Rick Wasmund opened the Copper Fox distillery in Sperryville, Va., in 2005. The distillery produced its first batch in August 2006 and now distributes to 17 states. Wasmund’s Single Malt Whisky recently received a gold medal from the Beverage Testing Institute.

How’d you get into the distilling business?

I tell people it wasn’t my daddy or granddaddy that decided to make whisky, it was me. I was probably an average whisky guy. I drank my fair share. But I had this idea about how to make my own whisky and thought it was worth giving it a shot. I think it was divine intervention. I learned more and more about distilling and went around talking to people in the industry, and they thought it was a good idea. It turned out to be totally unique.