Jim Hough

In the late 1700s, the Mon Valley and Western Pennsylvania were central to rye whiskey. Local farmers, many of whom were veterans of the Revolutionary War, distilled the spirit to safely convert hearty rye grains to currency before they spoiled to barter for goods and services along the early frontier of the fledgling United States.

It wasn’t until an overzealous Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton, who is immortalized upside-down over the Liberty Pole Distillery fireplace) sparked a frontier insurgency, historically designated the Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s, by introducing an excise tax to pay for the debt incurred to finance the colonial military. Local dissenters met in secret meeting houses to plot resistance over several years, often sending federal tax collectors away empty-handed and adorned with hot tar and feathers. While the rebellion lacked the intensity or the casualties of America’s prior and future conflicts, it provided an early test for the infant Federal government and its inaugural leader, President George Washington.

It was President Washington who, in 1794, called up and rallied 13,000 militia troops from surrounding states to quell the uprising that was centered in the Mon Valley, a fertile dale south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Nowadays, Jim, along with his wife, Ellen, and sons, Rob and Kevin, produce award-winning rye and other whiskeys there in tribute to the early pioneers who fled the urban areas of the East Coast in search of freedom and religious oppression. The business’s namesake, Liberty Poles, was a form of Colonial-style advertising – long poles placed in visible locations that held linen streamers with dissenting messages, such as “No Excise Tax,” to convey the local constituency’s displeasure with the taxes as a form of government overreach to federal tax collectors.

Hough grew up in nearby Munhall, Pennsylvania, in the heyday of the region’s steelmaking and amidst the Super Bowl dynasty years of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and information systems at the University of Pittsburgh at around the same time the Pitt Panther football team was also making history of its own, culminating in the 1976 National Championship.

“I was originally interested in brewing beer, but as my tastes gravitated more towards whiskey, I thought it would be more fulfilling to learn how to make whiskey,” said Hough. “The still I got for Father’s Day in 2006 was my first step in the journey to making my own distillate. I used to rely heavily on various home distilling websites where I was able to learn about all-grain mashing, fermenting, and distilling.”

Jim and  Ellen had met at a Halloween party in the mid-1980s as Jim embarked on a career in information technology and Ellen worked for General Motors as an Industrial Engineer.

“My degrees served me very well in my main career, where I was a consultant for Digital Equipment Corporation before moving to a small investment management company where I had a 30-year career designing and implementing quantitative modeling and portfolio management and trading systems,” he said. Before you know it, the couple were married and welcomed the arrival of their sons, both engineering grads from Pitt, as well. The Father’s Day still present led to many hours of experimental distilling low and slow on their back porch, and led to the idea of one day opening up a local distillery.

The family consulted Bill Owens, founder of the American Distilling Institute, for advice. “He was the first one to suggest we focus on whiskey after I reached out to him about the steps to open a distillery back in 2010. After researching the local history here, Ellen did a deep dive into the Whiskey Rebellion and was the driving force behind our branding and experience. It remains a focal point for Liberty Pole today after eight years of success.”

Jim initially chose a former 1900s monument factory in the heart of “Little Washington (Pa.),” which hosts an annual Whiskey Rebellion festival each July, to pay tribute to the country’s early master distillers. The stone factory had the proper utilities, space, access, and infrastructure to support copper pot still whiskey production.

“We worked closely with the organizers of the Whiskey Rebellion festival while we focused on finding a location in downtown Washington, Pa., said Hough. “With our focus on pot distilled whiskies, and with our geography having such a rich history with the whiskey, it was a natural fit to create a brand around the Whiskey Rebellion.”

The initial production site served as a test run for future endeavors in distillation. The Houghs produced quality spirits and quickly became popular with local consumers, leading all four of them to leave successful careers in industry to set out to make the region’s finest grain spirits.

In July 2023, Liberty Pole moved to a new multimillion-dollar campus located near The Meadows horse track racing facility, a popular local casino, and a retail outlet complex to take advantage of the high trafficability. The new site features a 3,600-barrel Kentucky-style rick house, the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania. A colonial-style meetinghouse provides a warm and comfortable setting in which to enjoy historically linked hand-crafted cocktails produced from the two pot stills in the production area, where Rob and Kevin authentically insist on making distillation cuts based on aroma and taste.

In addition to rye, Liberty Pole produces corn whiskey, wheated bourbon, the best-selling bourbon cream, and a unique peated bourbon. All of the company’s spirits are approaching maturation of four years, while the ever-growing collection of 1,500-plus barrels waits for release, including many unique single-barrel releases, including an annual peated rye, Rosen rye, high rye bourbon, and even an Amburana-finished rye release. Liberty Pole also partners with local vineyards and breweries to offer several other unique finished spirits throughout the year.

Liberty Pole’s future is bright as the company continues to honor the past, while building for the future to support its many Western Pennsylvania customers who have clearly developed a palate for their spirits, including the flagship brand - Monongahela Rye Full Proof, bottled at 108 proof, the same proof at which all Liberty Pole products enter the barrel to maximize the absorbability and deep, rich flavors from virgin oak barrels sourced from the West Virginia Great Barrel Company.

“I am most proud of my family and the hard work and sacrifices they have all made to develop an incredible business that has become a major community asset to Washington County,” said Hough. “Time will tell what the future will hold, but I hope and trust that we will continue to produce world-class whiskey and experiences and be mentioned in any discussion of great American distilleries.”

Contributed by: John Dowling, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania