I harbor a secret desire to open a store that I always imagined calling Local Imports, a name that my children assured me was a nonsensical paradox. Stick with me here.
I wanted my store to feature the best of locally produced products alongside the best of imported products—think Thom’s breads from Lancaster or Bow Creek Farms dry-aged Angus or Calicutts Spices or Torchbearer Sauces or fresh produce from a CSA like Spiral Path Farm in Perry County. I wanted those products to sit on shelves next to delicacies from near and far like Vermont maple syrups and cheeses, cherry treats from Washington state, blue corn from the southwest, digestive biscuits from Europe, soba noodles, curries, etc. You get the picture.
Years ago, when my daughter attended Wilson College in Chambersburg, I was thrilled to discover a sweet little shop called The Norwegian Codfather that featured European food goods from Italy, Britain, Ireland, Greece, Germany and Scandinavian countries. The friendly owners gave out tastes of cheeses I couldn’t find anywhere else. I could stock up on the ammonium bicarbonate that I needed to bake Swedish dream cookies. I always left with surprise goodies I couldn’t find anywhere else in Pennsylvania. Sadly, this unique shop closed more than eight years ago.
In the meantime, I rely on finding my specialty and local foods at Pronio’s Market in downtown Hershey, farmers’ markets, DiBruno Brothers in South Philadelphia, State College International Market and online. Our area also has plentiful Asian markets and Nepali and Indian markets. I recently discovered I can indulge my desire for Swedish candy (called godis) at Sweetish Candy at 301 N. Queen Street in Lancaster. If you’ve never tried the Swedish Pick ‘n Mix, you haven’t lived—-probably close to 100 bins of different sours, gummy, licorice and chocolate candies. Nearly every grocery or bodega in Sweden features this smorgasbord of candy.
But I digress. This was a backdoor into an adventure at local distilleries. I took a long route to make the point about the value of supporting both local and specialty products, both of which local distilled spirits are. Susquehanna Style area residents are fortunate to have many quality distilleries to choose from—for straight liquor, cocktails and food. While some include full restaurants, some just cocktails, and others just products sold retail, we have great choices.
Local products can also be purchased in Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores and online. Pennsylvania distilleries can buy a Limited Distillery license from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board that allows in-state distilleries to place up to 10 of their products in FWGS stores (all submitted products are tasted and reviewed before being accepted). According to the PLCB website, “this program provides limited distilleries the opportunity to introduce their products to new customers, while providing customers opportunities to ‘buy local’ and support Pennsylvania businesses.
I bartended briefly at Happy Valley Brewing Company in State College and discovered several local distilled products used there including Thistle Finch’s Penn Square lavender vodka in a lavender lemonade and Stoll and Wolfe Distillery’s rye whiskey in an Old Fashioned. Both are distilled in Lancaster County. The end of this column will include a list of distilleries in the six-county region, but first I’ll feature a few of which I visited and sampled.
Hidden Still Spirits
Started in Lebanon in 2014, the distillery was moved by owner David E. Stein to an old Hershey Company recycling facility off the main drag of Chocolate Avenue at 505 W. Chocolate Ave. The address is confusing as Chocolate Avenue—also SR 422—winds through downtown Hershey, but the distillery is actually a half block off that route.
The once run-down and vacant Hershey Company buildings have been beautifully restored inside and out with the distilling taking place in one building and a large two-floor restaurant in the other with a brand-new outdoor bar and covered patio area between them.
The signature spirits are the David E. bourbons, bonds and rye whiskeys. Hidden Still’s website claims it is the largest producer of PA craft straight bourbon whiskey. Hidden Still also produces tequila, agave, vodka, rums and gin.
Sitting at the bar and watching the bartenders as they craft their specialties is always a treat. Recently, the drink attracting the most attention was the Holy Smoked, a smoked Old Fashioned featuring David E. White Label Bourbon, maple syrup and Peychaud’s bitters that was made in a cocktail smoker that provided those sitting nearby with welcomed secondhand smoke.
In addition to Hidden Still classic cocktails, it also offers cocktails that are classic everywhere, fun Prohibition era cocktails—like Gin Rickey and Bourbon Highball—and seasonal creations like a Rum Spiced Chai Tea or Salted Caramel Old Fashioned.
Since it’s never good to drink on an empty stomach—especially when a multitude of cocktails are calling out – Hidden Still offers a full menu full of unique choices such as Ahi Tuna Nachos, Eastern Shore Seafood & Grits, Eleven Oak Farms Wagyu Meatloaf, Fried Florida Grouper sandwich, a Mid-West Elk burger and Brie & Cherry salad. I could be happy just eating off the appetizer menu with Shrimp Egg Rolls and Kung Pao Fried Sprouts among my favorite foods there.
Hidden Still is popular with families, singles, couples, locals and tourists. For more information, visit https://www.hiddenstillspirits.com
Mason Dixon Distillery
My favorite part of this gem outside of its unique location in a century old furniture factory on the edge of downtown Gettysburg at 331 E. Water St. is that it creates some unexpected spirits for a place in the heart of Civil War history. Building on their Greek heritage, a West Virginia apprenticeship, and inspiration from German Beer Halls, George and Yianni Barakos have created vodka, rum, aged rum, corn whiskey, aged whiskey, gin and genever. I got most excited about their Ouzo, a Greek specialty aperitif flavored with anise.
