{"id":28377,"date":"2024-07-26T13:19:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T17:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=28377"},"modified":"2024-07-26T13:19:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T17:19:18","slug":"marylands-best-and-the-maryland-grain-producers-announce-first-farmers-choice-award-for-maryland-made-whiskey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2024\/07\/26\/marylands-best-and-the-maryland-grain-producers-announce-first-farmers-choice-award-for-maryland-made-whiskey\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland\u2019s Best and the Maryland Grain Producers Announce First Farmer\u2019s Choice Award for Maryland-made Whiskey"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Maryland\u2019s Best whiskey judgers: Secretary of the Department of Emergency Management Russell Strickland, Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks,\u00a0Governor Moore\u2019s Chief Legislative Officer Eric Luedtke, grain farmers Jason Scott, Chip Bowling and John Bruning.<\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 26, 2024)<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0 In its first year, the Maryland Grain Producers Association<\/strong> and Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Maryland\u2019s Best program<\/strong>, have named Frederick\u2019s <\/strong>McClintock Distilling<\/strong><\/a> the winner of the 2024 Maryland\u2019s Best Whiskey competition<\/strong>. It is for whiskeys produced in the state, made with at least 50 percent or more local grain.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongrats to McClintock\u2019s and all the participants involved in the competition! It\u2019s exciting to see grain producers and distillers combine forces to highlight the role of agriculture in spirits,\u201d said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks<\/strong>. \u201cOne of our goals at the department is to remind consumers how agriculture plays a part in all of our favorite products and this competition was a fun way to show the relationship from grain to glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition is designed to encourage whiskey producers to consider Maryland grain and showcase the variety of spirits already made with local products.<\/p>\n

The competition featured two awards: the Maryland\u2019s Best Farmer\u2019s Choice Award <\/strong>and the Maryland\u2019s Best Cocktail Competition<\/strong>, both using Maryland whiskeys made with at least 50 percent or more Maryland grain. Seven Maryland companies, including Baltimore Spirits Company<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>Louthan Distilling<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>McClintock Distilling<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>Meinelschmidt Distillery<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>Pathfinder Farm Distillery<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>Tenth Ward Distilling<\/strong><\/a> and Tobacco Barn Distillery<\/strong><\/a> competed. Judges were Maryland farmers Chip Bowling<\/strong>, Jason Scott<\/strong>, John Bruning<\/strong>,\u00a0 as well as Secretary Atticks<\/strong>, Maryland Department of Emergency Management Secretary Russell Strickland<\/strong>, and Chief Legislative Officer for Governor Wes Moore, Eric Luedtke<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Maryland\u2019s Best Farmers\u2019 Choice Award blind taste test was held earlier this month at the Maryland Department of Agriculture and after lively debate, McClintock Distilling\u2019s <\/strong>Old Etzler Straight Rye Whiskey<\/em><\/strong> came out on top as the winner. McClintock Distilling will receive a $1,000 prize from the Maryland Grain Producers,a trophy and rights to use a logo on products recognizing their status as the winner of the competition. Etzler Straight Rye Whiskey<\/em> is made with Danko Rye, Warthog Red Wheat, Yellow King Corn and was aged in New Cooperage White American Oak for five years. Ingredients came from Celadon Farms (Mt. Airy), Bought the Farm (Thurmont), and Wallin Organic Farm (Warwick). Old Etzler<\/em> is released every December, consumers can purchase the whiskey by visiting McClintock Distilling in Frederick County or by visiting their website.<\/p>\n

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Steve Ernst, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board President, Zac Kennedy of McClintock Distilling, Scott Sanders of Tobacco Barn Distillery,\u00a0Chelsea and Cort Meinelschmidt Distillery with Maryland Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Steve Connelly. Photo credit: Maryland Grain Producers<\/p>\n

The Maryland\u2019s Best Cocktail Competition<\/strong> was held on July 25 at the annual Maryland Commodity Classic <\/strong>in Queen Anne\u2019s County. Five participants including – Baltimore Spirits Company, McClintock Distilling, Meinelschmidt Distillery, Pathfinder Farm Distillery<\/strong>, and Tobacco Barn Distillery<\/strong> – whipped up delicious cocktails with a base spirit that contained at least 50% Maryland grain. Attendees at the event were able to sample and vote for their favorite. The top three winners were announced at the end of the program:<\/p>\n

First Place: McClintock Distilling featuring Free State Gold Rush, $500 prize<\/p>\n

Second Place: Tobacco Barn Distillery featuring Maryland Bourbon Cream, $300 prize<\/p>\n

Third Place: Meinelschmidt Distillery featuring Jalape\u00f1o Sour, $200 prize<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Maryland Grain Producers Board was very open to working with the Department of Agriculture and recognizing those who utilize our producer\u2019s grain in their beverages. We truly appreciate their support of Maryland Grain Production and are looking forward to the growing relationship,\u201d said Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board President, Steve Ernst.<\/p>\n

To find all the products and cocktails, please visit Marylandsbest.net<\/a> and to learn more about Maryland Grain, visit their website here<\/a>. For inquiries about participation in future competitions, please contact Maryland\u2019s Best Director of Special Projects Kristin Hanna at kristin.hanna@maryland.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryland\u2019s Best whiskey judgers: Secretary of the Department of Emergency Management Russell Strickland, Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks,\u00a0Governor Moore\u2019s Chief Legislative Officer Eric Luedtke, grain farmers Jason Scott, Chip Bowling and John Bruning. ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 26, 2024)\u2014\u00a0 In its first year, the Maryland Grain Producers Association and Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Maryland\u2019s Best program,  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28378,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28377\/revisions\/28378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}