When news broke last Fall that 80-proof Pikesville Rye was being discontinued, lots of locals were dismayed. Events were even planned to mourn the loss. That’s because we in Baltimore are a loyal bunch and Pikesville, though no longer distilled in our state, has a deep local history dating back to the 1890s.

It’s also because rye is experiencing quite the comeback.

Our region was once synonymous with rye whiskey (what bourbon is to Kentucky) and, though rye production was hit hard by Prohibition, it’s back with a vengeance. Bar patrons are ordering old fashioneds with rye, local distilleries (and athletic apparel CEOs) are getting in on the game, and “Maryland-style rye” has been resurrected as a spirits category all its own.

“It’s gone crazy recently,” says Michael Leeds, owner of Barfly’s in Riverside, which has the city’s largest whiskey selection (with 98 bottles of rye alone). “It never used to be a big thing in cocktails, but now a lot of people are asking for rye specifically.”

Bar managers are also seeing a change in who is doing the drinking.

“The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that the younger kids are drinking it now,” Leeds says. “Manhattans and bourbons in general were something your dad drank.”

Similarly, Loch Bar, which currently has about 450 whiskies on hand, has seen a huge boom in requests for rye. The bar even has a Maryland Free State flight with four 1-ounce rye pours for $30.

“You get all these rich, oaky flavors of vanilla and it has more of a spicy bite to it than a bourbon,” says Eric Smith, managing partner at Atlas Restaurant Group and head of the beverage program at Loch Bar. “It’s a great way to change it up in the colder months.”

While weather is one factor, many agree, it’s the emphasis on local that has helped the trend take off.

“People are drawn to it because of its rich Maryland history,” Smith says. “Wars and Prohibition caused it to recede. But, just like our city continues to fight back, rye is doing the same thing.”

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Tasting Notes

Sagamore Spirit Rye American Whiskey
Sagamore Spirit, founded by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, is getting into the rye whiskey game, with its version
blending two mash bills—a high rye and a low rye. The result is a sweeter, smoother rye whiskey.

Lyon Distilling Free State Rye
This St. Michaels distillery might be better known for its rum production, but its rye whiskey is noteworthy. The 100-proof Maryland Free State Rye is aged in oak barrels for less than a year, resulting in a spicy flavor with hints of vanilla.

New Liberty Distilling Melvale Straight Rye
Inspired by the Melvale Distillery, which opened on Cold Spring Lane in the 1880s, Philadelphia-based New Liberty Distillery re-created the recipe. The 90-proof rye is sweet (honey, vanilla) and spicy (cinnamon, pepper).

One Eight Distilling Rock Creek Rye
Washington, D.C.-based One Eight Distilling just released the first grain-to-glass rye to be bottled in the District since Prohibition. Using local rye and corn and a copper pot still, the distillery’s 94-proof rye has a nutty finish and is ideal in cocktails.

If the thought of rum conjures up images of pirates, college parties, and boozy daiquiris, you aren’t alone. But the spirit itself has a much more layered and complex past—one that you can explore at the 23rd Evening of Traditional Beverages put on by the Homewood Museum at Johns Hopkins University.

The annual event, this year held at the campus’ Mudd Hall on May 30 from 6-8 p.m., gives guests a big dose of history with a spoonful of spirits, live music, and local food all to benefit the museum and its future endeavors.

“It’s a fun way to think about history,” says Homewood Museum curator Julie Rose. “We haven’t focused on rum in over 15 years and I know it’s a big part of local lore.”

Indeed, rum was a huge imported product in 18th-century Maryland, mostly being shipped from Barbados into London Town and Gardens in Edgewater. According to historian Kyle Dalton, who will be speaking at next week’s event, the elixir was an apt symbol for cultural mores of the time.

“Maryland was a society of contradictions, as it was very communal but strictly hierarchical,” explains Dalton, coordinator of membership and development for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick. “Rum was a luxury product, so you knew that it was a fairly refined society drinking it. But it was most commonly consumed as a rum punch with colonists drinking directly from the same bowl, so that reflects the communal society.”

Dalton notes that it’s becoming commonplace for museums to try and replicate the past, like with living history exhibits and even the duplication of alcohol products. Colonial Williamsburg has been trying its hand at replicating beer (“the Miller Lite of the 1700s,” he notes) and Mount Vernon is producing a similar whiskey to what George Washington would have imbibed.

“Young audiences really want experiences, rather than something they can take home from the gift shop,” Dalton says. “Liquor is an experience you can share with other people. It’s a small time-travel experience for your tongue.”