Always a fan of a good Sazerac, I couldn’t resist trying Mason Dixon’s version made with their Batch #8 Rye, an Ouzo rinse and Peychaud’s bitters. It did not disappoint. It was also fun to try their sampler menu, which allowed me to try small pours of vodka, corn whiskey, white rum, gin and spiced rum.
With a mission to create conversation (no TVs here) in a German Beer Hall meets ’50s-style diner, Mason Dixon is a loud, happy place full of unique drinks and good comfort food from a menu that seeks to incorporate local food whenever possible.
The Fried Brussel Sprouts and Goat Cheese Brulee are must haves. I’ve never had an appetizer quite like the Brulee, which was creamy, savory, and sweet in each delicious bite. Burgers were cooked perfectly and a fan favorite at my table although I went solo trying the Thai Sweet Potato Curry—yummy!
For those who still prefer outdoor dining, a few dining igloos are still offered, and when the weather breaks, even more outdoor seating is available. For more information, go to https://masondixondistillery.com
Hook & Flask Still Works
With garage doors at the front of the building, I let my imagination roam into thinking the firefighting theme at Hook & Flask came from the building’s previous life as a fire hall. Wrong. The building at 137 N. Hanover St. in downtown Carlisle never housed a fire department, but the owners are volunteer firefighters who created Carlisle’s first distillery since prohibition around the firefighting theme.
All first responders and military personnel are given 10% of food as a tribute to those who risk their lives for others. The sense of place and honor is evident throughout with a large American flag backlit on a back wall and behind the main bar area, a wall covered with memorabilia. The beer taps come from repurposed fire extinguishers, modern lighting hangs from a fire ladder, and local grains are used to produce the spirits.
Those spirits include whiskeys, moonshine, vodka, rye whiskey, bourbon and gin.
While the food menu is not large, the Totties are special—I pictured traditional Ore Ida-like tater tots, but these were real potatoes, more like chunky home fries with a variety of fun toppings including spicy Korean beef and a house-made bourbon cheese sauce. The menu offers a few gourmet sandwiches, a variety of build-your-own-burger choices and three salads. It was unique enough and the focus on local ingredients left me feeling satiated.
The cocktails are fun with names that are tributes to firefighting including the Field Medic, which I enjoyed, with “the perfect mix of bourbon, pineapple, and honey to cure what ales you.” I also sampled a flight of shots that included Mutual Aid Bourbon, Rye, Rum and Dark Rum— maybe not top shelf, but very drinkable and great in cocktails.
I enjoyed Hook & Flask’s allegiance to local with a great selection of Pennsylvania craft beers including New Trail (Williamsport), Evergrain (Mechanicsburg), Victory (Philadelphia and suburbs), Rotunda (Annville), Rusty Rail (Mifflinburg), Funk Brewing (Emmaus), ABC (Harrisburg) and, of course, Tröegs. They also offer Big Hill cider from Gardners.
For more info on Hook & Flask, go to https://www.hookandflaskstillworks.com
Stoll & Wolfe
This sleek, low, modern building in the heart of walkable downtown Lititz at 35 North Cedar Street is home to a fashionable tasting room where patrons can sample spirits created by a longtime master, Dick Stoll, the last master distiller at Pennsylvania’s Michter, which closed in 1990 as the last legacy distillery in Pennsylvania. He also distilled bourbon for the A.H. Hirsch Bourbon brand at Michter following a career trajectory that included training under Charles Everett Beam, the grandnephew of Jim Beam.
Stoll and Wolfe brings back the traditions of Lancaster County, which used to be home to rye fields and as many as 183 distilleries in 1813. The vast number of distilleries was a direct outcropping of the abundance of rye grain harvested in the area that could be preserved in alcohol.
Top whiskey aficionados review Stoll and Wolfe’s Rye Whiskey as among the top three of its variety with tasting notes of vanilla, honey, cinnamon, orange, dried apricot, thyme and maple syrup among the many descriptors. I sampled it many times, including at the Christmas Market outside Philadelphia’s City Hall this past December, where the stand did hot business on a cold day. It’s a great sipping whiskey, but it also works great in Old Fashioneds and other cocktails.
More recently, I loved the creative drinks at the Lititz tasting room in the company of two of my former college roommates and their husbands. What a fun place for a rendezvous. All of their cocktails had fun names and interesting combinations, but the Rock & Rye called out to me. Black cardamum was a spicy complement to this citrus and pineapple infused rye.
This was a true tasting room – serving only drinks, flights, rotating Pennsylvania craft beers, and a few tiny snack items like a cheese and meat plate, soft pretzel, or spinach artichoke dip, but that’s certainly not a deterrent to going. It’s a great before or after destination with plenty of good restaurants steps away in downtown Lititz.
