Born-and-raised Washington County residents Cort and Chelsea Meinelschmidt have been making small-batch whiskey, bourbon and vodka in downtown Hagerstown since 2020. Their spirits use locally sourced Washington County grains, including a Maryland rye that became the county’s first straight rye whiskey and earned silver medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Tokyo Whisky and Spirits Competition. The distillery also ties its bottles to community giving, donating portions of whiskey proceeds to combat-veteran programs and charities while supporting animal rescue through its Pretty Girl Vodka brand.
San Francisco World Spirits Competition Silver Medal
Tokyo Whisky and Spirits Competition Silver
Bartender Spirits Awards Bronze
Bartender Spirits Awards Gold
Grazin’ Spirits, LLCGrazin’ Spirits, LLC is a small, local, Veteran-owned farm-to-bottle distillery founded in 2017 in Columbia County, New York. It produces peach-flavored whiskey, corn whiskey, and bourbon using sourced and farmed ingredients, with in-house production, distillation, barreling, hand bottling, and labeling.GHENT, NY
Wigle WhiskeyIn Pittsburgh’s Strip District, Wigle Whiskey revives Western Pennsylvania’s whiskey tradition as a true grain-to-glass distillery, milling 100% local grains on site and hand-producing small-batch spirits in copper pot stills. Named for Philip Wigle, whose 1790s dispute with a tax collector helped spark the Whiskey Rebellion, it was the first distillery in Pittsburgh since Prohibition. The family-owned distillery has earned national recognition, including being named the American Craft Spirits Association’s Most Awarded Craft Distillery.PITTSBURGH, PA
McClintock DistillingNamed for 19th-century Frederick inventor McClintock Young, McClintock Distilling makes organic, pre-Prohibition-style spirits in downtown Frederick, Maryland. Co-founders Tyler Hegamyer, Braeden Bumpers and their families combine locally sourced ingredients, heirloom grains ground in a stone burr mill, and unconventional aging approaches to create distinctive small-batch spirits. Maryland’s first certified organic distillery, McClintock also repurposes distilling byproducts and works to reduce water consumption.FREDERICK, MD
County Seat SpiritsFounded in 2014 by Lehigh Valley natives Anthony Brichta and John Rowe, County Seat Spirits is an independently owned craft distillery making spirits in Allentown and serving them at its tasting room and cocktail bar in Easton. The company’s small-batch approach includes local-grain sourcing and hands-on work from recipe development through bottling, with its flagship Zero G vodka distilled from non-GMO American sugar cane and Three Cities Whiskey made from local malts. Production takes place at the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center in the Lehigh Valley.EASTON, PA