(WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com) — Meadville Rye Whiskey won the Gold Award at an international spirits competition.

The whiskey won gold at the International Spirits Competition held in Denver, Colorado. The event, now in its 11th year, is a worldwide beverage competition held each April.

Meadville Rye Whiskey is produced in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania by Conneaut Cellars Winery & Distillery in partnership with Meadville Distilling.

The spirit was made using the original, pre-Prohibition recipe. This has a legacy dating back to the beginning of the Meadville Distilling Company in 1885.

According to a news release, Meadville Rye Whiskey competed against hundreds of other entities from across the world. It earned the award through double-blind judging by a panel of renowned sommeliers, journalists, mixologists and beverage directors.

Winning a gold medal at the Denver International Spirits Competition for our Meadville Rye Whiskey validates why this whiskey was one of the best in the country before Prohibition and now 90 years later.”

Joal Wolf, Conneaut Cellars owner and master distiller.

Ron Mattocks, Crawford County Historical Society’s board vice president, said that Meadville Rye was a well-known brand in the days leading up to Prohibition. Mattocks said, at its peak, Meadville Distilling was producing more than 18,000 barrels of rye per year. It was even listed on menus at some of the best restaurants in New York City and Chicago.

In 2018, Meadville Distilling reformed after obtaining the original Meadville Rye recipe at auction. They partnered with Wolf to put it back into production at Conneaut Cellars. The first bottles were released in limited quantities on July 4, 2021.

For more information on Meadville Distilling, click here.