LEFT TO RIGHT: Waterman Spirits Caiseal Beer & Spirits Co T he story of distilled spirits in Virginia traverses the same path as the story of America itself. The history of America is interwoven with entrepreneurs who plied their skills with the copper kettle. From the roots of American whiskey and the infamous moonshine of Franklin County to today's modern distilleries providing Virginians with homegrown products made from the resources of the commonwealth, spirits are as ubiquitous with the state as are the cardinal and dogwood. In 1620, an English colonist named George Thorpe wrote a letter to his business partner in which he mentioned a mash of Native American corn he had distilled. While Thorpe's aside may not have been significant at the time, it detailed the first recorded batch of whiskey made in America. Whiskey continued to be the spirit of choice in early Virginia as Scottish and Irish immigrants brought their recipes with them on the long journey to the New World. These recipes for the " water of life " called for unaged whiskey, which became a tradition in the Appalachia area. It was a Scottish farm manager, James Anderson, who urged George Washington to begin distilling at 50 VIRGINIA ABC | ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV Virginia Distilleries SPECIAL SECTIONhttp://ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV