PROUD OF OUR HISTORY & ONGOING COMMITMENT TO OUR CRAFT by Christi Rideout LIBERTY POLE SPIRITS
Upon further research about the festival, the Houghs ‘fell in lovewith the history’ of thewhiskey rebellion. Jim Hough’s wife Ellen, who also has a passion for history, “took a deep dive” into the stories of the rebellion preserved in museums, churches and cemeteries around the county. She learned that in 1791, Scotch-Irish veterans of the Revolutionary War returned to Washing- ton County, Pennsylvania but struggled against weather and disease. The Colonists were looking for a livelihood and found a way to preserve grain in the form of distilled spirits. These spirits were safer to drink than the water and improved the spirits of the people, and so, one of the first American Industries was born, in the form of whiskey. The government however saw this as an opportunity for taxation on a society that depended on whiskey making for their survival. In defiance of the new tax, the people gathered secretly in a meetinghouse near Mingo Creek in opposition and, as a symbol of their unity, planted liberty poles throughout the county. These liberty poles were banners for the rebellions that displayed the message of the day. “They were the Twitter of the times,” laughs Hough.
I f you are a whiskey connoisseur, you are going to want to head straight for Mingo Creek Craft Distillers in Washington, Pennsylvania for an unforgettable, authentic whiskey tasting experi- ence and tour along with a history lesson on “The Whiskey Rebellion” which was a 1794 uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government Spotlight on Business recently had the pleasure of meeting Jim Hough and hearing the story of how he left his career in computer science and finance to make the leap into entrepreneurship.
“We want to give whoever walks in the door, the best whiskey experience they have ever had,” says Jim Hough, proud creator of Liberty Pole Spirits and owner of Mingo Creek Craft Distillers. “Six years ago, ten years from retirement, I realized I was ready for a change,” Hough shares. He had been distilling as a hobby, focusing on craft whiskey, and spent hours discussing distilling with his sons Rob and Kevin. The Houghs have always been, “a whiskey family” and Hough wondered if this passion could translate into a career. Around the same time that Jim was contemplating his next future endeavour, the Houghs had a visit from a neighbor and friend who is a botany professor and renowned historian at a Washington PA college. After their guest saw that Hough was out on the deck trying some experiments in his still, he shared the story of the Whiskey Rebellion Festival in Washington, Pennsylvania. He indicated that the only thing missing from the Festival was a distiller. “That was the trigger that put us over the goal line and decided to develop a business plan and make a go of it. I knew that we had been producing good quality spirit and our product could viably fill this gap,” says Hough. As a background for our readers, the Whiskey Rebellion Festival is an annual event held each year in Washington that celebrates the heritage and unique character of the region. The focus is on the history of the Whiskey Rebellion - unique to western Pennsylvania and Washington County. Activ- ities at the festival include historic reenactments, period exhibitions and heritage music, food and beverages.
“We want to give whoever walks in the door, the best whiskey experience they have ever had,”
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SEPTEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2020
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