Recently craft distilleries have been experiencing a bit of a resurgence in the region. It seems that every time I blink, there’s a new one popping up. Similarly to the craft beer boom, all of the distilleries are different in their own right. Each distillery has its own story: from producers focused on locally-grown, farm-to-bottle spirits, to those experimenting with extremely rare ingredients and exotic recipes. With rums & whiskeys to vodka, gin, brandy, grappa and more, you’re bound to find a locally made spirit to satisfy your tastes.

Last weekend, I have the pleasure to attend the Maryland Spirits Showcase which was put together by the Maryland Distillers Guild and sample some of the local spirits.

Maryland Distillers Guild

There were plenty of great distilleries present and I was able to speak with someone from each.

Twin Valley Distillers – This group is located out of Rockville, MD and uses the ‘farm to table’ concept. All of their grain and raw products are sourced from within fifty miles of their distillery. Additionally, they recycle their grains back to local farms to use as animal feed, limiting the amount of waste. Their products include rum, bourbon, and rye and can be found at these liquor stores and restaurants.

Twin Valley Distillers

Louthan Distillery – This Father/Daughter duo teamed up to create a locally sourced, oak aged corn whiskey in Baltimore. They use locally sourced ingredients and can be found here.

Louthan Distillery

Sagamore Spirit – This is the new distillery that is currently being built in Port Covington that Kevin Plank is part of. Their product isn’t currently available but we were able to take a virtual reality tour of the space that’s currently being built.

Sagamore Spirit

Virtual Reality Tour

Fiore – This Italian distillery happened to have the best bottles (in my opinion) and that’s because it paid homage to Baltimore with its Blue Crab Vodka. They also produce limoncello and moonshine. If you’re interested in picking up some of their products, you can find them here.

Fiore

Lost Ark Distilling – This distillery out of Laurel has whiskey and rum that were not currently available at the time of the event. They are hoping to begin producing spirits in the coming months.

Lost Ark Distilling

Dragon Distillery – Based out of Frederick and owned by veterans, Dragon Distillery specializes in small batch moonshine and vodka. The name dragon comes from the founders affinity for the game Dungeons and Dragons.

Dragon Distillery

Black Water Distilling – On the Eastern shore, this distillery is producing rum and vodka. It was founded in 2008 and the first first fully-licensed beverage alcohol distillery in Maryland since 1972.

Black Water Distilling

Old Line Spirits – This is another distillery based in Baltimore City that will be up and running in the next few months.

Old Line Spirits

Tenth Ward Distilling –  Coming soon in Frederick, this distillery will not only have spirits, but they will also be selling aging kits. Tenth Ward prides themselves on experimenting with unconventional ingredients, recipes, and aging techniques.

Tenth Ward Distilling

White Tiger Distillery – This distillery based in Kent Island, uses a family recipe from Laos. They pride themselves as the first handcrafted Laotian style whisky using the latest techniques and highest quality grains to produce the finest whisky in America.

White Tiger Distillery

Lyon Distilling Co. – Based in Saint Michaels, this small batch distillery is crafting unique spirits using traditional methods. Lyon currently offers three unique and distinctive rums: 90 proof raw, unfiltered White Rum, 90 proof rich, smoky, caramelized Dark Rum, and 100 proof Sailors Reserve Bourbon-Barrel Rum.

Lyon Distilling Co.

The Baltimore Whiskey Company – Made with love in Baltimore, this distillery produces liqueur, gin, and brandy. The names of each spirit heavily incorporates Baltimore because the founders are proud of the city’s history.

The Baltimore Whiskey Company

You can learn more about the Maryland Distillers Guild, here.