“If whiskey is an art, then Rick is a master”

Do you ever dream?  Have you ever envisioned your life if you followed your passion rather than a proscribed career path?  Do you wish you could be like Nike and “Just Do It?”  This is the story of a man who as a kid dreamed of being the president of an international company and when approaching mid-life struck out on a course that was discouraged by many but failure was never in his horizon.  This is the story of Rick Wasmund the owner and master distiller of Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, Virginia.
In 1999 Rick was leading a comfortable life in Middleburg, Virginia as an insurance agent and living on a large estate that he also managed.  While attending a Scotch Whiskey Tasting event at DuPont Circle, the idea of making a whiskey with fruitwood rather than peat came to him.  Obviously, it was a strong idea as he convinced his neighbor in Middleburg, Sean McCaskey, to join his venture.  When asked why he agreed so readily, Sean said, “It just seemed like a good idea”.

To learn more about the distilling process, the two visited many US distilleries including Maker’s Mark, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, A. Smith Bowman and even a distillery that was closed - they received an escort out of the facility rather than a tour.  Asked what they hoped to learn, Rick jokingly answered that he wanted to hear that the idea was impossible, but the visits only reinforced his beliefs about the viability of creating a unique whiskey product.

Leaving Virginia and his job, he traveled to Scotland, where he obtained an internship at Bowmore Distillery on Islay, where he learned to malt his own barley. There he also received confirmation that his ideas were new to the whiskey world and unique enough to create a commercially viable product and gained an appreciation of the skill, passion, dedication and perseverance necessary to pursue his dream.  Perseverance being the key word for his future.

Upon returning to Virginia, Rick started working on a business plan for his venture and by September 2001 had started raising money.  Originally, he wanted to locate his distillery on a site in Pennsylvania that was the site of the oldest distillery in the United States, but that didn’t work out.  He operated under the license of Copper Fox Distillery for a while before buying the building where the distillery is currently located.  Rick designed the set up for the distillery himself and he and Sean built most of the plant.

It wasn’t until four years later, in December 2005 that he received the federal and state licenses to produce whiskey and in August 2006 the first bottle of Wasmund’s Single Malt Whiskey was sold.  Today he produces between 100 and 150 cases per month with distribution to seventeen states.

Asked if he had any disappointments or regrets about his life changing decision to become a distiller, he stated that he’s sad that his father who helped him “toast chips” and supported the venture passed away before the distillery was operational.  From the photos of the two of them displayed in Rick’s residence it’s easy to see the camaraderie that they shared.

On a more positive note, he says his greatest pleasure was seeing the first bottle of Wasmund’s on the shelf of a store in Warrenton.  

As with most distilleries and wineries, tours of the facility and tastings are offered.  For those of us living in Alexandria, once you get past the construction and traffic on the beltway and Route 66, the trip to Sperryville is a joy, meandering through lush fields with the horizon of mountains in the background.  The distillery is easy to find by following the signs to Copper Fox Antiques.  The distillery shares a parking area with the shop and is housed in a building that was originally an apple juice packing plant.  Usually you’re greeted by Acacia, a beautiful small white dog with big brown eyes.  Rick claims the reason for the distillery was to give Acacia a place to roam at will.  Observing the loving attention Rick gives her I think he is only half joking about that.  Once entering the visitor’s area usually Rick, or Sean or the Manager of the Malt, who is Rick’s mother, Helen, will greet you and offer you the tour.  Helen sold her home and a business and moved from Buffalo a couple of years ago and while not a whiskey connoisseur has wholeheartedly embraced the life of Copper Fox Distillery.  

At the end of the tour you’re invited to sit at a round table and sip a glass of Wasmund’s Single Malt Whiskey.  The setting is intimate and all three act as if there was no other place they had to be except sitting with you sharing a glass of whiskey.  Sitting across the table from me Rick appears to be a man content with life-he says he’s happy and the only change he’s looking for is to find more customers.  He seems so mellow it’s difficult to accept that in order to make his venture successful he has to be a master distiller, engineer, construction chief, marketer, public relations director, and gardener.

Rick has assimilated himself into the life in Sperryville;  building a successful business, improving the site of the distillery with the Thornton River running next to it, sharing a late afternoon cocktail with a neighbor who is an aspiring politician, visiting the local farmer who exclusively grows the barley for the whiskey and participating in local charitable events .

It’s a rare event when a person achieves that balance of doing what they love and actually make a living at it and so we salute you – Rick

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