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Cordials are made by combining fresh, often-local ingredients with neutral spirits, brandy or other spirits. Virginia distillers are creating a variety of interesting, locally-produced cordials that will add depth and dimension to your cocktails. Explore Virginia cordials online or in your local Virginia ABC store.
Founded in 2005, Chesapeake Bay Distillery’s mission is to create spirits of exceptional quality and provide remarkable value to their patrons. Operating just a seashell’s throw from the Virginia Beach oceanfront, distiller Chris Richeson makes Spirits of the Blue Ridge Lemon Liqueur, Cureo Coffee Liqueur and Dr. Stoner’s Hierba Loca Tequila liqueur, in addition to a rum and several vodkas. Using their Spirits of the Blue Ridge Vodka as a base, Spirits of the Blue Ridge Lemon Liqueur has eight fresh-squeezed lemons in every bottle. It’s perfect in the Vanilla Lemon Drop cocktail.
Cureo Coffee Liqueur is a collaboration between Chesapeake Bay Distillery and baristas from a Norfolk coffee shop. It’s made with cold-brewed coffee, is naturally sweetened and is infused with rum. Add ½ oz. to your Old Fashioned or use it in your favorite hot, coffee-based cocktails.
The blue agave tequila used in Dr. Stoner’s Hierba Loca Tequila liqueur is made in Mexico, then infused with natural herba loca, a brand new herbal flavor. Use it in your favorite margarita recipe for a green, fresh kick. Located three blocks from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Chesapeake Bay Distillery offers tastings and tours and sells these and other products in their distillery store. If you can’t make it to the beach, find these products online or in your local Virginia ABC store.
Located in downtown Charlottesville, Vitae Distillery is a family business created by Ian Glomski, a former University of Virginia microbiology professor, his wife Zuzana, an artist and graphic designer and his brother Eric, a former winemaker in Arizona. Their Vitae Orange Liqueur is made from zest of the bitter hardy orange and is sourced from trees in the Charlottesville region. Try it in a Cosmopolitan, or in any recipe calling for triple sec.
A European-style anisette with less sugar and a relatively higher alcohol content, Vitae Anisette has the characteristic licorice flavor of anise seed’s essential oil, anethole. Vitae Spirits also distill rums and gins, as well as special collaborations and specialty products, which they sell from their distillery store. Find these liqueurs and Vitae’s Platinum Rum, Golden Rum and Modern Gin at your local Virginia ABC store or in our online catalog.
Operating out of a renovated three bay garage in downtown Middleburg, Virginia, Mount Defiance combines history, engineering, chemistry, and innovation. Crafting an authentic, French-style absinthe, Mt. Defiance Absinthe incorporates locally-sourced grand wormwood, hyssop and lemon balm with aniseed from Spain and fennel doux from France to produce a superior quality spirit. Use it to wash your glass for a classic Sazerac or enjoy it served the traditional way over sugar cubes in their tasting room. Black currants for their Cassis Liqueur are sourced from New York’s Hudson Valley since Virginia is still under a ban on cultivating this traditional European fruit. The black currants are steeped for three months in high-proof alcohol, then sweetened with beet sugar before bottling. Mt. Defiance Cassis Liqueur won a silver medal in the 2017 American Craft Spirits Association annual competition. Use it in a Kir Royale alongside your favorite champagne or Virginia sparkling wine, or in any cocktail recipe calling for cassis.
Apricot kernels and almonds are the foundation of Mt. Defiance Amaretto. To this base, they add fourteen varieties of nuts, herbs, fruits and spices to produce a delicious after-dinner drink that’s enjoyable on the rocks or in an Amaretto Sour or your favorite amaretto cocktail. You can even use it for baking, like Virginia’s Red Truck Rural Bakery does in their gluten-free almond cake with amaretto. Visit the distillery to explore these and other Mt. Defiance products and watch their products being distilled. You can also use our website to locate a bottle in a Virginia ABC store near you or place an online order.
Spirited Virginia is your guide to new products, creative cocktails, in-store tastings, promotions and what's hot in the world of spirits and entertaining (21 or older).
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