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Newport News Distillery opens the doors to their tasting room

Posted at 4:27 PM, Mar 30, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-30 16:53:27-04

NEWPORT NEWS, Va - A Newport News Distillery is inviting you to get a taste of history and their bourbon.

"It’s been a long road, we worked very hard to get to where we are at," explained Owen King, head distiller at Ironclad. "I’m super excited. My favorite thing is to show off what we do because I think we do really good things here."

The King family has been distilling and distributing Ironclad Bourbon for several years, but this weekend they are taking the next step and opening their tasting room.

"This weekend is our Grand Opening we are really excited to show off our new bar and tasting room that we just built," said King.

While the tasting room is new, King says the building the distillery is in is quite old,  but it plays an important role in their product.

"This building is over 105 years old we are trying to make sure that everything in this tasting room looks like it’s been here the whole time," explained King. "The reason why we chose the name Ironclad is because of where this building sits. If we were standing here in 1862 during the Battle of the Ironclad we would have had front row seats to the whole thing."

It's location also plays a vital role in the making of their bourbon.

"As far as we can tell we are the only distillery that sits on a brackish water river," said King. "We are using that to our advantage because we are getting this salty caramel flavor in our bourbon because of where we sit compared to any other distillery."

Now the Kings are bringing a taste of the past into 2018, by inviting the public to come and sample their bourbon in their new tasting room.

"We want to show off our craftsmanship and passion for what we do and then show you why we do it. If you’re not a huge fan of bourbon, or on the fence, we can definitely find you your right cocktail of how you want to be drinking your bourbon," said King.

The Grand Opening will run from noon until 5 p.m. on Saturday. If you are unable to make it to the event, King says Ironclad will be open regularly Wednesday through Saturday from noon until 6 p.m.

More about the business can be found on their Facebook page and website.