How Ponfeigh Distillery is reclaiming Somerset County's rye whiskey heritage

SOMERSET ― After a 70-year hiatus, rye whiskey is once again being made and sold in Somerset County.

The first aged barrels of Ponfeigh Westsylvania Rye Whiskey are being opened and bottled now, and production has started onsite to make more of the Monongahela-style rye whiskey that made Somerset County famous during the earliest days of American history.

Want to know more? Ponfeigh Distillery is bringing rye whiskey production back to Somerset County

“It’s great. I’m very proud of what we’re producing,” said Max Merrill, president of Ponfeigh Distillery at 893 Stoystown Road, as he placed embroidered Ponfeigh patches onto filled whiskey bottles.

“My main goal is to reclaim Somerset County’s whiskey birthright.”

The distillery is open for bottle sales and tastings from 12 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday through Sunday, and tours of the production area are available from 12 to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Tours must be booked in advance through the distillery’s website, ponfeighdistillery.com.

What else is planned?

Ponfeigh Distillery started 15 years ago on paper, and it’s been about four years since Merrill purchased the former 84 Lumber property to turn his idea into a reality. In addition to the production area, other plans for the 20,000-square-foot space include an indoor/outdoor bar, a tasting room, an outdoor amphitheater for live music events and a whiskey museum, which will explain how western Pennsylvania and Somerset County played a significant role in America’s whiskey-making history.

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The retail side of the business should be ready to start next spring, Merrill said.

At full strength, Ponfeigh Distillery will produce its signature Westsylvania Rye whiskey and a Maryland-style rye whiskey, both made from locally grown rye and aged in wooden barrels made from Pennsylvania oak by the West Virginia Great Barrel Co.

“So it’s a pure Pennsylvania product,” Merrill said.

The empty rye whiskey barrels will then be used to make a rye-aged rum and a rye-aged gin under the Ponfeigh Distillery brand as well.

Why is it called Westsylvania Rye?

That’s also why he named the whiskey Westsylvania Rye, in homage to the area where colonists tried to create a 14th colony prior to the American Revolutionary War. The proposed colony, Westsylvania, was made up of southwestern Pennsylvania, including Somerset County, along with all of West Virginia and parts of Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky.

Brendon Rawlings, Ponfeigh Distillery’s master distiller, said he was very pleased with how the first batch of Westsylvania Rye whiskey made in the new production room turned out.

“To get spirit on the first batch that is worthy of the barrel is an accomplishment. I’m very happy with it,” he said.

The process starts with the raw grains – 95% Monongahela rye and 5% malted barley – which are cooked into a “mash,” allowed to cool, then yeast is added to start the fermentation process. After several days of fermentation, the product enters a 30-foot-tall copper column still, which extracts the alcohol and purifies it. The liquid is then pumped into a “spirit tank,” where it stays until it’s ready to be pumped into the oak barrels.

The whiskey ages in the barrels for about 2-3 years, or until Rawlings decides it’s ready to be opened and bottled. The finished whiskey is bottled at barrel strength, which varies from 110 to 116 proof, or between 55% and 58% alcohol.

'It's sweeter than you'd expect'

Merrill said that customers who say that rye whiskey is “too spicy” for their palate will be pleasantly surprised by Ponfeigh Distillery’s Westsylvania Rye.

“This rye has a lot of honey and maple syrup notes – it's not oak forward, and it’s sweeter than you’d expect,” he said.

Each bottle of Ponfeigh distilled spirits also includes an embroidered patch that is affixed to the bottle and can be removed to place on a hat, jacket or wherever desired. The patches are to be in different colors, based upon the spirit (whiskey, rum or gin) that is inside the bottle.

Merrill plans to eventually offer apparel and other merchandise with the distillery's logo for sale as well.

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When Ponfeigh Distillery announced on social media in late November that its doors were open and its Westsylvania Rye whiskey was ready to buy, customers responded quickly, Merrill said, buying bottles to have with their Thanksgiving meal, to give as Christmas gifts or as a keepsake of the first bottling of Somerset County rye whiskey since the 1950s.

“We’ve had a lot of support,” he said. “I think the community is pleased with the quality of our spirits so far.

“The community support has been wonderful, I’m very appreciative. I hope everyone gets a bottle and takes an active participant role in reclaiming Somerset County (whiskey) history.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Ponfeigh Distillery brings rye whiskey production back to Somerset County, PA