Baltimore Spirits Company sits in a converted warehouse space in the Hampden neighborhood, founded in 2015 by Max Lents, Eli Breitburg-Smith, and Brian Delicate. These three friends started the operation after Lents, who previously worked in renewable energy, got hooked on distilling during a homebrew phase that evolved into something much bigger. They opened their doors with a focus on rye whiskey, playing into Maryland’s historical connection to the grain that once dominated the region’s distilling scene before Prohibition wiped it out. The 6,000-square-foot facility houses custom copper stills and operates on a philosophy of using local ingredients whenever possible, including corn from Pennsylvania farms and rye from the mid-Atlantic region. You’ll find them producing bourbon, rye whiskey, gin, and seasonal spirits, with everything aged on-site in their rickhouse that sits right above the production floor. The operation runs lean but ambitious, with the founders still heavily involved in daily production and visitor experiences. They’ve built something that feels authentically Baltimore—unpretentious, hardworking, and connected to the city’s industrial roots while pushing toward something new.
