America's True Spirit
Before Kentucky was even a state, Pennsylvania rye was America's first whiskey, and the country’s premier spirit before Prohibition.
Bourbon may have garnered the hype, but Pennsylvania rye didn’t chase the trend — it remained true to its roots and now has what few spirits can boast of today: a nation-changing heritage, a dedication to authentic craft distilling, and a unique spicy flavor that only comes from rye grain grown in the Pennsylvania region.
The Original
Spicy, compelling, built with a backbone. This was the whiskey of taverns and traders and people who flatly refused to abandon making a living on the frontier. That’s not a brand story we invented. It’s the actual one.
The Monongahela
Along the Monongahela Valley, distillers built a style the whole country drank: high-rye, full-flavored, made to stand on its own. Wigle, Liberty Pole, Mingo Creek, Iron City, Dad’s Hat, and Ponfeigh are making it again — not as a gimmick, as the real thing.
The comeback is already here.
Dad’s Hat and Wigle reopened the door in 2011. Stoll & Wolfe carries the legacy of master distiller Dick Stoll. Growers are bringing back heritage Rosen rye from saved seed. The grain and the methods are coming home.
Coming soon
The PA Rye Whiskey Trail
A statewide rye trail — West, Central, and East — is on the way, connecting the distilleries keeping this whiskey alive. Be there when it launches.
Mailing List