That transformative aspect can be seen in modern-day Maryland, thanks to many distilleries using traditional recipes and methods for producing rum. Take St. Mary’s County-based Tobacco Barn Distillery, which makes its rum from 100-percent local ingredients that is then fermented, double-distilled, and sealed in bourbon barrels aboard the U.S.S. Constellation.

“On the ship, you get a little bit of movement that causes swirl and circulation in the barrel, so that imparts a lot more flavor,” says Tobacco Bar co-founder and former Navy admiral Scott Sanders. “If you were in Maryland in the 1700s, this would be the kind of rum you’s drink.”

Besides Tobacco Barn, the rum revival is alive and well in Maryland, thanks to distilleries like Lyon in St. Michael’s, Old Line Spirits in Highlandtown, Blackwater on Kent Island, and Lost Ark in Columbia—all pouring their products at Traditional Beverages.

“Rum not only interests me from a historical perspective, but we wanted to highlight the resurgence of distilleries in Maryland,” Rose says. “People have a real interest in seeing where their food comes from in terms of protecting our planet. There was the microbrewery phenomenon that has had such a big impact on the industry and people are interested in distilleries for that same reason.”

The rain-or-shine event will also feature locally sourced bites from Woodberry Kitchen and live calypso music from percussionists Christina Manceor and Matthew Stiens.

“Right now, campus is in a transition period after graduation, so it’s a great time to celebrate,” Rose says. “This is a good excuse to put on your floral shirt, relax a bit, and learn about some history of the drink.”

While most people start off their year thinking about meal preps and workout plans, we’re asking an entirely different question: What’s on tap in the drink world for 2019? We asked some local experts—brewers, distillers, bartenders, and wine makers—to conjure their best ESP skills and predict what drink styles we’ll be seeing more of in the year to come.

IPAs are Here to Stay
Brewers are still waiting for lagers to have their big day in the sun, but consumers will continue to want their beer hop-heavy. “Juicy, hazy, New England-style, brut, and sour will all continue to be applied to IPA, IPA, IPA,” says Union Craft Brewing co-owner Jon Zerivitz. However, some of the novelty of the milkshake-style IPAs might wear off and you’ll see brewers playing less with lactose than they did in 2018, according to Hop Culture. While Wet City owners PJ and Josh Sullivan say they are hearing “chatter” regarding lager beers, they echo the IPA growth prediction. “The popularity of Hazy IPAs is still going strong,” PJ says. “And we don’t see any end in sight.”
Where to try now: So many options! Change Order at Union; Lil Woozy at Wet City; Nobo at Monument City; Astrodon at Peabody Heights.

CBD, THC, OMG
It’s easy to find CBD—a cannabis compound that is not psychoactive like THC—in oils, juices, and sparkling water around town. But expect it to slip into more and more cocktails this coming year. Some bars will give you off-menu options and the bartenders at Gunther & Co. even mixed up some for a dispensary event last fall. This week, Frederick-based Flying Dog Brewery announced that it’s releasing Hop Chronic, a non-alcoholic IPA infused with therapeutic cannabinoids available at dispensaries throughout Maryland. (Release of the product is subject to regulatory and legal approvals.) “We see a lot of interest in cannabis from the craft beer community,” says Ben Savage, CMO of Flying Dog, which is partnering with Green Leaf Medical Cannabis on the product. “There are definitely similarities between the natural flavor profiles we extract from hops and the terpenes and found in cannabis.”
Where to try now: CBD oils are available at MOM’s Organic Market and area dispensaries to try out your cocktail-making skills at home.

Blurring of Categories
It’s no secret that the craft beverage market has become a really crowded space, so brands are looking to diversify and break out in any way they can. Looking at the year ahead, many breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries will be collaborating to come up with sub-genres to potentially attract a new customer base. “At our bar, we’ve seen kettle sours bring wine drinkers and people that don’t normally drink beer into the craft beer scene,” PJ of Wet City says. Lyon Distilling in St. Michael’s and Jailbreak Brewing in Laurel just collaborated on a “beerskey,” or a beer distilled into a whiskey, and Old Westminster Winery (OWW) is seeing great success by mixing it up. “Some of our most popular products are the wine and cider hybrids,” says Drew Baker, co-owner of OWW. “Producers—whether you’re making beer, wine, or spirits—are looking to fill that space in between.”
Where to try now: Pip & Berry from OWW at Grand Cru; Cherry Berliner Cider at Union Craft.

