Whiskey – C-VILLE Weekly

New whiskies in town

Signs that fall is just around the corner: cool evenings, colorful leaves, and last but certainly not least, whiskey! But this is not Kentucky, so we’re not talking bourbon. Two new releases of locally distilled single-malt whiskey are available now. Spirit Lab Distilling, a little warehouse shop on Sixth Street SE, presents the fifth annual batch of its prized liquor. We tried it, and we liked it very much. Made entirely in Charlottesville by husband-and-wife team Ivar Aass and Sarah Barrett, the pot-stilled whiskey takes on notes of dried fruit, toffee, cocoa, and baking spices (think pumpkin pie) in a maturation process that includes American oak as well as port and sherry-wine finishing barrels. It’s costly, at $88.99 and $46.99 for a full or half bottle, respectively, but with a limited release of just over 150 units combined, the run is bound to sell out (as it has in years past). Pick yours up at Spirit Lab—look for the red door at 1503 6th St. SE.

Meanwhile, Lovingston’s Virginia Distillery Company announced the September 1 release of its own single-malt whisky (the company’s preferred spelling). Called “Prelude: Courage & Conviction,” the sweater-weather libation—aged in bourbon, sherry, and cuvée wine casks, costs $69.99 a bottle and is available at the distillery or online. www.vadistillery.com

Food for good

An all-star lineup of about 20 local food and drink purveyors are gearing up for a major annual event benefiting Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville/Albemarle. Taste This! takes place September 24 at the fancy-pants Club at Glenmore, offering a feast presented by Chimm Thai and Southeast Asian, The Ivy Inn, Junction, Little Star, MarieBette, Market Street Wine, Oakhart Social, Prime 109, and Tavola, with cash-bar offerings by Early Mountain and Veritas vineyards, Random Row Brewing Co., and The Alley Light. It’s great to see a lineup like that—including many Best of C-VILLE 2019 winners and runners-up—coming together for a good cause. Tickets are $75, and they sell like hotcakes. Visit cvilletastethis.com.

MarieBetter: Bakery adds downtown location

MarieBette Café & Bakery spin-off Petite MarieBette is now open at 105 E. Water St., offering coffee and baked goods (of course!), as well as breakfast sandwiches and grab-and-go lunch. Longtime MarieBette employee Will Darsie co-owns the new spot, and will manage it. The son of a chef (mom) and a farmer (dad), Darsie moved from his native California to Charlottesville in 2015. He found work at MarieBette, starting as a busboy and rising to general manager. “I never had any intention of working in this industry, but now I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Darsie says.

Music to your mouth

Prime 109 has a new menu available Wednesday nights to accompany weekly live jazz. Guests can enjoy a more casual midweek bite, while the cooks get to create “experimental dishes that don’t necessarily fit the structure of the dining room,” Executive Chef Ian Redshaw says. In keeping with the improvisational theme, the menu changes weekly. Past offerings have included housemade pastrami banh mi and an “octo dog”—octopus poached in olive oil and served on a Parker House-style hot dog bun with shishito peppers, shallots, harissa, and cilantro. Music, from 6-9pm, is courtesy of jazz trio Adam Larrabee, Brian Caputo, and Randall Pharr.

Winning spirit

For the third year in a row, Lovingston’s Virginia Distillery Co. has taken home a top prize at the U.K.-based World Whiskies Awards. The distillery’s Port Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky earned a medal for Best American Blended Malt, the same award it won in 2018. Aged in Virginia port-style wine barrels, the spirit blends American single-malt whiskey distilled on-site with single-malt whiskey from Scotland. In 2017, the distillery’s flagship Virginia-Highland Malt won Best American Single Malt.