By Dan Eaton, Staff reporter-Columbus Business First

The next time you’re on Grand Cayman Island, you can order a nice, cool drink with Watershed Four Peel Gin.

Columbus-based Watershed Distillery, in four years, has grown from a micro-distilling startup to having its spirits sold in seven states plus that Caribbean island (we’ll get back to that in a second).

“We’re bursting at the seams,” co-owner Greg Lehman told me. “We’re not adding any states in the next 12 months. We need to keep up with our capacity.”

The business started in 2,000 square feet near Grandview Heights and has 5,000 square feet today. The footprint will double again with an upcoming addition of 5,000 more square feet, much of which will be for storage.

“We have a lot of barrels,” Lehman said.

It also just took a big jump in capabilities. The company installed a new still that ups production ten-fold. The goal is 150,000 bottles a year. They think they can hit 60,000 in 2014.

So, back to Grand Cayman. That connection came courtesy chef and restaurateur Dean James Max, owner of Latitude 41 in the Columbus Renaissance downtown. That restaurant was an early adopter of Watershed’s products. Max also owns several restaurants around the country as well as the Brasserie on Grand Cayman. He owns a distribution company on the island as well.

Co-owner Dave Rigo said that the company is a sponsor for the annual Buckeye Cruise for Cancer. Last year, when the ship docked at Grand Cayman, rather than soaking up the sun, Lehman and Rigo spent their scant handful of hours on island sharing their product with the local bosses of Max’s distribution company.

“We brought our booze down there,” Rigo said. “We hit it off.”

And now Watershed is on sale on the island as well as in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Georgia.

Lehman said the product plans remain focused on the four core spirits – Four Peel Gin, Vodka, Bourbon and Bourbon Barrel Gin – though they may consider doing seasonal products eventually. The distillery is keeping its original still which could be put to use for some short-run spirits.

Watershed, along with Columbus-based Middle West Spirits LLC and other Ohio microdistilleries, also are pushing for a few changes in state laws that would help their industry grow sales.

PHOTO: The new still increases production ten-fold at Watershed Distillery. Janet Adams

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