Virginia Distillery Company has released three new whiskies in its Courage & Conviction product line, featuring individual bottlings of the core trio of casks – bourbon, sherry and cuvée – that make up the flagship offering of Courage & Conviction. Courage & Conviction is the distillery’s flagship American Single Malt whisky line, distilled on-site using 100% North American malted barley and mountain spring-fed water after aging a minimum of three years.
“These individual bottlings are a great way for us to highlight the casks that are foundational to the Courage & Conviction line,” said Virginia Distillery Company CEO Gareth H. Moore “One example is that we are one of only a handful of distilleries in the world to use these unique Cuvée casks, a profile developed by the late Dr. Jim Swan.”
Courage & Conviction Bourbon Cask is aged in former Bourbon casks sourced from Kentucky, which adds notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and toffee to the whisky. The finish is creamy and exceptionally smooth.
Courage & Conviction Sherry Cask uses three different Sherry casks, Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez, which gives the whisky notes of cherry, fig, golden raisin and caramelized plum.
Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask is aged in an innovative “STR” cask sourced from premium European red wine products. The cask is shaved, re-toasted and re-charred, energizing the wood sugars. This brings forward notes of raspberry, cherry, brown sugar, cocoa and baking spice.
Each expression is an American Single Malt whisky, aged a minimum of three years on-site in Virginia. Each expression is available in a 750ml, retailing for $84.99 per bottle with a 46% ABV. Mix packs of all three expressions will be available in most markets, retailing at $84.99.
The first batch of these three new whiskies are dedicated to Nancy Fraley, a master blender and consultant who works with distilleries worldwide on maturation programs and sensory analysis. Fraley is one of Virginia Distillery Company’s key mentors.
“Nancy is a great friend and mentor to our team at Virginia Distillery Company,” said Moore. “We are thankful for her guiding nose and so happy we can recognize her by dedicating the inaugural batch of these three new expressions to her.”
The whiskies will be available to Virginia consumers beginning March 17 at Virginia ABC stores and through direct-to-consumer shipping via the distillery’s website. Nationwide direct-to-consumer shipping will start in early April and the whiskies will be available when the distillery’s Visitors Center re-opens later this spring.
Roll out at retailers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. will begin in early to mid-April. Retailers in Alabama, North Carolina and Ohio will have limited availability during the same timeframe. Michigan retailers will carry the whiskies beginning in May.
The inaugural batch of Courage & Conviction, dedicated to Dr. George G. Moore, released in spring of 2020. The Dr. Jim Swan batch of Courage & Conviction was released in fall 2020. The flagship release of Courage & Conviction is a combination of these three casks, with a target profile of 50% Bourbon casks, 25% Sherry casks and 25% Cuvée wine casks.