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Maryland\u2019s Best whiskey judges: Secretary of the Department of Emergency Management Russell Strickland, grain farmer Jason Scott, Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks, <\/span>and grain farmer John Bruning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 29, 2025)<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0 The Maryland Grain Producers Association<\/a> and Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Maryland\u2019s Best <\/strong>program recently hosted the 2025 Maryland Spirits Competition<\/a>, highlighting Maryland distilleries using at least 50% of Maryland grown grain to create their whiskey. The competition is designed to encourage whiskey producers to consider Maryland grain and showcase the variety of spirits already made with local products.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited to continue this competition in 2025 highlighting the connection between farmers and consumer products,\u201d said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks<\/strong>. \u201cThe dedication to using local grain in a glass is critical to continue showing that purchasing local- even Maryland spirits- matters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n For the second year in a row, 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. Five Maryland companies, including McClintock Distilling<\/a>, Meinelschmidt Distillery<\/a>, Pathfinder Farm Distillery<\/a>, Tenth Ward Distilling<\/a>, Sangfroid Distilling<\/a> and Tobacco Barn Distillery<\/a> competed in the Maryland\u2019s Best Farmer\u2019s Choice Award competition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Following a blind judging round, Meinelschmidt Distillery Straight Bourbon Whiskey <\/strong>came out on top as the Maryland\u2019s Best Farmer\u2019s Choice Award winner. Meinelschmidt will receive a $1,000 prize from the Maryland Grain Producers, a trophy and rights to use the Maryland Spirit Competition Winner logo <\/strong>on products recognizing their status. Meinelschmidt\u2019s Straight Bourbon Whiskey is made with malted white winter wheat, malted barley, field rye, yellow corn, and bloody butcher corn and is aged for three years in American Oak. Ingredients came from Ernst Grain Farm (Clear Spring) and Pathfinder Farms (Boonsboro). Their winning Straight Bourbon Whiskey is available now at their tasting room and at local retailers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, the Maryland\u2019s Best Cocktail Competition was held on July 24 at the Maryland Grain Producer\u2019s annual Commodity Classic event held in Queen Anne\u2019s County. Participating distilleries included – McClintock Distilling, Meinelschmidt Distillery, Pathfinder Farm Distillery, and Tobacco Barn Distillery – submitting delicious cocktails containing at least 50% Maryland grain. Event attendees were able to sample and vote for their favorite with the top three winners announced at the end of the program:<\/span><\/p>\n First Place:<\/strong> Tobacco Barn Distilling featuring Maryland 400, $500 prize<\/span><\/p>\n Second Place: <\/strong>Pathfinder Farms featuring Blueberry Lemonade, $300 prize<\/span><\/p>\n Third Place:<\/strong> McClintock Distillery featuring Chai Pear Whiskey Sour, $200 prize<\/span><\/b><\/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<\/strong>.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n To find all the products and cocktails, please visit Marylandsbest.net<\/a> and to learn more about Maryland Grain Producers Association, visit their website here<\/a>. For inquiries about participation in future competitions, please contact Maryland\u2019s Best Director of Special Projects Kristin Hanna <\/strong>at kristin.hanna@maryland.gov<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ###<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maryland\u2019s Best whiskey judges: Secretary of the Department of Emergency Management Russell Strickland, grain farmer Jason Scott, Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks, and grain farmer John Bruning.\u00a0 ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 29, 2025)\u2014\u00a0 The Maryland Grain Producers Association and Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Maryland\u2019s Best program recently hosted the 2025 Maryland Spirits Competition, highlighting Maryland distilleries 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,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123","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=29123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29124,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions\/29124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}