Wigle Whiskey Explained

Wigle Whiskey
Founded:2012
Location City:Pittsburgh

Wigle Whiskey (pronounced "wih-gul"[1]) is an artisan small batch whiskey distillery in the Strip District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Wigle Whiskeys are the flagship products of Wigle Whiskey, which is entirely family owned and operated.[2]

History

Wigle Whiskey Distillery
Map Type:Pittsburgh
Coordinates:40.4545°N -79.9816°W
Location:2401 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Wigle began operations in 2011, and opened its doors to the public in March 2012.[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. 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] [6] The bill allowed Wigle to sell spirits to customers.[7] Wigle purchased the distillery building and a neighboring building in early 2019 to provide more room for tasting, tours, whiskey production, and community programs.[8]

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.[9] Wigle punched a tax collector, helping to incite four years of protests and riots that would come to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion.[10] Wigle was later pardoned by George Washington. Washington feared hanging Wigle would stir a civil war in the young nation.[11]

Wigle Whiskey was at the center of the "Pennsylvania Rye Revival"[12] and the growth of Pittsburgh's whiskey heritage tourism.[13] [14] [15] The distillery offers tours, which include a history of the Whiskey Rebellion.[16] [17] 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.[18]

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.[19] 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. 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. 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. Wigle's annual event during the Whiskey Rebellion Heritage Festival raises money for nonprofits.[20] [21]

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.[22]

In April 2017, Wigle opened a cocktail bar and bottle shop, the Wigle Whiskey Tasting Room, at the Omni William Penn Hotel.[23] [24] [25] In 2018, Wigle opened a Tasting Room and Bottle Shop in Ross Park Mall.[26] [27] During the holiday shopping season, Wigle also runs pop-up kiosks in Pittsburgh's South Hills Village Mall. Wigle holds weekly labeling parties every Tuesday, where guests label bottles in exchange for drinks.[28]

Process

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.[29] The Meyer family worked with the Artisan Distilling Program at Michigan State University throughout the start up of the distillery. Wigle distills their whiskey from scratch.

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.[30] 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.[31]

Products

Wigle Whiskey produces Organic Straight Rye Whiskeys, Organic Straight Bourbons, Dutch Style Gins, Rum and Bitters.[32] Wigle's Bourbon was the first bourbon produced in Pennsylvania in more than 40 years.[33] In March, 2020, Wigle began manufacturing hand sanitizer for Pittsburgh's first responders to help ease coronavirus-induced shortages.[34]

