by I spent an afternoon at Liberty Pole Spirits in Washington, Pennsylvania. Whiskey is part of the American heritage, and Liberty Pole Spirits is a family-owned distillery honoring that heritage by producing a great line of whiskeys. They started in 2016 and recently expanded in 2023 to a much larger distillery campus. Their name comes from how some of the first whiskey producers in Washington County in the late 18th century opposed a new tax on whiskey and planted Liberty Poles throughout the county to show their unity and defiance. You can read their full history on their website.
I started my visit in their Spirit Shoppe by tasting their regularly available whiskeys like Full Proof Monongahela Rye and Peated Bourbon. They have a line ranging from Corn Whiskey, Bourbon, Rye, and special releases. They have a restaurant and tasting room called the Meetinghouse designed to look like an 18th Century Roadhouse. They have a regular menu as well as specials like a chicken dinner night. The day I was there they had house-cured and smoked pastrami Reuben special that was delicious. We also got a very tasty trout dip. The restaurant offers whiskey flights and a cocktail menu with monthly special cocktails and old classics. They strive to have a world class cocktail program to show off the versatility of whiskey and introduce people to the flavors of whiskey. They use seasonal and fresh ingredients to make amazing cocktails.
The distillery offers tours of the production area. They have two stills, Harold, their original, smaller still, and Howard, their new still. They discussed the history of whiskey in Washington County, the corn and grain they used and they distilling process. We learned they use bloody butcher corn for bolder whiskey and heritage grains. An interesting note is their spent grain after the mash is complete is given to local farmers to be used for feed. They then get meat from those farms to use in the restaurant. After the tour, you do a tasting at the Distiller’s Table on the production floor.
After the production distillery tour, we toured the barrelhouse where they store and age the whiskey barrels. This is normally part of their Barrel House Immersion Tour. It is the only five story barrelhouse in Pennsylvania. Inside, they had a wall acknowledging their first investors who believed in the Liberty Pole mission. This tour includes sampling from 3 barrels. You can then select one to fill your own bottle. We went up a couple of stories to be whiskey thieves and sample a rye directly from a barrel almost done aging. We saw how holes are drilled in the barrel to allow the whiskey to flow and then covered. These barrels are full proof and full of flavor.
One last experience we got a behind-the-scenes tasting in their Founder’s Room of some special tastings like an upcoming yet to be announced whiskey and their library of previous releases. We tasted an Amburana Oak aged bourbon and a previous single barrel release. Owners Jim and Ellen Hough talked to us about history, releases and plans for future cocktail offerings.
I had a great time at Liberty Pole Spirits. I regret taking this long to visit. They have a great facility. You can really see how much they care about the heritage and quality of their whiskey. If you love whiskey, I recommend visiting them too.
Liberty Pole Spirits is located at 800 Adios Dr., Washington, PA 15301
One thought on “An Afternoon at Liberty Pole Spirits”
Comments are closed.