Tenth Ward Distilling Company and Christmas in Frederick

Christmas is celebrated in remarkable fashion on December Saturday nights in Frederick Maryland with lighted streets, smores stations, photo ops, boat lights, and local craft beverages like those produced by Tenth Ward Distilling Company. The name “Tenth Ward” is a reference to the division of Frederick City during the late 19th century and recently the distillery moved to that city's historic epicenter: near Patrick and Market Streets. On a placard located just down Patrick Street from Tenth Ward is a copy of the only known photograph of Confederate troops as they marched through Frederick, most likely on their way towards either Antietam or Gettysburg.

This woman-owned distillery - thanks to Monica Pearce -- produces an interesting range of spirits like Smoked Corn Whiskey, Caraway Rye, Genever Style Gin, Applejack, and Absinthe. This last shows its quality by turning cloudy and releasing aromatic while using the French method of a water drip with a sugar cube. The Smoke Corn Whiskey was polarizing with most overwhelmed by the firepit flavor, yet I thought it had an interesting Mezcal feel. Its main focus seems to be as a cocktail ingredient like the Perfect Penicillin and Triple Smoked Toddy.

Like our previous post on The Albeisa Bottle, in this age of global conglomerates dominating the inputs to the craft beverage industries, Tenth Ward support local farmers and industries. All the grain is grown and malted at Ripon Lodge Farm in Ripon West Virginia. The apples are sourced from local McCutcheon’s Apple Products.  Other local sources are Orchid Cellar for mead and Hay’s Apiary for honey. Used barrels are obtained from Fredericksburg's A. Smith Bowman Distillery whereas new barrels are derived from Michigan's The Barrel Mill. And finally, as most craft beverage bottles are produced by three international conglomerates, Tenth Ward sources their bottles from Piramal Glass out of the Park Hills, MO manufacturing plant.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and cheers to a safe and healthy New Year.