Wigle Whiskey

Wigle Whiskey (pronounced "wiggle") is an artisan small batch whiskey distillery in the Strip District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Wigle Whiskeys are the flagship products of the Pittsburgh Distilling Company, LLC, which is entirely family owned and operated.[1]

Wigle Whiskey
Founded2012
Headquarters
Pittsburgh
Websitehttp://wiglewhiskey.com

History
Wigle Whiskey Distillery
Wigle Distillery & Tasting Room
Whiskey Production and Pittsburgh History Tour
Location2401 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Coordinates40.454542°N 79.981584°W / 40.454542; -79.981584
Websitewiglewhiskey.com/tours/

Wigle began operations in 2011, and opened its doors to the public in March of 2012.[2][3] Wigle was the first distillery to open in Pittsburgh since Joseph S. Finch's distillery, located at South Second and McKean streets, closed in the 1920s.[1] At that time, only two other distilleries existed in the rest of Pennsylvania.[4] The founders of Wigle Whiskey were instrumental to the passage of Pennsylvania House Bill 242 in December 2011, establishing a new distillery license allowing craft distilleries to sell their own products onsite, which led to the growth of craft distilleries in Pennsylvania.[5][3] The bill allowed Wigle to sell spirits to customers.[6] Wigle purchased the distillery building and a neighboring building in early 2019 to provide more room for tasting, tours, whiskey production, and community programs.[7][6]

Wigle's founders, Mark Meyer, Mary Ellen Meyer, Meredith Meyer Grelli, Eric Meyer, Alexander Grelli, and Jeff Meyer, named the distillery after Philip Wigle, a man convicted of treason in 1794 and sentenced to hang for his actions in the Whiskey Rebellion, wherein Alexander Hamilton leveled the first excise tax--on whiskey.[1][8] Wigle punched a tax collector, helping to incite four years of protests and riots that would come to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion.[9] Wigle was later pardoned by George Washington.[1] Washington feared hanging Wigle would stir a civil war in the young nation.[10]

Wigle Whiskey was at the center of the "Pennsylvania Rye Revival"[11] and the growth of Pittsburgh's whiskey heritage tourism.[12][13][note 1] The distillery offers tours, which include a history of the Whiskey Rebellion.[14][15] Owners Mark Meyer and Meredith Meyer Grelli are authors of The Whiskey Rebellion & the Rebirth of Rye (Belt, 2017), which describes rye's origins and the history of Pittsburgh, and provides a guide to making rye whiskey and recipes for cocktails.[16]

In 2018, Wigle partnered with Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center on a Prohibition Rye whiskey to accompany the museum's "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" exhibition.[17] Wigle has also partnered with other museums, including the Mattress Factory and the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Museum in Cumberland, Maryland, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.[3] Wigle is also involved in the development of a Whiskey Rebellion trail following the Great Allegheny Passage, a trail that extends from Pittsburgh, through Pennsylvania and Maryland to Mt. Vernon.[3] Wigle partnered with the Omni Bedford Springs Hotel in Bedford, Pennsylvania, a town about 100 miles southeast of Pittsburgh where Washington led his troops during the Whiskey Rebellion.[3][12] Wigle’s annual “tar and feathering” party (a part of the Whiskey Rebellion Heritage Festival) raises money for nonprofits.[3][18][19]

In 2013, the Meyer family opened a new facility in the Northside area of Pittsburgh, the Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse and Garden. A former produce warehouse, the barrelhouse provided a place for tastings and tours. The family also purchased two vacant lots neighboring the barrelhouse for gardens for botanicals used in the spirits.[20]

In April 2017, Wigle opened a cocktail bar and bottle shop, the Wigle Whiskey Tasting Room, at the Omni William Penn Hotel.[21][22][23] In 2018, Wigle opened a Tasting Room and Bottle Shop in Ross Park Mall.[24][25] During the holiday shopping season, Wigle also runs pop-up kiosks in Pittsburgh's South Hills Village Mall.[23] Wigle holds weekly labeling parties every Tuesday, where guests label bottles in exchange for drinks.[26]

Process
Wigle Whiskey production area, prior to expansion

Wigle is an organic "grain-to-glass" distiller, which means that the distillery obtains ingredients from nearby farms in Washington County, Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, mills grains on site, where they are distilled, and serves them at the distillery.[4][3][27] The Meyer family worked with the Artisan Distilling Program at Michigan State University throughout the start up of the distillery.[1] Wigle distills their whiskey from scratch.[4]

Wigle led a two year study into regional terroir by producing batches of Rye Whiskey from rye grain sourced from farms in Saskatchewan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.[28] The distillery found differences in the tastes and compounds of the resulting whiskies that could be traced back to the regional grains used in the process.[29]


