Old Line Spirits sits in Baltimore’s industrial southeast corner, tucked into a former auto repair shop on South Janney Street that founders Arch Watkins and Mark McLaughlin transformed into Maryland’s first whiskey distillery since Prohibition. Watkins, a former pharmaceutical executive, and McLaughlin, who spent years in craft brewing, opened their doors in 2013 with a mission to revive Maryland’s once-thriving rye whiskey tradition. The 4,000-square-foot facility houses a 250-gallon copper pot still from Vendome Copper & Brass Works alongside fermentation tanks that fill the space with the sweet smell of working mash.
The journey to opening wasn’t smooth—Maryland’s liquor laws hadn’t contemplated craft distilleries in decades, forcing the duo to work with state legislators to create new regulations that would allow small-scale whiskey production and on-site sales. Their persistence paid off when they became the first distillery licensed in Maryland since the 1920s, paving the way for others to follow. Head distiller Watkins brings a scientist’s precision to the process, controlling every variable from grain sourcing to barrel char levels, while McLaughlin handles the business side with the same methodical approach that made him successful in brewing.
Visitors step into a working production facility where you can watch the entire process unfold, from milling local grains to filling bottles by hand. The tasting room occupies one corner of the distillery floor, surrounded by fermenting tanks and aging barrels, giving you a front-row seat to whiskey-making in action. It’s not polished or precious—this is a blue-collar operation focused on making honest whiskey in a city that once produced more rye than anywhere else in America.
