2024 Q1 Spirited VA - 10

DISTILLERIES
Chesapeake Bay Distillery,
Virginia Beach
From a part-time start in 2005, Chesapeake Bay Distillery
has learned, expanded and thrived.
N
ew endeavors may bubble up from
the blending of numerous springs.
For Chris Richeson of Chesapeake Bay
distillery, that mix was an engineering
background, an interest in distilled
coffee beans, a desire to provide local
manufacturing opportunities and a
mission to make a gold medal spirit
handcrafted in Virginia-specifically, a
quality, locally distilled vodka.
Chesapeake Bay Distillery launched
in 2005 with Spirits of the Blue Ridge
Vodka, a clean, corn-based neutral spirit
that earned Virginia its first doublegold
medal.
" When we started the distillery,
there were somewhere between 40
to 60 distilleries in the country, " says
Richeson. Now, there are more than 70
in the Commonwealth of Virginia alone.
" There was not a lot of information
CHESAPEAKE BAY DISTILLING
PRODUCT LIST
Blue Ridge Vodka, 40% ABV
Ghost Pepper Infused Vodka, 35% ABV
Lemon Liqueur, 20% ABV
Chic's Beach Rum, 40% ABV
Tequila with Smoked Ghost Pepper, 40% ABV
Dr. Stoner's Fresh Herb Vodka, 42% ABV
Dr. Stoner's Smoky Herb Whiskey, 42% ABV
Dr. Stoner's Hierba Loca Tequila, 42% ABV
Dr. Stoner's Hiebra Madura Bourbon, 42% ABV
Dr. Stoner's Island Bush Rum, 42% ABV
available on distilling when we started.
I read a lot of books and did a lot of
studying, but the main things I learned
from were trial and error and self-taught
experience, " Richeson says. " Initially,
this was a fun little side gig that I
thought I would do on the weekends,
but it quickly became a full-time
and beyond-that job. It's definitely a
passion, because no other way would
I be working 100 hours a week. "
Other products soon followed the
flagship vodka. " One of the partners
[Chris St. Clair] was a big fan of spicy,
so we came up with a ghost pepper
vodka. ... Chris spent a lot of time
developing the perfect pepper-forward
spicy vodka. " Chesapeake Bay Ghost
Pepper Infused Vodka (35% ABV) is
made with smoked ghost peppers,
accentuating the chipotle flavors with
just enough spicy heat to add a kick to
cocktails from sweet to savory.
Other products included Chic's Beach
Rum (40% ABV), made with organic
panela (unrefined whole cane sugar)
and wild yeast from Chic's Beach on
the Bay (40% ABV); and Lemon Liqueur
10 VIRGINIA ABC | ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV
Chris Richeson's secret is 17 years of
successful product trial and error.
(20% ABV), tart and not overly sweet, like
" adult lemonade, " made with eight fresh
lemons per bottle.
Around 2010, the distillery began
contract bottling. David Baxter, partner
with Dr. Craig Stoner, wanted to move
distillation of Dr. Stoner's herbal spirits
to a Virginia distillery and approached
Chesapeake Bay Distillery.
" That's been a really fun project, " says
Richeson. " We took a product that was
pretty good . . . and we made some
tweaks and turned it into double gold. "
The Virginia Beach distillery now
produces and markets several Dr.
Stoner's herb-focused spirits, including
Fresh Herb Vodka (42% ABV), flavored
and slightly sweetened with aromas of
basil, pine, hops and other botanicals;
Smoky Herb Whiskey (42% ABV), using
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2024 Q1 Spirited VA

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