Products
Kilted Rye & Deep Cut

Wigle Whiskey produces Organic Straight Rye Whiskeys, Organic Straight Bourbons, Dutch Style Gins, Rum and Bitters.[30] Wigle's Bourbon was the first bourbon produced in Pennsylvania in more than 40 years.[31] In March, 2020, Wigle began manufacturing hand sanitizer for Pittsburgh's first responders to help ease coronavirus-induced shortages.[32]


Whiskey
  • Single Barrel Straight Rye
  • Pennsylvania Rye
  • Terroir Rye
  • Pennsylvania Deep Cut Rye
  • Deep Cut Bottled in Bond Rye
  • Kilted Rye
  • Oaxaca Rye[note 2]
  • Pennsylvania Bourbon
  • Single Barrel Straight Bourbon
  • Pennsylvania Wheat
  • Pennsylvania Straight Wheat
  • Walkabout Apple Whiskey
  • Afterglow Ginger Whiskey
  • Cinnamon Whiskey
  • O’Zapft is Whiskey
  • Al Centro
  • Rivers and Mountains Whiskey
  • Pittsburgh Harvest
  • Hopped Whiskey

Limited bottlings

Rum

  • Dunder Rum
  • Landlocked Spiced Rum
  • Landlocked Oaked
  • Landlocked Spiced & Oaked
  • Abajo

Spirits

  • Ginever Gin
  • Trope Vodka
  • Absent Minded Absinthe
  • Dzinn! Barrel-Rested Gin
  • Eau de Pickle[note 5]

Liqueurs

  • Apple Liqueur
  • Maple Liqueur
  • Coffee Liqueur
  • Rhubarb Liqueur
  • Cocktail Mixer No. 1 “Vermouth”

Bitters

  • Molé Bitters
  • Aromatic Bitters
  • Rosemary Lavender Bitters
  • Pomander Orange Bitters

Hand sanitizer

  • City of Champions Sanitizer

Awards

Wigle co-founders Alex Grelli and Meredith Meyer Grelli were named James Beard Award Semi-Finalists in 2018.[33][34][35][36] In 2018, Wigle Whiskey's Organic Ginever was awarded Best in Class Gin by the American Craft Spirits Association.[37] Its Bourbon won a Gold medal and the Distillery was awarded an additional 16 medals across its portfolio, making it the most awarded craft distillery in the country by the American Craft Spirits Association for the second year running.[38]

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See also

Notes
  1. Przybylek (2017) describes how historical views of the Whiskey Rebellion changed over time. Historians and organizers of civic commemorations of the Whiskey Rebellion tended to see rebellion in negative terms up until the 1960s, when progressive historical scholarship produced more positive perspectives on dissent. By 2008, a marketing firm called Brandmill was able to create the "Whiskey Rebellion II" campaign against a drink tax imposed by the Allegheny County government on Pittsburgh area restaurants, taverns and banquet halls (see "Whiskey Rebellion II". brandmill.com. Brand Mill. 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2019. and Young, Chris (October 25, 2007). "Whiskey Rebellion II". Pittsburgh City Paper. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved January 3, 2019.). Wigle Whiskey led the growth of whiskey and rye heritage tourism in western Pennsylvania.
  2. Wigle Oaxaca Rye is produced by finishing two year old Monongahela Rye Whiskey in ex-Mezcal barrels. The Rye Whiskey is kepy in the Mezcal barrels for an additional year (See Marchetti, Nino (December 12, 2018). "Pennsylvania's Wigle Whiskey Debuts A Rye Whiskey Finished In Ex-Mezcal Barrels". The Whiskey Wash. Retrieved December 21, 2018.)
  3. Wigle produced 250 bottles of Prohibition Rye whiskey for the Heinz History Center and Smithsonian Institution's "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" exhibition. (See "History Center and Wigle Whiskey to Release "Prohibition Rye"" (PDF). Heinz History Center. Pittsburgh, PA. 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2019.)
  4. Wigle produced around 200 bottles of Phil's Shadow to celebrate Groundhog Day in 2018. The whiskey was finished in maple syrup barrels and named for Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog who may or may not see his shadow. (See Cummings, Sinead (January 22, 2018). "PA distillery releases whiskey inspired by Punxsutawney Phil". Philly Voice. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved January 26, 2019.)
  5. Eau de Pickle won an innovation award from the American Craft Spirits Association (see "2019 American Craft Spirits Awards". americancraftspirits.org. American Craft Spirits Association. 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2020.). It is produced by macerating dill week, dill seed, garlic, mace, mustard, caraway, and coriander in the spirit and, then, after distilling the spirit and botanicals, reducing the proof of the spirit with a homemade brine of water, vinegar, salt, and sugar.

