Since its founding, the United States has seen its fair share of distilleries open and evolve. European settlers brought brandy– and whiskey-making practices to the area well before the Declaration of Independence was signed, and distillers were exposed to new grains on American soil, hence the first recorded run of rye whiskey occurring in Salem, Mass., in 1648. But for a long time, distilling in America was an uphill battle.
The English Malt Tax of 1725 forced most of the distillers to move production underground and led to the uptick in bathtub liquors like moonshine. Then Prohibition hit and killed the momentum any distilleries had before the 1920s, if not causing them to shutter completely. Unlike many breweries that switched up their business models during the American dry spell, some distilleries — like Buffalo Trace and Laird & Company — were granted a federal license to continue producing spirits for “medicinal purposes,” though much of that alcohol fell into the hands of gangsters and bootleggers. For all these reasons, the “oldest”-running distilleries in most states weren’t actually founded — or licensed — until the early aughts. Hell, Alabama’s first legal, commercially available whiskey didn’t hit liquor store shelves until 2015. It’s shocking, but somewhat promising: The best could be yet to come for American distilling culture, and we’re looking forward to what’s on the horizon.
Here, we’ve rounded up the oldest distillery in every U.S. state. That title isn’t necessarily straightforward: Many distilleries have shut down, been eaten up by larger companies, or had long periods of dormancy only to be revived by a younger, enthusiastic generation of distilling family lineage. All this change makes each state’s “oldest” distillery tough to calculate, so for clarity, each of the distilleries below is currently active and has been since the listed year of its founding without any periods of inactivity.
The oldest distillery in every state:
State
Distillery
Year
Alabama
John Emerald Distillery
2014
Alaska
Alaska Distillery
2007
Arizona
Desert Diamond Distillery
2009
Arkansas
Rock Town Distillery
2010
California
Alambic Inc.
1982
Colorado
Stranahan’s
2004
Connecticut
Westford Hills Distillery
1997
Delaware
Painted Stave
2013
Florida
Drum Circle Distilling
2007
Georgia
Richland Rum
1999
Hawaii
Kolani Distillers
2006
Idaho
Distilled Resources Inc.
1988
Illinois
North Shore Distillery
2004
Indiana
Ross & Squibb Distillery
1847
Iowa
Cedar Ridge Distillery
2005
Kansas
High Plains Distillery
2005
Kentucky
Buffalo Trace Distillery
1775
Louisiana
Celebration Distillation
1995
Maine
Maine Distilleries
2005
Maryland
Blackwater Distilling
2008
Massachusetts
Berkshire Mountain Distillers
2007
Michigan
Temperance Distilling
1998
Minnesota
Panther Distillery
2010
Nebraska
Cooper’s Chase
2009
Nevada
Frey Ranch Farmers + Distillers
2006
New Hampshire
Flag Hill Distillery
2004
New Jersey
Laird & Company
1780
New Mexico
Sante Fe Spirits
2010
New York
Kings Action Group Corp
2001
North Carolina
Piedmont Distillers
2005
North Dakota
Maple River Distillery
2009
Ohio
Woodstone Creek
1998
Oklahoma
Prairie Wolf Spirits
2013
Oregon
Hood River Distillers
1934
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Distilling
2005
Rhode Island
Newport Distilling Company
2006
South Carolina
Firefly Distillery
2005
South Dakota
Dakota Spirits Distillery
2006
Tennessee
Jack Daniel’s Distillery
1866
Texas
Mockingbird Distillery
1995
Utah
High West Distillery
2006
Vermont
Vermont Spirits Distilling Co.
1999
Virginia
A. Smith Bowman
1934
Washington
Dry Fly Distilling
2007
West Virginia
West Virginia Distilling Co.
1999
Wisconsin
Great Lakes Distillery
2004
Wyoming
Wyoming Whiskey
2006
*Image retrieved from Reiseuhu via Unsplash.com
The article The Oldest Distillery in Every State [MAP] appeared first on VinePair.