Move over, Kentucky—Virginia's hunt country is making a name for itself in bourbon
Come for the small batch bourbon, stay for the Hunt Country views.
Nestled against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge mountains, Middleburg, Virginia, is a historic town known as “America’s Horse and Hunt Capital.” This 18th-century village with a population of 800 has award-winning wineries, fine dining, and year-round equestrian events, making it an ideal escape only an hour from Washington, D.C. Now there’s another reason to visit–it’s home to the South’s newest bourbon destination, Provenance Estate.
A Storied Provenance
Virginia has a long history with bourbon, starting with George Washington, who distilled whiskey at his Mount Vernon estate. At its peak in the late 18th-century, Washington’s distillery was the largest in the nation, producing more than 11,000 gallons of whiskey annually. So it makes sense that nearby Middleburg, founded in 1787, would be an ideal location to age and bottle whiskey.
Tucked among Middleburg’s bucolic fields and low stone walls is Provenance Estate, a 19th-century manor house and working farm that is home to the Middleburg Barrel Company, a small batch producer making award-winning bourbon. While the bourbon at Middleburg Barrel Company is Kentucky-distilled, every cask is sourced and hand selected before it is blended, aged, and bottled at the Middleburg headquarters. The company recently released its flagship 1787 Provenance single-barrel straight bourbon, aged seven years, and a more premium expression that is aged 14 years.
Middleburg Barrel Company is the brainchild of former tech executives Viyas Sundaram and Jay West. Neither are strangers to the bourbon world. Sundaram is the founder of the Bourbon Concierge, a D.C.-based purveyor of rare bourbon and other spirits. He also opened the Georgetown whiskey bar, The Fountain Inn. West is a nationally recognized critic at Whiskey Raiders, and serves as the Principal Whiskeymaker at Middleburg Barrel Company. Their love of spirits led them to create the Middleburg Barrel Company, a passion project they say is more about shared experiences than what’s in the glass. “All whiskey tastes better if you can share it with someone and that’s what Provenance Estate is all about,” West says.
An Immersive Experience
Unlike larger distillery tours, Provenance Estate is a highly curated experience by reservation only, ensuring guests have the freedom to explore and engage in a multi-sensory process. “We are one of the first experiential distilleries on the market,” Sundaram says. “We are all about the journey rather than volume.”
What was once a former horse rehabilitation farm is now a 121-acre estate with an historic events barn, a tasting room and even a pair of resident donkeys named George and Martha. The estate’s more than 1,000 barrels of whiskey are stored in two newly-built rickhouses where they reside before the blending, aging, and bottling process. Guests can book a private bottling or cask experience or even a complete full barrel selection. They are invited to pull or ‘thieve’ whiskey from the barrel, before sampling it in the historic tasting room. This hands-on approach from selection to tasting provides every guest a bottle with an origin story, or ‘provenance’ of the whiskey they take home.
The experience can last anywhere from several hours to an immersive day-long retreat. Since every booking is customized, it allows for unprecedented access to the world of whiskey. “When you reach for a whiskey, you want to understand what’s in it. So the goal is that when you leave Provenance Estate, you don’t have any more questions,” West says.
Come For The Whiskey, Stay For The Views
Provenance Estate is equally suited for the serious bourbon connoisseur or the novice taster. But the best part of a visit? You can stay all weekend. In addition to the private tasting and bottling experiences, guests can reserve the entire property for a night or even a weekend-long stay.
A booking at Provenance Estate means you’ll have an entire 1850 Georgian manor at your disposal. The nine-bedroom manor house retains historic details such as wide plank flooring and original fireplaces, as well as a library and multiple common rooms. A state-of-the-art kitchen is equipped for group meals and tailored culinary experiences, and a private chef can be arranged during your stay. The grounds also include a pond, hiking trails, and an outdoor fire pit, perfect for the estate’s evening ‘s’mores and pours’ offering.
The Provenance Estate team also partners with local guides and can arrange anything from horseback riding to history tours. And while every visit to Provenance Estate doesn’t have to include a manor stay, the setting only further enhances the immersive experience. “Mother nature is the biggest stakeholder in whiskey,” Sundaram says. “Waking up on the property with the sounds of geese and fox hunts in the distance leaves an indelible memory of the tasting, so making a stay a part of the experiences provides that ultimate connection between mother nature and whiskey.”
