About Mt. Defiance Cidery and Distillery

Residing in an old service station in the historic small town of Middleburg, Virginia, Mt. Defiance Cidery and Distillery is leading the charge to revive long-forgotten spirits. Directed by a war zone political advisor and a rocket scientist, Mt. Defiance’s spirit revitalization efforts have resulted in an award-winning line of craft spirits.

After seven years advising top brass military officials, Marc Chretien was ready for a quieter, more pastoral livelihood. He founded Mt. Defiance Cidery and Distillery in 2014. After two-plus decades of furthering human exploration of space, Peter Ahlf joined Mt. Defiance as the head distiller in 2015, combining his knowledge of engineering and his home-brewing and herb gardening hobbies.

Mt. Defiance Cidery and Distillery’s revival efforts are geared towards a number of classic spirits: absinthe, cassis liqueur, rum and sweet vermouth. Once the spirit of choice for poets, writers and socialites, absinthe production was banned for 80 years. Based on a late-19th century French recipe, Mt. Defiance’s award-winning Absinthe Supérieure is distilled with wormwood and botanicals grown on-site.