George Washington is best known as the first president of theUnited States, but he also operated the nascent country's firstcommercial distillery, located near his Mount Vernon, Va.,home.

His distilling acumen, like his military prowess, was asspirited as it was profitable.

The same may be said for the growing number of craft distillersin the U.S. today. Today more than 600 micro distilleries dot themap from Pasadena, Calif., to Portland, Maine. That may be a dropin the mash tun compared to the more than 8,400 wineries and3,000-plus craft breweries and brewpubs that populate thelandscape, but the trend to distill locally rather than drinkglobally is growing, and rapidly, too.