John Winand

1830 – 1895

The Birth of Pikesville Rye Whiskey.  Pikesville Rye Whiskey is a historic American rye whiskey brand with roots in Maryland, dating back to the 1890s. It was originally produced by John Winand, with key contributions coming later from his sons Louis and Thomas.  John was born in Wales in 1830.  John’s date of emigration to the United States is unknown as no records have been found.

John first resided in Pennsylvania where he met and married Elizabeth, three years his junior and an immigrant from Ireland.  By 1860, John was recorded living in Baltimore and working as a rye whiskey distiller, likely employed by one of the city’s many whiskey makers. According to the 1870 Census, John and Elizabeth had seven children, William, Louis, Thomas, John, Mary, Katie, and Michael.  The Winand’s distilling family was beginning to take shape. 

Opportunity Knocks.  During the Civil War (1861-1865), thousands of outsiders were drawn to Maryland; outsiders who would grow accustomed to the state's particular style of rye whiskey.   After the war's end, these people returned to their homes with a thirst for Maryland rye, and John saw an opportunity.

Saving money year after year, John evidently saved enough to purchase land in Scott’s Level, a rural area just outside of Baltimore and adjacent to a community called Pikesville.  On that land he built a distillery in 1870, establishing The Winand Distilling Company to produce his rye whiskey. The distillery was located near the Pikesville train station, on a recently-improved railway infrastructure essential in providing distribution of his product all across the country.  Fittingly, John named his whiskey, Pikesville Rye.

Keeping it in the Family.  As he aged, John brought three of his sons into the distilling business, Louis, Thomas, and Michael.  When John passed, Louis became the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and the company name changed to L. Winand & Brothers Distillery in 1895.  Very little is known about Louis Winand.  Born in Pennsylvania in 1858 to John and Elizabeth Winand, Louis was the second oldest of seven children. 

In 1897 the Maryland state tax commissioner reported that the taxable value of the distillery’s spirits for the year was $25,208.  By 1904, production under the direction of Louis increased the taxable value to $87,684.  Louis had expanded the company significantly.  He was a key figure in success of the overall early 20th-century Maryland whiskey industry.

Then Louis, for reasons unknown, disappeared from the scene.  His younger brother Thomas stepped into the role of CEO of what now was known as The Winand Distilling Company. The distillery continued to grow and increase output.  By 1907, Maryland was charting the value of Pikesville Rye production at $130,899.  Throughout the early 1900s Pikesville Rye continued to enhance its reputation and became a staple in Maryland, known for its quality and taste.  However, with the onset of Prohibition in 1920, the distillery was forced to close. 

Tumultuous Times.  Pikesville Rye disappeared from 1920 until 1936 when a Baltimore businessman named Andrew W. Merle bought the recipe and rights.  Merle did not own a distillery but contracted production and bottled out to the Monumental Distillery to create Pikesville Rye until it was damaged by an explosion in the late 1930s.  Merle was able to get his product to a growing customer demand by moving production to the Majestic Distilling Corporation of Baltimore.  That facility continued to produce Pikesville Rye until 1972 when it went out of business.  Before closing it had produced sufficient stocks of the whiskey to satisfy customer demand until 1982.