Ah, good ole home grown hooch. There ain’t nothing better*. This is supposedly the premier, mass produced corn whiskey in the state of Virginia. Belmont Farms is located about 30-40 miles south of Washington DC and they produce all kinds of cheap spirits. They are also contracted to make Tim Smith’s moonshine- he’s the guy from the hit A&E channel’s “Moonshiners” television program. Virginia Lightning is Belmont Farms’ own brand of corn whiskey. It’s bottled at 50% ABV and sells for about $25-28 a bottle. It’s crystal clear in color, because there’s no barrel aging, and it’s even proudly advertised as being less than 30 days old on the label. Oh boy. The nose is exactly what you’d expect: soggy, musty corn and astringent alcohol. There’s a powerful artificial sweetness about it, too. It’s almost like sugar cane. There no need to spend any time looking for anything else, nor should you even bother giving it a proper nosing. The palate is hot, sweet corn. There’s a buttery aspect to it- like it’s been thickened by a simple syrup of some kind. The mouthfeel is heavy- which is not what you want from moonshine. It should feel watery, warm and smooth- especially if it’s a proper, higher proof. The finish is fiery hot with, surprise!, more corn. There’s a cinnamon candy sweetness and heat that lingers, but you don’t really want it to. Trust me. Overall, this stuff is tough to drink. The best thing you can do is cut it with some apple juice and a few cinnamon sticks and try to make yourself a bottle of low grade, “apple pie”.. I actually have sliced up a few lemons and cut it with pre-bought lemonade and pour it over ice like a poor man’s Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and it works halfway fine. At no point should you drink it straight, on ice, or in public for that matter. In fact, leave it on the shelf and buy some real whiskey. 0.5 stars, because you can get drunk off of it. Cheers. * pure sarcasm