In the Commonwealth, September is celebrated as Virginia Spirits Month. This is a time to recognize the State’s rich history of spirits and highlight local distilleries.
Virginia is the birthplace of American Spirits. The history dates back to 1620 when George Thorpe – after being introduced to corn by the regional indigenous people – used the crop in place of barley to distill the first batch of American whiskey.
That is why the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is celebrating with Virginia ABC all month long.
Virginia’s distilled spirits industry is a major contributor to the Commonwealth’s economy. In 2017, the industry maintained nearly 1,500 full-time jobs. It had an economic impact of more than $163 million.
Virginia spirits also promote tourism to the state, bringing thousands of people to visit local distilleries.
Joe Guthrie, the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says, “In Virginia, we are just so fortunate we have this wide variety of agricultural products that we can produce. Anything from grains to fruits, to any number of things in between. While we have that, we are also supporting our local communities and our local businesses and local jobs and cutting down on transportation. All of those things are really important.”
As part of the celebration, Virginia ABC is hosting Virginia Spirits Sale-A-Bration. This means throughout September, customers can save 20% on Virginia-made products at the Liquor store.
In the Roanoke Valley, there is one distillery. Brady’s was founded in 2020 and is the first distillery in the area in more than 100 years.
It was founded by three brothers who craft special whiskey, bourbon, vodka and rum.
Andy Brady, one of the co-owners of Brady’s says, “It is a great time to get into a distillery store to try and see what it is that we are producing here and what other distilleries in Virginia are producing ...There are a lot of amazing products in Virginia, and so to have the Virginia ABC working with the distilleries to really try to highlight those products and get them a little bit more in the forefront of people’s minds, that you don’t have to travel out of state to get good bourbon.”
Brady’s partners with 30 local restaurants. So, when you are drinking a cocktail at one of your favorite restaurants in the Roanoke Valley, you could also be supporting Brady’s.
Brady’s tasting room is located on Pocahontas Avenue in Roanoke.