RICHMOND, Va. (April 2, 2026) — In a rare, large-scale collaboration, nine distilleries across the Commonwealth have come together to release the Virginia Spirits 250th Celebration Trio Pack, a limited-edition set of rum, whiskey, and gin honoring both America’s 250th anniversary and Virginia’s foundational role in its story.
Developed in partnership with the Virginia Spirits Board, Virginia’s American Revolution 250 Commission, and Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control, the project reflects over a year of coordination, blending, and design — resulting in just 2,400 total sets available statewide.
A Trio Rooted in Virginia’s Landscape
Each spirit in the set represents a distinct Virginia region, tied together both thematically and visually through the flow of the James River:
Rum (Coast)
Led by Barry Haneberg of Virago Spirits, alongside Vitae Spirits, Belmont Farm Distillery, and Chesapeake Bay Distillery.
Four-Grain Whiskey (Heartland)
Led by Amanda Beckwith of Virginia Distillery Co., with contributions from Catoctin Creek and Belmont Farm Distillery, plus additional blending components from Reservoir Distillery and Ironclad Distillery.
(If you’ve been here a while, you’ve seen my deeper dive on Catoctin Creek’s approach to grain and process — this feels like a natural extension of that philosophy at scale.)
Gin (Mountains)
Led by Peter Ahlf of Mt. Defiance Cidery & Distillery, with additional contributions from Vitae Spirits and Virago Spirits.
(And for those who followed along — my past visits to Belmont Farm [Read Here] and Mt. Defiance [First Visit] [Old Volstead Release] give some added texture to what each of these teams brings into a collaborative blend like this.)
Each blend was developed through structured tasting panels, emphasizing balance, regional identity, and historical relevance. The result is less about individual distillery fingerprint and more about a unified expression of Virginia.
Design That Tells a Story
The packaging carries equal weight.
Norfolk-based artist Mark Todd was commissioned to create a triptych-style box, where each bottle contributes to a continuous visual of the James River flowing from mountains to coast.
A river-shaped window reveals the bottles inside — subtle, but effective. It reinforces the connective thread between regions, distilleries, and styles. Not just three spirits but one idea, split three ways.
Availability
The Virginia Spirits 250th Celebration Trio Pack is now available through select stores operated by Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control here.
- Release: Week of March 23, 2026
- Total Allocation: 2,400 sets
- Distribution: Select Virginia ABC locations statewide
A series of pairing dinners will accompany the release, including an event at the Omni Homestead Resort on April 25, 2026.
Why This Matters
This isn’t just a commemorative release. It’s a signal.
Virginia’s distilling scene has spent years building quietly: distinct regional styles, small producers, and a willingness to experiment. What’s been missing is a moment of cohesion — something that brings those threads together in a way consumers can actually see (and taste).
This project does that.
- Collaboration over competition: Nine distilleries, one unified release
- Transparency in blending: Named teams and disclosed contributors
- A broader identity play: Positioning Virginia not just as “emerging,” but as intentional
It also nudges the conversation beyond the usual centers of gravity. Kentucky will always dominate scale but Virginia is starting to define something else: collaborative, regional, and stylistically diverse.
And that’s a lane worth watching.
Personal Note
I just received the trio pack for review and I’m planning to spend some real time with it before publishing full tasting notes.
Early impression? The ambition here is obvious and it seems to be everything I love about craft with an added historical significance. The question now is how that translates in the glass.
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