May 7, 2025
Virginia has been making spirits for centuries. The First Landing Cup was created to recognize the distillers carrying that tradition forward and give Virginia-made spirits a competition of their own.
Presented by the Virginia Distillers Association with support from the Virginia Spirits Board, the First Landing Cup is a statewide spirits competition dedicated exclusively to products made in the commonwealth. Through rigorous blind judging, the competition recognizes excellence across categories while giving consumers a trusted way to discover some of the best spirits Virginia has to offer.
The name pays tribute to Virginia’s place in American history.
On April 26, 1607, English settlers landed at Cape Henry in present-day Virginia Beach before continuing to Jamestown. Virginia’s fertile land proved well suited for growing grains including corn, rye and barley, helping lay the foundation for a distilling tradition that would grow alongside the commonwealth.
The First Landing Cup honors those beginnings while looking toward the future. It celebrates the makers, ingredients, ideas and craftsmanship shaping the next chapter of Virginia spirits.
The First Landing Cup was created to do more than hand out medals. Its purpose is to establish a credible, consistent benchmark for Virginia-made spirits and help exceptional products stand out to consumers, retailers and the broader spirits industry.
To ensure a rigorous and impartial competition, the Virginia Distillers Association partnered with the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) to develop and administer the judging process.
All Virginia distilleries are invited to submit eligible products that meet the competition’s “made in Virginia” requirements. Production processes including distillation, redistillation, maceration, aging and bottling must take place in the commonwealth.
That means every bottle entered represents something genuinely made here.
Every First Landing Cup entry is evaluated blind, meaning judges do not see the bottle, label, producer or brand behind the spirit.
Instead, each entry has to stand entirely on what’s in the glass.
Spirits are evaluated within their respective categories based on:
Judging panels include experienced professionals from across the beverage and hospitality industries, including distillers, spirits writers, sommeliers, mixologists, educators and other industry experts.
Entries are tasted and scored individually, with calibration and discussion built into the process to promote consistency and fairness.
First Landing Cup medals are awarded based on score rather than predetermined quotas. A spirit must meet the competition’s standards to earn recognition.
From there, the competition goes even further.
The highest-scoring spirits in each category advance to additional evaluation to determine Best in Class winners. Those winners are then evaluated again, with one spirit ultimately earning the competition’s highest honor: Best in Show.
This multi-stage process means the First Landing Cup doesn’t simply identify great Virginia spirits. It puts the very best through additional rounds of evaluation to find the bottle that rises to the top.
One of the strengths of Virginia’s distilling industry is its range.
Whiskey may have deep roots here, but today’s Virginia distillers are producing everything from bourbon, rye and American single malt to gin, vodka, rum, brandy, liqueurs, specialty spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails.
The inaugural First Landing Cup in 2025 demonstrated just how broad that industry has become, bringing together 108 entries from 33 distilleries across all seven regions of Virginia.
As the competition continues, each year’s entries and winners offer a snapshot of where Virginia distilling is today and where it’s headed next.
Ultimately, the First Landing Cup was created not only to recognize distillers but to help more people discover Virginia spirits.
A First Landing Cup medal gives consumers an easy place to start. Whether you’re looking for a Virginia whiskey, exploring locally made gin or trying something completely new, the winners represent spirits that have been independently evaluated by experienced judges and recognized for their quality.
Each year, a new class of medalists adds to that list, creating an evolving guide to standout spirits made across the commonwealth.
Explore the latest First Landing Cup winners and discover your next Virginia-made pour.
