Wigle Whiskey, a micro-distiller, will operate on the ground floor of the Pittsburgh Wool Co. building. Its owners, Eric Meyer and his father, Mark, and other family members named the whiskey after Philip Wigle, one of two men convicted of treason and sentenced to hang for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.
The last legal distillery in this part of the state was the Schenley Distillery in Armstrong County which closed in the 1970s. The last distillery in the city is believed to have been Joseph S. Finch, which closed by 1920 and moved its operations to the Schenley plant after Prohibition ended.
The Wigle hanging is commemorated in the new company's label, with the rope incorporated into the name. Incidentally, the aforementioned Strip District is a popular mile-long dining and nightlife neighborhood that runs along the Allegheny River just northeast of downtown. Many of the businesses are in former warehouse and industrial buildings.
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