Since the mid-1980s, Maine has seen the growth of more than 80 breweries and now, it’s getting its own Maine Distillery Trail.

With a dozen spirit makers joining forces all around the state, The Maine Distiller’s Guild announced last week that their Maine Distillery Trail is up and running. Consisting of a digital map and a punch card, the Trail encourages enthusiasts of craft spirits to visit the locations of all of Maine Distiller’s Guild members for tastings and educational tours.

From The Liquid Riot Bottling Company in Portland’s first Brewery/Distillery/Resto-Bar to the Northern Maine Distilling Co. in Brewer (no that’s not a pun) you can try everything from to small batch Fernat-Braca aged in Maine blueberry wine barrels to award-winning vodka. 

In the four years since Penobscot Bay Pilot has launched, we’ve covered our share of local distillers. From Cheap Dates offering free whiskey tastings at Sweetgrass Farms in Union to Tree Spirits’ Absinthe Making a Roaring Comeback in Maine, we’ve covered some of the distillers on the Maine Distillery Trail and even a few that weren’t such as What it’s like to sip a $150 glass of pre-Prohibition whiskey from the now defunct Billy’s tavern in Thomaston.

Maine's small distilleries combine to create more than 50 different products, ranging from popular whiskies and vodka to more obscure herbal spirits such as aforementioned absinthe and fernet.Visit to see the Maine Distillery Trail map and links to Maine’s craft spirit producers.

To see more about each of the members of the Distillery Trail visit: www.mainedistillersguild.org

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com