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Gin is a distilled spirit flavored with juniper and other botanicals. It is not aged, except when it is. Distillers, brewers, and winemakers have been swapping barrels back and forth for quite a while now and barrel aged gin is one result of this type of collaboration.

SHENANDOAH COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) – Filibuster Distillery’s new bourbon whiskey has the spirit of the purity law. The success and growth comes with a smooth give-and-take in the process.

Sometimes no one believes in and works harder to achieve the American dream than an immigrant. Sid Dilawri is one of those—but not in the most direct way of an entrepreneur with a single-minded goal. He never imagined launching Filibuster Distillery in Maurertown, Vir., in 2013, and when looking back on the path that led him to that role, the signposts still seem a bit vague. But somehow, whiskey found him.

Sid Dilawri emigrated to the United States from India with his parents and brother in 2008. Unable to find work in the I.T. industry, he ended up taking a job at a Washington, D.C. liquor store. Unexpectedly, he discovered a passion for liquor. Spending his time learning everything he could about beer, wine, and spirits, he put together a business plan to one day launch his own distillery. His passion came to fruition in 2013 with the opening of Shenandoah Valley’s Filibuster Distillery in Mauerton, Virginia.

A new era of American whiskey is pushing us past our old bourbon and rye standbys. Recently, a new whiskey category has been making space for itself on the shelves: American single malt. New whiskey categories don’t just pop up overnight. It takes years, sometimes decades, for styles to establish themselves, create an agreed upon set of regulations, and carve out a large enough piece of the market to get consumers to recognize a difference.

The World Whiskies Awards has an unfortunately clunky title. Blame it on the fact that the primary regions of production can never agree on how the liquid is spelled in its singular form. So just make it plural and problem solved, I guess. At any rate, the annual competition’s purpose and methodology is quite straightforward by comparison: to assess the very best whisky across all recognized styles, with the help of renowned industry experts.

The first thing to know about aged gin is that there is no such thing. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the arm of the federal treasury department that defines spirits categories, recognizes gin only as an unaged spirit. The next bit of wisdom to soak up is that spirits that are flavored with juniper and stored in wooden casks nevertheless do exist. They are the closest gin gets to whisky, and so make an interesting summertime segue for the whisky drinker. Hearty and spicy, these gins are appropriate for both gin and whisky cocktails and drinking on the rocks or neat.

Monsieur Touton Selection, Ltd., and Maurertown, Virginia’s Filibuster Distillery hosted a wine and spirits evening with approximately 40 retailers from central Connecticut at award-winning Haveli India in Middletown on Nov. 8. The evening provided an opportunity to sample Touton wines and Filibuster bourbons, including private barrel offerings and limited-release expressions. Filibuster Distillery was launched in the heart of Washington, D.C., and created in the Shenandoah Valley.

Bourbon that sets you back around $85 per bottle is a big ask, sure. But the beauty of bourbon whiskey at this price point is that there tends to be very good stuff that’s worth that price … for the most part. I’d love to say that all bourbons priced around this point are great. They’re simply not — which makes listing the best of the best at $80 to $90 essential to help you find the right ones to spend that cash on.