“It’s taking you back to 1933.”īut what really sells the time-travel effect are the dozens of antiques Moore has displayed throughout the 12,000 square foot building, nearly all of them he sourced himself by scouring eBay, at a cost of $1.5 million.
Seacrets owner Leighton Moore plays the role of “pharmacist” dispensing samples of liquor to visitors at the Seacrets Distillery.Įven the modern freight elevator has been convincingly disguised to look like a Depression-era lift. Inside, every brick is reclaimed, every door is antique, pipe fittings are color-coded to look retro, signage is dressed in period typeface. Outside, an antique flatbed Mack truck stacked with a pyramid of wooden barrels idles loudly. In 2016, Moore completed his $5.2 million distillery, making it look authentic to the Prohibition Era. Hospitality experts estimate the venue annually to be among the highest-grossing in the country. The entry queue on Memorial Day stretches for city blocks down Coastal Highway. Today, the sprawling bayside campus, lush with tropical plants, boasts its own nightclub and restaurant, 20 bars, a gift shop, and even its own radio station. Seacrets opened in 1988 as a tiny tiki bar. We’re a rye producing state,” Atticks said.įor the uninitiated, Seacrets has ascended to icon status in the annals of Ocean City tourism, right up there with Thrasher’s fries, Fisher’s Popcorn, and Trimper’s Rides.Īfter a trip to Jamaica as a young man, Leighton Moore sought to recreate the island’s irie atmosphere back in his hometown of Ocean City. It goes to the history of local rye, which is what Maryland is known for. It will be the largest producer of Maryland-grown rye whiskey – and that’s their primary focus. It is the biggest in Maryland and one of the biggest new distilleries in the last 10 years. The Sagamore walking tour, like Seacrets, takes you through all the steps of the distilling process. However, the only one that comes close to matching the scale of the Seacrets experience, he added, is Baltimore-based Sagamore Spirit, located just southwest of downtown. Michaels or Bad Alfred’s in Chestertown, according to Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Distillers Guild. Other craft distilleries do offer tours and tastings, just on a smaller scale, like Lyon Distilling in St. But when Seacrets makes their own, according to Moore, liquor costs plummet to $8 per bottle.
Even now, other booze brands cost Seacrets about $17 per bottle. New distillery laws in Maryland allow Moore to sell himself 30,000 gallons – that’s about 6,000 bottles or 500 cases – without any middleman.īack when the control board was in charge, wholesale costs were still $20 per bottle. A lot of different entities fought my ability to not have to do that.
#SEACRETS OCEAN CITY FULL#
They took their truck, brought it down here, and charged me full price.
When he started distilling, Moore says, “I had to sell to Reliable Liquors in Baltimore. It was a de facto tax on alcohol and a pebble in the shoe of the Ocean City hospitality community for 75 years. The agency would buy spirits from distributors, re-sell at a premium back to the public, and send the difference for county coffers. It used to be that the Liquor Control Board was a mandatory middleman in Worcester County. Moore took on the onerous task of distilling his own liquor because he wanted to cut costs for his bar and bypass hand-tying government rules. And Moore also supplies thousands of bottles to his own bars at Seacrets – which, really, was kind of the point all along. Seacrets Distilling is a vendor in several mid-Atlantic states and to some military bases. The premise holds throughout the facility as visitors learn how Seacrets crafts liquor from grain to bottle, ending with a secret speakeasy and a complimentary tipple.īut the business - located on the same property as the Seacrets bar - is more than a tourist attraction. The distillery sends visitors back to a very specific moment in time: December 5, 1933, with Prohibition set to end at midnight. Now, Moore has built another such immersive illusion for Baltimoreans and others heading to the ocean: the Seacrets Distilling Company. Seacrets Distilling brings visitors back to a very specific moment in time.Īmong acres of palm trees, tropical drinks, and reggae music at Seacrets in Ocean City, owner and founder Leighton Moore wants patrons to feel like they’ve been transported to Jamaica.
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