Washington, D.C. has been featured quite a bit in the news recently. With the change of power in the federal government, the capital has received a lot of buzz and questions loom about how the culture of the city may shift. Politics and policy, though, are always frequent topics of conversation concerning D.C. Recently, the country has paid more attention to the growth of the food and beverage industry. With the rise of food incubators, start-ups, and the popularity of food trucks, tourists and locals have embraced D.C.'s culinary clout. Those in the spirits industry, like Alexander "Sandy" Wood, CEO of One Eight Distilling, credit the popularity of craft beverages to the focus placed on the restaurant industry. Michael Lowe, Co-Owner and Distiller at New Columbia Distillers, reiterated Sandy's points and noted that the emphasis placed on "local" has had an effect on D.C.'s spirits scene. "People care more about whether what they're having is local," Lowe explained. Sandy also mentioned that One Eight has taken great pride in sourcing all of their grain locally, visiting farms just a short drive from D.C. 

But, the emphasis on "local" isn't just exclusive to D.C. "Artisinal" and "craft" are used to describe goods all over the country. So what about D.C. makes the spirits scene special? Sandy and Lowe both briefly touched on the fact that the capital's accomodating legislation has helped distilleries thrive. Moreover, it has made the city an attractive market for other distilleries in the DMV area and up and down the East coast. Sandy commented that D.C. might have a "disproportionate interest" from out of market distilleries, which makes the industry competitive. "But the competition isn't a bad thing," Lowe explained. "It keeps us on our toes." Sandy and Lowe have both found that the competition has led to greater growth and a greater concentration of quality distilleries. "We're all doing our own thing," Lowe shared, "and we all have our place." D.C. doesn't have a craft spirits guild but Sandy explained that the co-operative competition has already led to competitions about founding a guild. "Nothing has been officially planned yet, but we're talking about it."

Cotton & Reed is one of the newest distilleries in the D.C. craft spirits scene, having opened just this past month, but have already cemented their place with an impressive cocktail lineup and complex rums currently on the market. They've also opened up in the booming spirits district of Northeast Washington, D.C. Although they've only gone to market with their rums, their diverse cocktail program offers drinkers a taste of what D.C. spirits can do. 

The community of D.C. has certainly embraced the industry of craft spirits. Republic Restoratives, the largest crowdfunded distillery in the world, represents the growing relationship between the city and its spirits producers. Republic Restoratives has taken ownership of its place in the community and serves its neighbors quality cocktails and spirits. 

Although D.C. is still a young city in the spirits industry, the popularity of cocktail programs has been present for a long time and helped with the recent boom of craft spirits. Local spots like The Dabney, The Passenger, and The Columbia Room have elevated the spirits scene with robust and focused cocktail programs. Bartenders like Derek Brown and, more recently, JP Fetherston have helped in educating the city's young population on what makes quality cocktails: quality spirits. Fetherston explained what excites him about the D.C. scene, "There is an energy and an independent streak here that keeps expanding and expanding. We’re not seeing big chains or big names coming in and dominating the scene. We are growing our reputation, and our colleagues are pouring their energies into their own independent projects. And we’re changing outdated laws about breweries and distilleries."