Virginia, a state best known for its presidents, pork, and peanuts, has another product worthy of national recognition. Introduced in 1998, Virginia Gentleman 90 is a small-batch straight bourbon whiskey that might he a little tough to find outside of the tidewater region of the U.S. While this whiskey might be as elusive as a fox, hunting it down will absolutely reward you with one fine tasting liquor.
VG 90 is produced at the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Founded in 1935 by Bowman and his sons, this was the United States oldest family-owned bourbon distillery until its purchase in 2003. Now some of you might have noticed the “Bowman” in the name of the distillery and you are probably familiar with some of their other products. Don’t run off scared just yet, because VG 90 is different. Your first indication of that is the fact that it is actually sold in a glass bottle vice the plastic of many of the other Bowman products. Secondly, in 2003 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, VG 90 took home the Double Gold and Best American Whiskey awards. We aren’t really experts here at BoozeBasher, but we would like to think that the folks at that competition know what they are doing.
Unfortunately for Virginians, they cannot completely lay claim to the above mentioned accolades. VG 90 actually starts its life in an unnamed Kentucky distillery. All signs points to the Buffalo Trace Distillery, but nobody can confirm the source of the Bowman Distillery’s low wine distillates. Once the base distillates arrive from Kentucky, they go into Bowman’s unique copper still for the final round of distillation. A triple filtration and 6 years in a white oak barrel finish up the production of this bourbon. All of these final steps take place in a heavily renovated old cellophane production plant. While the production site’s transformation was amazing, the work that goes on inside the buildings is equally impressive.
Once you crack the wax seal open on a bottle of VG 90 you will realize that your $24 was well spent. The time in the barrel is immediately evident on the first whiff. In fact, the nose on this bourbon is so enjoyable it goes down as one of my favorites. Does it compete with Maker’s Mark? Absolutely not. However, it does beat out a number of other higher priced offerings. Sipping it straight you will discover that it has a little lighter flavor than many other small batch bourbons. It has a surprisingly smooth taste that starts with a nutty/sweet corn flavor that fades into a smokey oak taste with just a hint of citrus and spice. Be careful how long you let it sit with ice as the flavor is easily diluted, and letting bourbon sit around for no good reason is alcohol abuse anyway. When mixing it with cola the smokey oak and spice flavors carry through nicely. Again, don’t be too heavy-handed with the mixers as the flavor is easily drowned out, and you will end up ruining a good thing.
As if you could not figure it out from the name, Virginia Gentlemen 90 is a 90-proof product. When drinking it, you will feel every single proof advertised on the bottle. This stuff did an excellent job of getting me a buzz quickly. It was a relaxed and elated type of buzz that was thoroughly enjoyable. So here we have a liquor that smells good, tastes great, that will get you to a special cloud 9 type of drunk, and is dirt cheap. Is this all too good to be true? Yup. The next morning you will realize that VG 90 is no gentleman at all. I felt as if I had gone several rounds with Mike Tyson, but a quick check for my ears let me know that VG 90 was the only culprit. I had all the symptoms from a good night of drinking: dry mouth, upset stomach, and a pounding headache. Fortunately my misery only lasted until mid-day, but I learned my lesson about drinking too much of this bourbon.
This is Virginia’s only small-batch bourbon. It’s a product that tastes fantastic, gets you nice and toasty, and will take it easy on your wallet. If you get carried away, you might regret it the next day, but if you keep your consumption to moderate levels, Virginia Gentleman 90 is tough to beat. I know that I load up on it whenever I am visiting Virginia because it is a staple in my liquor cabinet. If you live in the area, you should definitely give it a try. You might just find that Virginia does make the best small-batch bourbon.
Sipability - 7.0
Mixability - 8.0
Drunkability - 7.0
Hangover-ability - 3.5
Bang for the Buck - 9.5
Overall - 6.5 
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