The tour that describes the process was very good and interesting. I did know it was such a process. It was worth the hour tour.
A. Smith Bowman Distillery is a small-production bourbon producer in Virginia. In fact, the only bourbon producer in Virginia. It's free to tour and to taste. The 45 minute tour was excellent covering the definition of bourbon, the pot still and production area as well as the warehouse full of 7,000 barrels. And the Bowman 7 year small batch and the 10 year single barrel offerings were outstanding. Highly recommended for spirit-admiring folks.
WE went to a tasting for liquors, wines and beer. They also had food for purchase. It was fun and we made great selection because of this visit. I did not know that they had a liquor Mary Hite Bowman carmel crème. wow it is better than any Bailey's that I have ever tasted. We are fans of A. Smith Bowman. They have great tours too.
The tour was very educational. The bourbon tasting was very enjoyable. The staff was very helpful and knowledgeable.Do yourself a favor look into the "Grapes and Grains Trail". This is a package where you get tasting at the distillery a brewery and several wineries, plus a discount for purchases at each.
My wife and I and another couple visited this distillery on July 22, 2013 and had a wonderful time. Our Tour guide, Mary, was wonderful, very knowledgeable and friendly. Great job! We have been to some of the large Bourbon distilleries and this tour is now at the top of the list. The Bourbon, Vodka, Gin and Rum are very well done. If you want some good sipping Bourbon Whiskey you have to try Bowman's!!! This is one of the best kept secrets in Virginia but I am going to tell a lot of people about it. Enjoy!!
We visited the the A Smith Bowman Distillery in August this year and I must say, it was very informative. I learned a lot about bourbon, and the process from start to the "Finish"What literally made the tour was our Tour Guide. I believe his name was Bill Jones. He was very friendly, witty, and full of information!I highly recommend requesting him for your tour!
We really enjoyed our tour of the distillery. Our guide was very friendly and took a lot of time explaining everything to us. He took us all around the distillery explaining the start to finish process of making their bourbon. It was very interesting. And of course at the end we had several samples. He showed us the proper way of tasting bourbon. There is a small area where you can purchase items such as bourbon, bar-b-q sauce and steak sauce among other items. Lots of nice gift ideas. You should take an hour out of your day and visit the distillery. My advice is to go on a cooler day because there is no a/c so it's a little warm inside. Several big ceiling fans but not enough to cool you off on a really hot day.
We were in Fredericksburg visiting friends for a weekend and while the ladies went to the salon, the guys stopped at some of the historical sites. Being January, we discovered the Ferry Farm, George Washington’s boyhood home, and others were closed for the winter season. What to do?When checking for things to do in the area, I recalled the A. Smith Bowman’s Distillery was in Fredericksburg, so we decided to see if there were open for tours. They were.Being originally from Kentucky, I’ve visited a few Bourbon distilleries over the years; some large and some small. Bowman’s in the smallest operation I’ve seen to date. It is definitely ‘small batch’. I was really surprised as to just how few employees they had. During bottling operations, only 6 bottles are filled at a time. I’ve tried their Bourbon and it is a good as most Kentucky Bourbons, but then the founder to Virginia came from Kentucky… I learned well.
On our way home to Delaware, my husband and I stopped at A. Smith Bowman to take a tour and perhaps a tasting. There are tours every hour and a tasting at the conclusion of the tour. (Please be prepared to show your ID). We were a little late for the last tour, but the tour guide said that we could join the tour (already about 1/3 through) and that he would take us on the first part after the tasting. From and engineering point of view, building is impressive and the steps to making bourbon are very interesting. While the guide was very opinionated, he was also very knowledgeable and friendly. I did not sample the bourbon, but my husband did. We took our time looking through their choices of bourbon and bourbon flavored condiments (we bought the steak and hot sauce). We also bought their new Caramel Creme Liqueur. The liqueur is VERY tasty and arguably, better than Bailey's. The ONLY downside? You can only buy it in Virginia. So, stock up while you're there. It's so good, that the guide said that it it selling better than all of their other products combined. The building closed at 4pm, but we were busy shopping and talking to the guide. He did not make us feel rushed and thanked us for taking the time to stop in and take the tour which was free.
We had a fairly large group who took the tour of the distillery. Extremely informative about history, legal aspects, and bourbon making process. We enjoyed a small sampling of their bourbon once the tour was complete. They have a small boutique gift shop to purchase their bourbon. They also sell a bourbon barbecue and hot sauce, which was pretty good.