Virginia Gentleman - what's the story?

I bought a bottle of this a couple of years ago and was a tad baffled - it was not a bad drop as I recall. I understand Bourbon Whiskey can be made anywhere but can only be called such on the label if it comes from Kentucky. Is this correct?

Just like Jack and George Dickle (thought often confused for Bourbon) are Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskeys.

I remember seeing on the label that this was "Straight Bourbon Whiskey" produced in Virginia. I kind of wondered about this at the time but put it to the back of my mind.

How is it that they can call it Bourbon on the label, if it is not produced in the glorious homeland of my fave tipple?

It's a myth that bourbon has to be made in Kentucky. Virginia Gentleman is Straight Bourbon Whiskey, but not Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
Another example of non-Kentucky bourbon whiskey is A.H. Hirsch.

Virginia Gentleman is actually originally distilled at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort & then shipped to the Bowman Distillery near Fredericksburg, VA, where it is redistilled, barrelled, and aged. (The barrels are just kept upright on pallets in a normal sort of storage warehouse, btw, - no special rickhouse or anything.)

I think the VG90 is quite good.

This recently became available in Australia, so I'm very keen to try a bottle. If anyone has any tasting notes, I'd sure be happy to read em :D

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Originally Posted by Sijan

Virginia Gentleman is actually originally distilled at Buffalo Trace in Frankfort & then shipped to the Bowman Distillery near Fredericksburg, VA, where it is redistilled, barrelled, and aged. (The barrels are just kept upright on pallets in a normal sort of storage warehouse, btw, - no special rickhouse or anything.)

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Sijan already nailed it, but yeah, this is a very odd product. Buffalo Trace provides the "base" which has already been distilled twice.

It goes through a third distillation in Virginia, and is aged there in upright barrels. I've never tried it, reviews have actually been pretty good if I remember correctly.

I enjoy the 90 proof bottling very much, but I find the 80 proof expression is best left on the bottom shelf.

Spirits of Kentucky:
Small-Batch and Single-Barrel Bourbons Revive the Good Old Days of Whiskey
by Mark Vaughan

This article is featured on the Bourbon History page
Read it now

As with French-appellation wines, there are strict laws governing just what a Bourbon must be to be labeled as such. For example, at least 51 percent of the grain used in making the whiskey must be corn (most distillers use 65 to 75 percent corn). Bourbon must be aged for a minimum of two years in new, white oak barrels that have been charred. Nothing can be added at bottling to enhance flavor, add sweetness or alter color. Though technically Bourbon can be made anywhere, Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on the bottle. And as Kentucky distillers are quick to point out, Bourbon is not Bourbon unless the label says so.

The power of the Search function never ceases to amaze me.

Formal tasting notes of "The Fox" may be found here.

There are also many, less formal comments worth looking at. If you are interested, go to the Advanced Search function. Search with "virginia gentleman fox" as keywords. Select older than one year. Choose to display the results by post, not by thread. The aforementioned link will show up, but many others will, as well.

In one of the results there's even mention of the issue of Chuck Cowdery's Bourbon Country Reader wherein he reviewed this bourbon. At the time of that post, reprints were available.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

Cheers for clearing up what VG is and what the score is generally. It's due to passages like the one I last posted that confused me in the 1st palce.

The bottle I had from France was 90 proof and I remember it hit the spot - can't seeing a lower proof doing it any justice as Jeff has pointed out.

You really don't stop learning on here!

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Originally Posted by Ambernecter

Though technically Bourbon can be made anywhere, Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on the bottle. And as Kentucky distillers are quick to point out, Bourbon is not Bourbon unless the label says so.

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But surely this limitation only applies to the wording "Kentucky straight Bourbon whiskey"?

To have Virginia as part of the brand name is no breach of this law, for sure. If this is what you are pointing at, of course.

Ooops! Several postings in just one minute.

I bought a bottle of The Fox because, as a Virginian who used to live in Fairfax (where the stuff was originally made), I felt obligated to try it. I read a lot of good reviews of it, but I decided to play it safe and just buy a little sample bottle rather than a full sized bottle. Which is good, because I could barely finish the 50ml bottle. This stuff is sickeningly sweet and has no bite whatsoever. I actually couldn't bring myself to drink any kind of Bourbon for two days. It's not a bad product per se, it's just not my kind of whiskey. In fact, it's probably my least favorite whiskey of all time.