A. Smith Bowman Distillery
A. Smith Bowman Distillery | |
Location | 1875 Old Reston Avenue, Reston, Virginia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°57′24.2″N 77°21′5″W / 38.956722°N 77.35139°W |
Built | 1892 |
NRHP reference No. | 99001503[1] |
VLR No. | 029-5014 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 9, 1999 |
Designated VLR | September 15, 1999[2] |
The A. Smith Bowman Distillery is a
Current distillery
The A. Smith Bowman distillery business was purchased in 2003 by the Sazerac Company,[5] which is a large privately owned liquor producer with headquarters in New Orleans.[6]
It continues to operate (at a different location from the original distillery), and produces the Virginia Gentleman bourbon brand,[5][7] other bourbons, and other products including a vodka called "Deep Run" and a gin called "Sunset Hills".[8]
In particular, it also produces bourbon brands named after the Bowman family of Virginia/Kentucky pioneers, including:[4]
- Bowman Brothers Small Batch bourbon, named after the pioneer Bowman brothers, who were sometimes called the "Four Centaurs of Cedar Creek"[9]
- Abraham Bowman bourbon, named after Colonel Abraham Bowman (1749–1837)[9]
- George Bowman rum, named after George Bowman (1699–1768)[9]
- John J. Bowman Single Barrel bourbon, named after Colonel John Bowman (1738–1784)[9]
- Mary Hite Bowman Caramel Bourbon Cream Liqueur, named after the mother of the Bowman brothers.[9]
Historic building
The building in which the distillery originally operated was constructed circa 1892 under the guidance of Dr. C.A. Max Wiehle, a physician from
Bowman, born in Mercer County, Kentucky in 1868, established a distillery in 1934 on the day after Prohibition was repealed, and the building originally served as the warehouse of the distillery. The first bourbon produced by the distillery was shipped from the warehouse in 1937. Between 1934 and some point in the 1950s, Bowman's was the only legal whiskey distillery in the Commonwealth of Virginia.[3]
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service in 1999,[10] and has been the subject of several rezoning applications.[11][12][13] A proposal to construct condominiums on the site was approved September 24, 2007.[14][15] An earlier version of the proposal mentioned 8 units as new buildings (on 0.23 acres), in addition to constructing 3 units within the historic structure, while noting that it replaced a planned use of the structure as a cultural center (i.e., for the Greater Reston Arts Center).[16] It is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Old Reston Avenue and Sunset Hills Road, and has the address 1875 Old Reston Avenue,[3] Reston, VA, 20190.
See also
- List of historic whiskey distilleries
References
- ^ "NPS Focus". National Register ofHistoric Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form" (PDF). 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-04. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ a b "A. Smith Bowman Distillery Web Site". 2014.
- ^ a b Straub, Bill, "Bourbon Review: Virginia Gentleman Small Batch", Modern Thirst, June 9, 2014.
- ^ "Sazerac Company Web site". 2010.
- ^ "Yes, Virginia, there is a gentleman: A. Smith Bowman, Fredericksburg, Virginia", American Whiskey, September 29, 2004.
- ^ "A. Smith Bowman Distillery -". Archived from the original on 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
- ^ a b c d e "Bowman Brothers Pioneer Spirit Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey Archived 2014-08-19 at the Wayback Machine", Proof66, access date August 2014.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register — National Register of Historic Places" (PDF). 1999-09-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Offices, Apartments Approved for Distillery Site in Reston". 1989-06-13. Archived from the original on 2011-05-16.
- ^ "Final Board Summary". 1993-02-08. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Clerk's Board Summary" (PDF). 2007-07-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ "Supervisor Hudgins' News from the Board" (PDF). 2007-09-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ "Land Use Chart – 26 Sept '07" (PDF). Fairfax County Planning Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-29.
- ^ "2003 Hunter Mill District Applications". Report of Activities: 1995-2004 (PDF). Fairfax County Planning Commission. pp. 145–146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-29.
External links
- Bowman Distillery, June 1966 Mason Archival Repository Service
- Bowman Distillery Pond in Winter, Undated Mason Archival Repository Service
- Reston Real Estate: The 'Ole Distillery's Up Fer Sale, Jeb! Restonian
- A. Smith Bowman Distillery Web Site
- Sazerac Company Web Site