In two months, tasting customers have carried 800 bottles out the door with them, he said, and tastings are consuming 30 bottles a day. “There are certain rules you have to meet to do tastings,” said Riggleman, who sold a defense technology consulting business he owned before starting the distillery. Straight liquor is offered or any of nine mixed drinks. It uses an ID system that scans drivers’ licenses to track customers’ drinks. The distillery offers tasting flights state rules allow up to an ounce and a half per person per day. Strange Monkey, the name for the gin, refers to the mandrill monkey and a Blackback is a young Silverback whose coat has not yet turned white. ‘Gentle but formidable’ is the idea about a Silverback.”īeringel is the scientific name for a Silverback gorilla, Riggleman said. “We named the distillery after that nickname stuck. The distillery’s name comes from an occasion when Riggleman’s daughters, who had learned about Silverback gorillas, called him a Silverback gorilla when he got angry at them. The gin is made through continuous distillation in a 24-foot-tall column that was custom-made for us.” The distillery also has a geothermal system for production chilling. We opened 16 months after we incorporated. “Catoctin Creek distillery in Purcellville was an inspiration to us. Opening a distillery in Virginia is not easy, Riggleman said. Our gin has been compared to Hendricks.” A distiller for rum and absinthe is also contemplated.Ĭhristine, joined by Blake Rhodes, who is in charge of distilling, went to distillery school in Washington State, which has many distilleries in operation.

“And we want our vodka to beat Gray Goose.

Silverback aims to meet the standard achieved by Maker’s Mark. “We want to have 1,000 barrels aging in the next two years,” said Riggleman. They are about to fill 75 white oak barrels with bourbon that will age for periods of three, five, seven and 10 years. Riggleman said initial annual production should be around 300,000 bottles, but he expects to raise it soon to nearly 700,000 bottles and to reach 1.2 million bottles yearly within five years. They made things there, and we wanted to do that in Virginia.” We went to the Isle of Skye and the Ben Nevis distillery. We thought we could do it all craft and make it work. 151 and there were no distilleries here,” said Denver Riggleman, who owns the distillery with his wife Christine, who is CEO and manages daily operations. Some of the grain spirits are now beginning the aging process to become bourbon. The distillery offers 80-proof vodka named Beringel, 80-proof gin called Strange Monkey and 90-proof grain spirits called Blackback White. New buildings for tasting rooms and spirit storage are underway. 151 in Afton just before Labor Day and has already outgrown its space.

Silverback distillery