Non-Alcoholic Cocktails
Yes, this is a thing! Dry January participants can rejoice as the popularity of teetotalling and even zero-proof spirits will make a bigger impact on the market this year. “A large part of the population is not drinking as much as they used to or are a bit more conscientious about their intake,” says R. Bar manager Amie Ward. “This is a great thing! But it does require bars and restaurants to start thinking about alternative options. Simply throwing together juices isn’t going to cut it.” Non-alcoholic spirit companies—like Seedlip and Ceder’s—have launched in recent years, applying the same distilling process and equipment to create zero-proof booze. But, more commonly, bars in New York City, Chicago, and LA, are simply taking the alcohol out to create thoughtful and tasty mocktails.
Where to try now: R. Bar has four options that start as non-alcoholic and include a suggested spirit; Woodberry Kitchen has a lovely mocktail menu.

Ready-to-Drink
Thought the concept of bottled and canned cocktails has been around for a while, things are starting to get a little more sophisticated. “When people think ‘ready-to-drink,’ there is the unfortunate connotation of the sugary stuff from the 2000s,” says Jaime Windon, co-owner of Lyon and president of the Maryland Distillers Guild. “But you’re going to see the new age of bottled cocktails. You don’t have to go to the bar to necessarily have a beautiful cocktail.” Many brands around the country are bottling classic cocktails like the negroni (sign me up!) to elevate the trend. Next month, winemakers at OWW will be coming out with a low-calorie, low-proof spritzer cocktail in a can. As Windon sums up: “People want less work.”
Where to try now: The 84-proof Rock & Rum, basically a rum old-fashioned, at Lyon Distilling.

Fermentation Experimentation
Of course, the fermentation process is crucial in making alcohol of all forms and flavors, but expect people to get pretty weird this year. Brewers will play more with barrel-fermented and mixed-fermented sours for extra tart and acidity, which many drinkers in the market have demanded. Plus, fermented beverages like kombucha will still have a place as mixers or additives in booze. And exotic fermented cocktails like the pineapple-flavored Tepache are staying prevalent on local bar menus, as well. “I’ve many customers start to appreciate the more complex, mixed-fermentation sours these days,” says PJ of Wet City.
Where to try now: The Artista Zynergia barrel-aged sour series at Wet City; Tepache at Alma Cocina Latina and Clavel.

The ingredients used to make Maryland-style rye whiskey are simple and loose: spicy rye, sweet corn, and a hint of one of two other grains. Maryland farmers and distillers have been using variations of this recipe since the 1890s, but now, as the Old Line State’s signature spirit experiences a local and national comeback, women have become the not-so-secret ingredient to its success.

In fact, women are some of the most direct producers of whiskey in the state at places like Sagamore Spirit, Lyon Distilling, and Louthan Distilling. And there’s even a Baltimore chapter of Women Who Whiskey (WWW), an organization that unites like-minded women for events that feature educational presentations on whiskey and the distilling process, and, of course, tastings.

“We have found that women who drink whiskey tend to be super confident and proud of what they do, they’re excited to encourage other women, and they’re proud to be a part of groups that have other strong women in it,” says Rachel Fontana, brand director of Sagamore Spirit and co-founder of the Baltimore chapter of WWW. “That is what we wanted to tap into—these women who are excited and proud of the things they’re building and ready to celebrate that.”

The WWW events also help to break the misconception that there’s a “wrong” way to drink whiskey. By sampling everything from Japanese whisky to whiskey-infused chocolates, attendees can try local spirit variations and leave fear of embarrassment behind. For Maryland, in particular, rye whiskey has played a significant role in the state’s industry.

“When you visit these distilleries and learn about the history of rye whiskey in Maryland, you learn that it’s so much more than a shot,” Fontana says. “People find a new excitement and understanding of what they’re drinking because they know the amount of hard work that went into it.”

Nikki Davidson, who writes the Cocktail Crafty blog, says she’s seen more Baltimore women take an interest in whiskey and other craft spirits since starting her website in 2014. Instead of getting stares or comments when she orders a whiskey neat, she gets approached by women looking for suggestions on how to “get into” whiskey.

“I often hear ‘I want to order that but I want to sound like I know what I’m talking about,’” says Davidson. “All it takes is the right bartender to show them the way, and I think more bartenders are moving away from the stereotype that women only drink vodka.”

A big part of changing those perceptions is the fact that the president of the Maryland Distillers Guild is a woman, Jaime Windon of Lyon Distilling in St. Michaels.

“There’s never been a better time to have a cocktail, and there’s probably never been a better time to be a woman,” she says. “The results are proof that we’re working just as hard as we always have, but we’re finally getting a little bit of credit for it.”

