THE ORIGINAL PIONEERS OF DISTILLING

In 1927, before establishing Virginia’s oldest distillery, A. Smith Bowman purchased the 7,200-acre Sunset Hills farm in Fairfax County with one objective—to open up a dairy and granary. Shortly after bringing the idea to life, his fields became so abundant that he needed a use for the excess grain. This one defining moment changed the entire course of the Bowman legacy and ultimately lead to the best whiskey in the world.

In 1934, A. Smith Bowman built a groundbreaking distillery on the farm land and turned it into a family-owned business. With the help of his two sons, he produced the first ever batch of Virginia Gentleman. Up until the 1950s, A. Smith Bowman Distillery was the sole producer of legal whiskey in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since then, the focus has shifted from our classic spirit to producing premium handcrafted small batches and experimental editions that embody innovation at its core.

Today, our historic family-owned distillery has relocated to Fredericksburg, yet still continues to balance our long-lived traditions, honoring one of Virginia’s great pioneers. Most recently in 2016 and 2017, A. Smith Bowman Distillery was awarded the “World’s Best Bourbon” at the World Whiskies Awards.

OUR TIME-HONORED PROCESS

A. Smith Bowman Distillery | Fermentation

The first step in the distilling process is fermentation. For this process, we grind NON-GMO corn and cook it to draw out the natural sugar. Then we add our proprietary yeast strains, which convert the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide within a few days time. At this stage, the liquid is called “wash.”

Next, the wash is distilled. We’ve named our two stills George and Mary, paying homage to the mother and father of the Bowman brothers. Mary is our oldest still, while George is our newest 500-gallon hybrid pot. Once in the stills, the wash is heated and the vapor is condensed and collected as a liquid. This is known as “white dog.” Fun fact: Our bourbons are typically triple distilled.

The third step in our distilling process is maturation. Depending on the product, it can mature for many years. Lucky us, we get to take the first sips and decide when each barrel is ready to be bottled! From the very beginning days up until now, our attention to detail shows up in every tasty sip as we stay true to our traditional founding fathers and make our product the right way.

Our spirits are proudly hand bottled by Virginians, all in-house. Our bottling line can comfortably accommodate six people, but we typically operate it with merely half of that. It’s crazy to imagine that a passionate distillery team of just six folks can successfully supply bourbon across the U.S., isn’t it?

MEET OUR MASTER DISTILLER

His Innovative Spirit Lead to Ours

Brian Prewitt knows a thing or two about producing award-winning whiskey. Since 2013, the Colorado-raised master distiller has carried on A. Smith Bowman’s family traditions and earned a plethora of prestigious accolades, most notably the “World’s Best Bourbon” two years in a row.

With more than 20 years of experience in the brewing and distilling industry, we can assure you that Brian has never had a dull moment. His career has been centered around innovativeness for many years, which is just one of many reasons why he’s an integral part of the success of our distillery. Brian loves pushing the limits and experimenting with new ingredients, in addition to introducing new cutting-edge technology to the team.

When asked about his role as Master Distiller at A. Smith Bowman Distillery, Prewitt stated, “This is my dream job. To be able to work with the high quality spirits that are in the Bowman line already, plus have the freedom to try my hand at some experiments, well, I’m just ecstatic.”

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OUR TEAM

At A. Smith Bowman Distillery, we’re one big family. As you can see, there’s a plethora of folks who keep our process flowing as smooth as our spirits. We all come from different walks of life, but share a passion for excellence — both in and out of our facility. Meet our amazing team below and click our pictures to learn more!