For more information, go to https://www.stollandwolfe.com
Midstate Distillery
Early to the local distilling game, Midstate opened in January 2016 with an industrial vibe in the former Smith Paint building on North Cameron Street in Harrisburg. I remember going in early on staring at amazement at Swedish fish swimming in a bottle of vodka, infusing it with sweet candy flavor.
Although that tasting room closed in late 2022 to accommodate the production needs at that location, two new tasting rooms opened in late 2022—one at Hershey Fresh Market in downtown Hershey and the other at Windsor Park Plaza in Mechanicsburg. The distillery continues its playful approach to spirits and cocktails. A recent stop in the Hershey Fresh Market revealed a seasonal drink called the Cereal Milk, made with Fruity Pebbles infused vodka, simple syrup and cream, topped with Fruity Pebbles. That Swedish Fish infused vodka that caught my attention years ago is featured in the Plenty of Fish drink along with cranberry juice, sweet lime juice and sprite, served with Swedish Fish. You get the picture. This place knows how to have fun.
While you might not find prohibition era and classic drinks here, your sweet tooth will be satisfied. Midstate also specializes in Crushes (orange, grapefruit, peachy), Bloody’s (pickled, crabby, the OG), and Old Fashioneds (smoker, smores, blackberry).
Midstate distills a variety of spirits under Pennsyltucky label including straight bourbon whiskey, four grain bourbon whiskey, straight rye whiskey, small batch rye whiskey and moonshine. Under the Midstate label, it makes vodka, vanilla vodka, gin, rum and coffee liqueur. It also makes a scratch batch bourbon and a scratch batch vodka.
For more information, go to https://www.midstatedistillery.com
Too many to taste
I’d like to report that I tried all the distilleries in the six-county region, but if I had, I might have had to go on the wagon. Instead, this is a sampling. I picked up a bottle of Thistle Fitch’s Lavender Vodka—their vintage flip-top bottles are so cool— and a Holla Paw Paw Vodka at my local Fine Wine and Good Spirits. If you thought Midstate had fun with flavors, Holla’s vodka offerings include Jalapeno, Salvadili Pickle, Watermelon Lollipop, Banana Candy, Candy on Top and too many more to list here.
The good news is, Pennsylvania has a plethora of respectable distilleries along with cideries, wineries, and craft breweries. It’s fun to support the local product and becoming even easier to do so as a PLCB manufacturing license allows these spirit makers to not only produce products, but to sell at retail and to taproom customers. This license also permits sales of products by other Pennsylvania manufacturers including beer, wine, and spirits, even if, say, a brewery, has only a brewery license.
Celebrate local—both to support local business and to enjoy the quaint ambiance many of them offer. If only I could open that Local Import store, I know some Pennsylvania spirits I’d like to put on my shelves next to the Italian aperitifs, Bordeaux wines and Belgian beers.
The full roster of local distilleries
Lancaster County Distilleries: 1. Thistle Finch, 417 W. Grant St. Lancaster http://www.thistlefinch.com; 2. Chicken Hill Distillery (moonshine), 312 Stanley K Tanger Blvd, Suite 1245, https://www.chickenhilldistillery.com; 3. Lancaster Distilleries, 112 N Water St., Lancaster, https://lancasterdistilleries.com; 4. Stoll and Wolfe Distillery, 35 N Cedar St., Lititz, https://www.stollandwolfe.com; 5. Spirits Distilling Company, Mt. Hope Estate, Manheim, https://mounthope.estate/spiritsdistillery/?v=7516fd43adaa; 6. Old Republic Distillery, 3 Dutchland Ave., Ephrata, https://ordtavern.com.
Dauphin County Distilleries: 1. Midstate Distillery, 5234 Simpson Ferry Road, Mechanicsburg and Hershey Fresh Market, 121 Towne Square Drive https://www.midstatedistillery.com; 2. Highspire Whiskey, Highspire, https://www.highspirewhiskey.com; 3. Hidden Still Spirits, 505 W Chocolate Ave, Hershey, https://www.hiddenstillspirits.com.
Cumberland County Distilleries: 1. Dead Lightning Distillery, 311 Bridge St., New Cumberland, https://www.deadlightningdistillery.com/our-story; 2. Hook & Flask Still Works, 137 N Hanover St., Carlisle, https://www.hookandflaskstillworks.com.
Adams County Distilleries: 1. Mason Dixon Distillery, 331 E Water St., Gettysburg, https://masondixondistillery.com; 2. Battlefield Brew Works & Spirits of Gettysburg Distillery, 248 Hunterstown Road, Gettysburg, https://www.battlefieldbreworks.com.
York County Distilleries: 1. Holy Water Distillery (maker of Klyr rum and Crostwater Distilled Spirits), 506 Industrial Dr., Lewisberry https://klyrrum.com; 2. Old Republic Distillery, The Markets at Shrewsbury, 12025 Susquehanna Trail, Glen Rock; Morning Sun Marketplace, 5309 Lincoln Highway, Thomasville; New Eastern Market, 201 Memory Lane, York; Old Republic Distillery Tavern Ephrata (see above); https://ordtavern.com; 3. Holla Spirits, factory retail store, 1940 Bank Lane, York, https://www.hollaspirits.com.
