It was originally based on the Bowman family's Sunset Hills Farm in Fairfax County, Virginia, in what later became the planned community of Reston.

In 1988, it relocated to Spotsylvania County, near Fredericksburg, into the former FMC Corp. cellophane plant.

The distillery operated under the Bowman Family until 2003, when it was sold to Sazerac Company, an international beverage corporation based in Metairie, Louisiana.

Virginia Gentleman's former label depicted a Revolution-era scene of two white men being served by a black footman (presumably a slave), all three in aristocratic dress, standing in front of a plantation-style manor.

[4] Virginia Gentleman's motto, "The Aristocrat of Them All", was discontinued some time after, at least from appearing on the label.