Trio Pack is the culmination of more than a year of planning, creativity and collaboration among Virginia's craft distilling industry," said Becky Harris, president of the Virginia Distillers Association. "Each contributor knew they were part of something truly special and a truly collaborative effort that is a trademark of Virginia's distilling community."
The distillers use traditional techniques including open-top fermentation, which allows wild yeast from Richmond's Scott's Addition brewing district to influence flavors.
"We have this really unique micro-environment here in Scott's Addition with all the breweries around us," Cuttino said. "There's wild yeast floating around from all the different alcohol producers, and that's getting into our mash and affecting our flavor profile over time."
Hanenberg called the rum portion of the pack a "challenge" for distillers.
"No one goes to the liquor store and says, 'Let me get that American rum.' That category doesn't exist yet. That's what we need to create, and I think when people taste this, they're going to start thinking differently about the rums they can get from the continental United States," he said.
Celebrating 250 Years
For the distillers, the project helps pay tribute to American resilience and Virginia's foundational role in the nation's story.
"Tastes like revolution. Tastes like victory," Cuttino said when asked to describe Virginia's flavor profile. "There's a lot of things to be really proud of with this country, and there's a lot to celebrate over the last 250 years."
The Virginia Spirits 250th Celebration Trio Pack is available now at select ABC stores statewide. More information is available here.
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