A Baltimore distillery’s whiskey was crowned best in the world. You can buy it for $90.

For $90, Marylanders can try a bottle of what one international competition has deemed the best whiskey in the world — and it’s made in downtown Baltimore.

Baltimore Spirits Co.’s Epoch 6 Year Cask Strength Rye earned the Best in Show Whiskey award at The Tasting Alliance’s Top Shelf Awards in San Francisco on Sunday.

The Top Shelf Awards are one of the largest international spirits competitions in the world. Baltimore Spirits Co. beat more than 1,500 competitors for the title of 2026’s best whiskey.

It’s a return to prominence for rye whiskey distilled in Maryland. Before World War I, Maryland was considered a whiskey powerhouse, like Kentucky and Pennsylvania, but as the 20th century wore on, distilling mostly disappeared in the state, according to Baltimore Spirits Co.’s head distiller, Eli Breitburg-Smith, 40.

“That was always our goal, to put Maryland rye back on the map,” Breitburg-Smith said.

It’s rare for whiskeys from the United States to take home the honor. Records of the awards are sparse, but Breitburg-Smith believes he and his co-founders are the fourth American distillers to do so.

Previous winners set customers back far more than $90 per bottle. The previous five best-in-show whiskeys sell for at least $500 each online and are aged in barrels for at least 20 years.

Baltimore Spirits Co. has no plans to bump up the price, despite the bottle’s new claim to fame. Breitburg-Smith said the bottle is priced fairly based on its age and the company’s pricing system for other products.

“We want it to fit into a place where whiskey enthusiasts can get it and share it with friends and it’s not some unattainable thing that’s out there,” he said.

The Epoch rye has been in the works since Breitburg-Smith and his co-founders, Ian Newton and Max Lents, both 42, opened the distillery in 2015.

They first rolled out a two-year-aged version in 2018, before eventually settling on the award-winning six-year rye as one of the distillery’s signature products.

The final product is “gripping and lively on the palate, with a bright, lingering mint finish,” according to the competition’s judges.

Breitburg-Smith said he’s prepared for a bump in sales and is excited for more people to try the bottle.

“We have plenty of whiskey; we’re just excited to share with everyone,” he said.