Windon, who has been the president of the guild since its inaugural year, says that while she shares other members’ motivation to promote and educate others about Maryland’s growing spirit industry, she also wants to be a visible resource and leader for other women in the distilling community.

“During the first year that [Lyon Distilling] was open, I can’t tell you how many times I answered the door to the question, ‘Are you the wife of the owner?’” says Windon. “I want to help others; I don’t want anyone else to go through that.”

As a woman in the traditionally male-dominated spirits industry, Windon says she quickly realized people were going to assume that she wasn’t in charge or knowledgeable about distilling. She threw herself into the business, learning about its local history and every step of the multi-year process, and she continues to lead as an advocate for local spirits.

She says that having women involved in everything from bartending to manning the still has helped drive whiskey’s recent renaissance. In the 1990s, 15 percent of whiskey drinkers were female. By 2014, women represented 37 percent of whiskey swillers.

“I think the key is to provide value. That value is gained through education and women want to learn,” says Davidson. “Teach the process and the spirit’s history. Once they learn more about what they’re tasting, they’re more apt to appreciate it and try more.”

This month, WWW will kick off its spring events on March 22 with the Booze and Blooms event at Old Line Spirits. Thanks to Everyday Rosé Events, guests will create take-home floral arrangements while sipping on craft rum and whiskey cocktails from one of Baltimore’s favorite distilleries. The club plans to host monthly events throughout the summer and collaborate with women-owned businesses (look out for an event with Glarus Chocolatier later this year) to continue the mantra of empowering women in the business community.

“Women supporting women is always a good thing,” says Fontana. “I think that we’re not always raised to support, sometimes we’re raised to judge, and the more we can do to support our peers the better.”

With more women involved in Maryland’s burgeoning whiskey scene, the novelty of being a female whiskey drinker is starting to wear off. A new wave of collaboration and support among female bartenders, distillers, and business owners, combined with whiskey’s continued popularity, lets women enjoy the sips of their labor.

“I’m excited for the day that being a female in a male-dominated industry isn’t a ‘thing,’” says Windon. “I look forward to a time when it’s not a novelty that I’m the leader of an industry and I’m a woman.”

Back in 2013, Josh and Stephanie Hershkovitz, the brother-and-sister co-owners of Hersh’s Pizza & Drinks in Riverside, came up with the idea to host a series of Monday-night seminars that delved deep into the art of classic cocktails.

Dubbed Hersh’s Anti-Temperance Society (HATS)—a nod to the Temperance Movement that began in the early 1800s—the groups focused on a different libation each week, and ended with a cocktail sampling inspired by the conversation.

“My brother and I are the kind of restaurant owners who have always been like ‘Let’s build a place where we would want to go,’” Stephanie says. “This goes along with that same thinking. It’s the kind of event we could see ourselves going to.”

After taking a break last year, the cocktail club will pick back up on Monday, January 9 at 6:30 p.m. with a seminar highlighting tropical drinks led by Hersh’s bar manager Ali Dryer. Following an interactive discussion about the origins of tiki cocktails, Dryer will serve HATS attendees her take on a piña colada, made with fresh coconut cream, pineapple syrup, and infused-pineapple brandy.

Stephanie says that she’s excited to bring back the program with a more streamlined approach this time around. In addition to cocktail classes with Dryer (who will lead talks about everything from manhattans to sazeracs), the series will also feature a diverse lineup of regional brewers, vintners, and distillers who will be stopping by Hersh’s to discuss the ins-and-outs of their craft.

“We wanted to work more closely with people we like,” Stephanie says with a laugh. “We make everything at the restaurant ourselves, so we have a lot of respect for other people who make great products from scratch.”

Among the events scheduled for the season, which will continue throughout May, include a talk about rye and Irish whiskey with Philadelphia’s New Liberty Distillery on January 23, a craft beer discussion with Frederick’s Flying Dog Brewery on February 6, a session with Eastern Shore-based Lyon Distilling Company on February 20, and a special Mardi Gras-inspired class on February 27. The free gatherings take place in the bar, and feature a signature $5 drink inspired by each week’s theme.

Stephanie is enthusiastic about to bringing back HATS during a time when the local cocktail scene is at the top of its game, mentioning city trendsetters like Clavel, Bookmakers, and B&O American Brasserie.

“Baltimore is a community that loves to support local,” she says. “And it’s fun for people to come into an environment where they don’t feel intimidated by foreign concepts. At Hersh’s, we’re serious about the stuff we make, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”