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Cape Charles Distillery Opens in Our Quaint Little Town

June 17, 2018 by 10 Comments

Special to the Mirror by Susan M. Bauer

The Cape Charles business district continues to expand along the Strawberry Street corridor and welcomes its newest addition, the Cape Charles Distillery.

Owner Bill Duncan learned to make moonshine from his grandfather (Photo credit Susan M. Bauer)

Alaskans, from the town of Homer, first coined the phrase, calling themselves “a quaint little drinking village, with a fishing problem.”  Many around Cape Charles have adopted the slogan as their own. There is no question we townspeople like to drink. Many will applaud the fact that the recent surge in development around town includes the addition of three new businesses that all feature alcoholic beverages.  The Cape Charles Distillery joins Buskey Cider and the Cape Charles Brewery in providing artisanal, craft-made libations.

The owner, Bill Duncan, came by his craft in the most authentic way.  As a child, in the mountains of Georgia, he helped his grandfather make moonshine.  Bill describes his job as maintaining the map where the moonshine was buried. Some of the locations were conveniently “forgotten” until Bill and his buddies could dig them up later.

Bill’s tasting room is located at 12 Strawberry Street.  The thoughtful decor includes velvet couches, a chalkboard wall, illustrating the distilling process, and a custom made bar, generously sized enough to serve a crowd of whiskey drinkers.  Because my summer evenings usually involve my neighbor’s screened porch, and a chilled New Zealand Sav Blanc from the Gull Hummock, I brought along an experienced bourbon drinker for the tasting.

Cape Charles Distillery is located at 12 Strawberry Street (Photo credit Susan M. Bauer)

For an $8.00 charge, a tasting flight includes a sample of each of the six liquors that Cape Charles Distillery offers.  All of our drinks were served “neat” – without ice or mixers – so that we could fully experience the flavor profile of each.  We started with the flagship bourbon, aged 3 and a half years in charred American Oak barrels. My friend declared it an excellent bourbon with a nice finish, and an easy “burn.”  The bourbon was followed by a peppery rye whiskey and a smooth wheat whiskey. The wheat whiskey was soft and floral, the perfect gateway whiskey for a neophyte like me. Next up was a maple whiskey.

Cape Charles Distillery offers not just whiskey, but also vodka.

Annually, the distillery purchases 500 gallons of Amish maple syrup, to make their fragrant, slightly sweet, maple whiskey. There is definitely a bread pudding with whiskey sauce in my future that is going to feature this whiskey.  The final whiskey was an apple moonshine. Hands down, my favorite of the flight. Several women, who were tasting along with us, agreed wholeheartedly. Bill’s moonshine is not the “white lightning” version of prohibition days. It’s an apple based mash, loaded with cinnamon and autumn spices.  Fragrant on the nose, and delicious going down, this 40 proof concoction was declared potentially dangerous by everyone at the bar.

Did I mention Bill also creates a vodka?  Woo Woo vodka proclaims on its label that it “captures the spirit of the Eastern Shore in every bottle.”  The label was inspired by Joe Coccaro’s totally fictional book of the same name that features almost every eclectic character in the town of Cape Charles, but of course bearing no actual resemblance to any real person, or so the disclaimer says.  I do appreciate a fine vodka, and this is one of the best I have ever tasted. Distilled 9 times, this vodka is clean, crisp and smooth.  I tasted 5 whiskeys but brought home the vodka.

The Cape Charles Distillery is open every day, except Tuesday.  Allow yourself plenty of time if you plan to visit. Bill is passionate about his craft, and his easygoing Eastern Shore demeanor and excellent storytelling will keep you occupied for a while.

Filed Under: Bottom, News

Comments

  1. John says

    June 17, 2018 at 11:55 am

    Congratulations to Bill on a great new addition to the town! Looking forward to the moonshine!

    Reply
  2. RICK says

    June 20, 2018 at 7:56 am

    How is this a Distillery if no distilling is done in the building.I went there expecting to see a functioning distillery at work.Where is the Distillery actually at for their products.

    Reply
  3. Beerman says

    June 21, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    Yea that’s lame! Same situation at the cider joint, made in Richmond.

    Reply
  4. Joe says

    June 25, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    Bogus! This is not a distillery. There is no still. The liquor is made and bottled elsewhere. This is a misrepresentation.

    Reply
  5. David Gay says

    June 26, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    Looks like the distillery and cider store have identified Cape Charles as a good market for alcohol. Maybe they have been reading the Mirror and decided that there is a lot of alcohol consumed in town.

    Note: We have thought the same thing. No shortage of drunkards around here.

    Reply
  6. Catherine says

    September 21, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    The distillery is fabulous! We are so happy to have it in our quaint little town.

    Reply
  7. Frank Walmsley Jr says

    October 28, 2019 at 4:48 pm

    Hello, we ate dinner at Don’s Restaurant in Chicoteague, we enjoyed a drink and the server stayed it was woo-woo vodka..
    Is there any way we can order a bottle and have it shipped to us, in Williamsburg, VA?

    Thanks.
    Frank

    Reply
  8. Michael and Julia Pitts says

    April 26, 2020 at 12:09 am

    Cape Charles is one of our favorite places to vacation. We are hoping to retire there. The town is beautiful and the people are so friendly.

    There are several great restaurants and shops in town and the cocktails at the Distillery are some of the best we have tasted.

    After every visit we go home with several bottles of the different Cape Charles liqours, but the WooWoo Vodka and their bloody mary mix are by far our favorites. Everyone that has been over to our house and tried them all agree. The best bloody marys ever!!

    We will definitely be coming back for more.

    Reply
  9. Arthur says

    February 13, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    We tried all the drinks and liked the vodka the best. Ended up buying a case of the bloody mary mix which is some of the best i have had. The vodka is also the smoothest we have tried.

    Reply
  10. Stuart Bell says

    February 14, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    There are plenty of reputable, distilled spirits available at the ABC store.

    Reply

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