References
  1. Toland, Bill (May 22, 2011). "Pittsburgh gets its first distillery since before Prohibition". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  2. "American Craft Spirits Association convention visits a growing Pittsburgh scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  3. Przybylek, Leslie (2017). "Return of a Rebellious Spirit: Whiskey Distilling and Heritage Tourism in Southwestern Pennsylvania". In Kline, Carol (ed.). Craft Beverages and Tourism, Volume 1: The Rise of Breweries and Distilleries in the United States. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 119–138. ISBN 978-3-319-49851-5.
  4. Toland, Bill (May 9, 2012). "Wigle Whiskey, Pittsburgh's first distillery since Prohibition, to open soon". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  5. Ingle, Laura (April 3, 2012). "Pittsburgh, from 'steel city' to 'whiskey town'". Fox News. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  6. Schooley, Tim (January 25, 2019). "Wigle Whiskey commits to Strip with building buy". Pittsburgh Business Times. Pittsburgh, PA.
  7. Batz, Bob (January 25, 2019). "Wigle Whiskey to expand so it can make and serve more booze". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  8. Editors, History com. "Whiskey Rebellion". HISTORY. Retrieved 2019-01-06.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  9. Hogeland, William (2006). The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty. New York: Scribner. p. 238. ISBN 0-7432-5490-2.
  10. "Whiskey Rebellion | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  11. Thomas, Richard (March 19, 2018). "The Pennsylvania Rye Revival". whiskeyreviewer.com. Black Gold Media. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  12. Brown, Ryan (February 6, 2016). "'Whiskey Rebellion' tourism eyed for Pennsylvania county". The (Altoona) Mirror & AP. Altoona, PA. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  13. Curtis, Wayne (April 24, 2017). "America's Oldest Rye Whiskey Is Back from Extinction". Punch. Brooklyn, NY: Punch. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  14. Millman, China (May 9, 2012). "Wigle Distillery offers tours of their Strip District operation". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  15. Walls, Kathleen (2016). "Bourbon: It's not just from Kentucky". American Roads and Global Highways. Middleburg, FL: ARGH. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  16. Meyer, Mark; Grelli, Meredith Meyer (2017). The Whiskey Rebellion and The Rebirth of Rye: A Pittsburgh Story. Belt. ISBN 9780998904160.
  17. Harrop, Joanne Klimovich (February 22, 2018). "Cheers to Wigle Whiskey's Prohibition Rye". Trib. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  18. "Wigle Whiskey Hosting Tar & Feather Party". KDKA Pittsburgh (CBS television news). Pittsburgh, PA. June 20, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  19. Booth, Katie (July 3, 2014). "Who Wants to Tar-and-Feather a Tax Collector?". Pittsburgh Magazine. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  20. Cercone, Jason (June 22, 2017). "SESSIONABLE: Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse and Whiskey Garden". Local Pittsburgh (Magazine). Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  21. Roberts, Larry (April 21, 2017). "Wigle opens shop in Omni William Penn lobby". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  22. Omni William Penn Hotel (advert). "Whiskey: Pittsburgh's fourth river". Washington Post. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  23. Kristy, Locklin (November 14, 2018). "Wigle Whiskey's new tasting room brings craft cocktails and bottle sales to Ross Park Mall". NEXTpittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  24. Locklin, Kristy (2018-11-14). "Wigle Whiskey's new tasting room brings craft cocktails and bottle sales to Ross Park Mall". NEXTpittsburgh. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  25. "Wigle Whiskey to open shop in Ross Park Mall | TribLIVE". triblive.com. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  26. roxyru92 (2014-03-26). "Wigle Whiskey". Pittsburgh Bucket List. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  27. "Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey". flaviar.com. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  28. Risen, Clay (2018-08-21). "Can Liquor Have a Local Taste? They're Banking on It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  29. Risen, Clay (2018-08-21). "Can Liquor Have a Local Taste? They're Banking on It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  30. "Wigle spirits". wiglewhiskey.com. Wigle Whiskey. 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  31. "Expert Liquor Reviews, Track Your Liquor Collection". Distiller. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  32. Machosky, Michael (April 6, 2020). "How Pittsburgh companies are pivoting to face the coronavirus crisis". Nextpittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  33. Cioletti, Jeff (2018-02-22). "Wigle Whiskey co-founders named James Beard Award semi-finalists". Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  34. Davis, Kathleen J. "Pittsburgh Chefs And Restaurants Among Semifinalists For 2018 James Beard Awards". www.wesa.fm. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  35. "The 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists". James Beard Foundation. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  36. "American Craft Spirits Association convention visits a growing Pittsburgh scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  37. "Hometown distilleries win some American Craft Spirits Association bling". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  38. Batz, Bob, Jr (March 7, 2018). "Hometown distilleries win some American Craft Spirits Association bling". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
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