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Mingo Creek Craft Distillers, purveyors of Liberty Pole Whiskeys, opened their doors to the public for the first time during this year’s annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival in Washington, PA.

Banner of Mingo Creek Distillers

On Saturday, July 9, following a 10 a.m. parade on Main Street, the new distillery allowed festival attendees to walk through the warmly restored, turn-of-the-century building to view the whiskey production facility and taste a colonial punch made with Liberty Pole Whiskey. Located at 68 West Maiden Street, the building sports a tasting room styled after an 18th century meetinghouse, a smaller private meeting room, and the original overhead crane, which is still used today as part of the process of making the whiskey.

Jim and Ellen Hough, proprietors, decided to start the distillery after raising two sons and enjoying successful careers in Washington County. Feeling as though the timing was right to start a second career together, they also wanted to ensure that they were helping the community with their efforts. The history of the whiskey rebellion is well-preserved by many organizations in the county and so it seemed the perfect way to honor the community while also having an exciting second career.

They selected a location on the National Road where the whiskey rebels traveled frequently and named themselves after the Scotch Irish Mingo Creek Settlement. Those rebels showed their unity against the excise tax imposed on whiskey in 1791 by erecting liberty poles around the countryside.

The distillery is housed in the restored Simon White’s Sons monument factory at 68 Maiden Street. The Houghs continue to utilize the overhead crane and large floor access to the basement to bring grains up after they are ground in the hammer mill and to lower filled barrels into the basement for aging. The tasting room is street-front, and through its large windows, passersby can see custom-made farm tables and benches made with repurposed barn wood, a large stone fireplace, and a dark wooden bar complete with hand carved designs.

“It’s taken us almost 2 years to get to this point,” said Jim, “but we wanted to be certain that we had developed a beautiful experience and a quality crafted product.”

The products to be released over the next year include Jim’s version of Monongahela Rye, which is made from locally grown rye, triple distilled in the manner of the Irish, and rested in a barrel for only as long as it would have taken to get the whiskey over the mountain to Philadelphia. The libation is named Bassett Town Whiskey after the original name of the city of Washington. His Liberty Pole Peated Bourbon, with its subtle peat notes, is a nod to Scottish Isley style Scotch whiskies. Other products to be released include Liberty Pole Bourbon, distilled from Bloody Butcher, a non GMO locally grown heritage corn. The distillery will also produce an aged rye and an aged corn whiskey.

The tasting room is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. where their products will be available for sale along with seasonal cocktails. Tours and formal tastings in the Tinker Dining Room will begin in August on Saturday afternoons.

To learn more, visit www.libertypolespirits.com or call 724-503-4014.

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