Awards

Two of Wigle's co-founders, Alex Grelli and Meredith Meyer Grelli, were named James Beard Award Semi-Finalists in 2018.[35] [36] [37] [3] In 2018, Wigle Whiskey's Organic Ginever was awarded Best in Class Gin by the American Craft Spirits Association.[38] 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.[39]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wigle Whiskey: Pennsylvania's Rebellious New Spirit . Drink Philly.
  2. News: Toland . Bill . Pittsburgh gets its first distillery since before Prohibition . . May 22, 2011 . November 14, 2016 .
  3. Web site: American Craft Spirits Association convention visits a growing Pittsburgh scene. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. en. 2018-12-06.
  4. News: Toland . Bill. Wigle Whiskey, Pittsburgh's first distillery since Prohibition, to open soon . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . May 9, 2012 . June 12, 2012 .
  5. News: Ingle . Laura . Pittsburgh, from 'steel city' to 'whiskey town' . Fox News. April 3, 2012 . June 12, 2012.
  6. Book: Przybylek, Leslie . Kline . Carol . Craft Beverages and Tourism, Volume 1: The Rise of Breweries and Distilleries in the United States . Palgrave Macmillan . 2017 . 119–138 . Return of a Rebellious Spirit: Whiskey Distilling and Heritage Tourism in Southwestern Pennsylvania . 978-3-319-49851-5 .
  7. News: Schooley . Tim . January 25, 2019 . Wigle Whiskey commits to Strip with building buy . Pittsburgh Business Times. Pittsburgh, PA.
  8. News: Batz . Bob . January 25, 2019 . Wigle Whiskey to expand so it can make and serve more booze. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. January 26, 2019 .
  9. Web site: Whiskey Rebellion. HISTORY. en. 2019-01-06.
  10. Book: Hogeland, William . The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty . New York . . 2006 . 0-7432-5490-2 . 238 . registration .
  11. Web site: Whiskey Rebellion Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com. 2019-01-06.
  12. Web site: The Pennsylvania Rye Revival. Thomas. Richard. March 19, 2018 . whiskeyreviewer.com. Black Gold Media . January 3, 2019 .
  13. News: Brown. Ryan . February 6, 2016. 'Whiskey Rebellion' tourism eyed for Pennsylvania county. The (Altoona) Mirror & AP . Altoona, PA . January 3, 2019.
  14. Curtis . Wayne . April 24, 2017 . America's Oldest Rye Whiskey Is Back from Extinction. Punch. Brooklyn, NY . Punch . January 3, 2019 .
  15. 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 Web site: Whiskey Rebellion II. . 2008 . brandmill.com . Brand Mill . January 3, 2019. and News: Young. Chris. October 25, 2007. Whiskey Rebellion II . Pittsburgh City Paper . Pittsburgh, PA. January 3, 2019.). Wigle Whiskey led the growth of whiskey and rye heritage tourism in western Pennsylvania.
  16. News: Millman . China . Wigle Distillery offers tours of their Strip District operation . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . May 9, 2012 . June 12, 2012 .
  17. Walls . Kathleen . 2016. Bourbon: It's not just from Kentucky . American Roads and Global Highways . Middleburg, FL. ARGH. January 3, 2019.
  18. Book: Meyer. Mark . Grelli . Meredith Meyer . 2017. The Whiskey Rebellion and The Rebirth of Rye: A Pittsburgh Story. Belt. 978-0-9989041-6-0.
  19. News: Harrop. Joanne Klimovich. February 22, 2018. Cheers to Wigle Whiskey's Prohibition Rye. Trib. December 21, 2018.
  20. News: . Wigle Whiskey Hosting Tar & Feather Party. KDKA Pittsburgh (CBS television news). Pittsburgh, PA. June 20, 2017. January 6, 2019.
  21. News: Booth. Katie. July 3, 2014 . Who Wants to Tar-and-Feather a Tax Collector? . Pittsburgh Magazine. Pittsburgh, PA. January 26, 2019.
  22. News: Cercone . Jason. June 22, 2017. SESSIONABLE: Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse and Whiskey Garden. Local Pittsburgh (Magazine). Pittsburgh, PA. January 3, 2019.
  23. News: Roberts . Larry . Wigle opens shop in Omni William Penn lobby . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . April 21, 2017 . August 22, 2017.
  24. News: Omni William Penn Hotel (advert). Whiskey: Pittsburgh's fourth river. Washington Post. December 23, 2018.
  25. News: Kristy . Locklin . November 14, 2018 . Wigle Whiskey's new tasting room brings craft cocktails and bottle sales to Ross Park Mall. NEXTpittsburgh . Pittsburgh, PA . December 23, 2018.
  26. Web site: Wigle Whiskey's new tasting room brings craft cocktails and bottle sales to Ross Park Mall. Locklin. Kristy. 2018-11-14. NEXTpittsburgh. en-US. 2019-01-06.
  27. Web site: Wigle Whiskey to open shop in Ross Park Mall TribLIVE. triblive.com. 2019-01-06.
  28. Web site: Wigle Whiskey. roxyru92. 2014-03-26. Pittsburgh Bucket List. en. 2019-01-06.
  29. Web site: Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey. flaviar.com. January 3, 2019.
  30. News: Can Liquor Have a Local Taste? They're Banking on It. Risen. Clay. 2018-08-21. . 2018-12-06. en-US. 0362-4331.
  31. News: Can Liquor Have a Local Taste? They're Banking on It. Risen. Clay. 2018-08-21. The New York Times. 2018-12-06. en-US. 0362-4331.
  32. Web site: Wigle spirits. 2018. wiglewhiskey.com. Wigle Whiskey. January 3, 2019.
  33. Web site: Expert Liquor Reviews, Track Your Liquor Collection . Distiller . 2018-12-06.
  34. News: Machosky. Michael . April 6, 2020. How Pittsburgh companies are pivoting to face the coronavirus crisis. Nextpittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA. April 6, 2020.
  35. Web site: Wigle Whiskey co-founders named James Beard Award semi-finalists. Cioletti. Jeff. 2018-02-22. en. 2018-12-06.
  36. Web site: Pittsburgh Chefs And Restaurants Among Semifinalists For 2018 James Beard Awards. Davis. Kathleen J.. www.wesa.fm. en. 2018-12-06.
  37. Web site: The 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists . . en. 2018-12-06.
  38. Web site: Hometown distilleries win some American Craft Spirits Association bling. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. en. 2018-12-06.
  39. Web site: Bob Jr . Batz . March 7, 2018 . Hometown distilleries win some American Craft Spirits Association bling. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. en. 2018-12-06.

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