SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 – Old Lines Spirits is where American military service meets American Single Malt. Founded by two former Navy pilots, the Baltimore distillery set its bearing on a whiskey segment rising in popularity. An emerging category in the whiskey industry, American Single Malt is currently pending TTB ratification to become the first new spirit in this category in years.
Arch Watkins and Mark McLaughlin met in the Navy flying EA-6B Prowlers, ended up stationed in the same reserve squadron in Baltimore, and embarked on civilian careers after retiring from the Navy. But when you’ve spent decades flying off aircraft carriers and being stationed all over the world, a desk job isn’t enough. They turned to whiskey for their next adventure.
In 2015, the owners of Golden Distillery, who both served in the Vietnam War, were ready to retire and were looking to pass down their expertise and equipment. They met Mark and Arch, who were searching to find fulfilling, exciting careers. After spending 12 hours a day for months shacked up in the guesthouse of a small-town distillery learning from the best, Mark and Arch started making whiskey, specifically, American Single Malt. The tutelage from Golden Distillery — and some of their equipment — led to the opening of Old Line Spirits, in 2017.
Driven by a spirit of adventure and camaraderie, Old Line Spirits produces a line of American Single Malt whiskeys including their Flagship 95 proof, Navy Strength 114 proof, Bottled-in-Bond 100 proof, and Single Barrel expressions. They’re well-known for their Double Oak series, which includes American Single Malt whiskies finished in casks previously used to age sherry, port, madeira, moscatel, cognac, Armagnac, sauternes and rum. They also produce a maple syrup cask finished whiskey. Their latest release, Harvest Moon, is a blend of American Single Malt whiskeys finished in amburana and oloroso sherry casks.
Old Line Spirits are available to purchase and ship to more than 30 states via their website, along with retail availability in Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. Fans can also visit the Baltimore distillery for tours, tastings, retail availability and to enjoy The Ready Room cocktail bar and the seasonal Flight Deck patio bar.
Following his graduation from Villanova University in 2001, Mark was commissioned as a naval officer and served for 10 years as a Naval Flight Officer flying the EA-6B Prowler aircraft. He flew more than 60 combat sorties in Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as hundreds of sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and contingency operations in the Asia/Pacific theater.
After completing active service, Mark attended the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and earned his MBA. He went on to work as an investment banking associate with Stifel Nicolaus from 2012-14 where he had extensive merger & acquisition and capital raising experience, primarily in the industrials and aerospace/defense industries.
Arch graduated in 1998 from the Citadel with a degree in electrical engineering and a commission in the U.S. Navy. Trained as a Naval Flight Officer in the EA-6B Prowler, the German PA-200 Tornado and the EA-18G Growler, Arch served all over the world including five combat deployments.
In 2009, Arch transitioned to civilian employment and was hired by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he worked as an operations and systems engineer tasked with furthering the development and acquisition of a critical $10 billion weapon system. He completed his master’s in system engineering through the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering in 2018.
This fall, Old Line Spirits will continue its commitment to supporting military-focused philanthropic causes by donating a portion of proceeds of online sales to K9s For Warriors, a non-profit organization that provides highly trained K9s to veterans who are suffering from PTSD. A portion of each bottle sold through the Old Line Spirits website will be donated through the end of 2024.
Learn more or find a bottle: https://www.oldlinespirits.com