Since 2011, more than a dozen new distilleries have opened or are set to open across Maryland. Baltimore magazine last year described it as “a spirit-making tsunami.” Here in Baltimore, four craft distilleries have fired up whiskey stills in recent years. If this trend continues, Maryland could return to its pre-Prohibition status as the country’s 3rd biggest spirit-maker after Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Tom's guests in the studio this morning are two guys who are making a run at this booming booze market. Mark McLaughlin and Arch Watkins are friends who met while serving as flight officers in the Navy. They founded the Old Line Spirits distillery in 2014. While they utilize other facilities to prepare their special blend of American whiskey, they’re putting the finishing touches on their refurbished distillery in Highlandtown, and plan to have it up and running before the end of the year.
