Since I spend so much time on obscure and nearly impossible to find dusties, I thought I would dedicate a post to something more recent. My post on the Bowman distillery made me think of Virginia Gentleman, the storied old brand from A. Smith Bowman. Owned by Buffalo Trace, the Bowman Distillery has added a number of higher end labels and deemphasized its budget brands over the last two years. Around 2011, it discontinued the higher proof version of Virginia Gentleman, known as "the fox" because of the fox hunting scene on the label. Given that these were only discontinued a couple of years ago, my guess is there might still be some on the shelves, especially in the Mid-Atlantic. The one I'm reviewing today was part of a blind tasting and dates from 2003.
Virginia Gentleman 90, 45% abv
There is lots of sweet candy on the nose. The palate is sweet and a bit soapy with a touch of cough syrup which leads into a medicinal finish.
I poured some of this side by side with the standard issue
Virginia Gentleman. Honestly, they aren't too different. The standard Gentleman has some bubblegum sweetness which is missing in the 90 proof version, but they are very similar and the extra five points of abv seems to make only a minor difference.
See the LA Whiskey Society ratings for
Virginia Gentleman 90.
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