If an adult beverage is front and center on your Christmas list this year, Virginia has really risen to the ABV occasion. First-run local bourbon and unctuous stouts, spiced liquor and re-imagined faithfuls are the package for an impressive unveiling on Christmas morning.
Bingo Beer Co. Christmas Coquito Stout
It’s been a minute since I’ve been this excited about an adjunct stout (an adjunct is any ingredient added to the basic beer ingredients of malt, hops, yeast, and water). Bingo Beer’s limited run coquito stout is an exceedingly tasty sipper with mellow toasted coconut, smooth Mexican vanilla beans, zingy cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Bingo Beer Co. co-owner Chris Brumfield says, “I love that the beer comes across clearly as a dessert stout without any cloying characteristics. The base stout is on the drier side to begin with, and the coconut adds a perceived sweetness, eliminating the need for an addition of lactose sugar, honey, marshmallow, brownies, Captain Crunch, lollipops, etc.”
To add more cool on top of cool, the bottle is basically gift-wrapped for you. It’s laser-engraved by local company, Big Secret, and hand-dipped with a pearly wax topper.
Because this brew is super limited, this is a get-it-right-now drinker, BUT if you miss this first run, there’s always next year. “Bingo hasn’t delved into the world of adjunct stouts much before. Head brewer Ken and his team lean more towards traditional styles and methods. That being said, there’s no way we don’t make this again next year,” says Brumfield.
Belle Isle Bourbon Artist’s Series 2023
Belle Isle has always known they would make bourbon. Ten years into moonshine-making, their first bourbon has finally arrived, right in time for the holidays. The bourbon is distilled from Virginia grains and is aged in the commonwealth for five years in new American oak casks. This is a real banger – spicy and fruity with zippy vanilla and a lot of character in the glass.
“Being in Virginia, right in the heart of American bourbon country, we always kept bourbon on our radar as something we wanted to dive into when the time felt right. Fast forward a decade, and we’ve finally circled back to bourbon. This isn’t just any spirit; It shares the distinct qualities of our premium moonshine but with that original bourbon dream woven in,” says co-owner Vincent Riggi, who prefers to drink his whiskey neat, with a drop of water.
The bottle is bound to be a collectible with only a little over 5,000 bottles made, each sporting the colorful work of local artist Ed Trask, and a portion of the sales from each bottle sold will support the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation.
What happens when you marry a smooth, pot-stilled, 100% rye whiskey with local Virginia honey and super spicy peppers? A piquant whiskey rounded out by the natural sweetness of the rye and honey.
Catoctin Creek Distilling owner Scott Harris is particularly proud of this re-imagined release. “As you may or may not know, we have been regularly releasing cool, experimental expressions as part of our Barrel Select program,” says Harris.” We’ve released Madeira-finished whisky, tequila-finished whisky, and the like. One of the releases we did a few years ago was a Hot-Honey Rye finish, where the barrel had been used for aging a hot-honey product from Richmond. This was a huge success, and sold out in days.” The hot honey whiskey also has critical acclaim, as it won the bronze medal at the National Honey Board’s 2023 Honey Spirits Competition and the gold medal at the Whiskey and Barrel Consumer Choice Awards.
In order to get the signature spicy taste, habanero peppers are macerated directly in the honey, and head distiller Becky Harris’ ingredients for this batch are hyper-local, including the three types of local honey sourced from less than 20 miles from the distillery (wildflower, clover, and buckwheat).
If a hot toddy is your go-to drink for the holiday, this is a incredible swap for both your honey and your whiskey; and for each bottle purchased, $1 goes to national and local organizations that help conserve bees.
Hardywood Craft Brewery Big Book of GBS
No holiday in Richmond is complete without a bottle of Hardywood Craft Brewery’s Gingerbread Stout, and this year you can purchase the complete set, which contains variations of the original award winning beer. You can find annual favorites like Christmas Pancakes, local maple syrup-spiced GBS and new faves like Christmas Babka (gingerbread stout with swirls of cocoa nibs, toasted coconut, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and Apple Brandy Barleywine (a set exclusive with gingerbread spiced long boil barleywine that has been aged for 11 months in Laird’s apple brandy barrels).
“The Big Book of GBS have really taken on a life of their own. Hearing how much people enjoy cracking them open as part of their holiday traditions has created a new layer of joy to the Gingerbread Stout season for us,” says Maddie Wood, director of marketing at Hardywood Park.
To learn more about Bingo Beer Co., click here. To learn more about Belle Isle Moonshine, click here. To learn more about Catoctin Creek Distilling, click here. To learn more about Hardywood Craft Brewing, click here.
