I’m having a good time in Columbus, eating and drinking my way through a long weekend. This afternoon we stopped by Watershed, a local distillery that opened a few years ago back in 2007, started up by an Ohio State graduate (OSU is 20 minutes from downtown). He and his buddy run the entire show from a 1,985 square-foot space, although they said they do have some help on occasion from one “gintern.”

The vodka went down smooth, even at room temperature from a plastic tasting cup. The gin is pretty unique. Seven spices in addition to the juniper berry go into its creation, including citrus peels, cinnamon, and coriander. The result is a very active taste with a bite that is flavorful rather than bitter or harsh.

They seem like cool guys outside of their ability to make good booze as well – they even taught us a Swiss drinking game. It’s a “race” to hammer a nail into the log, last one buys the next round. A simple shoot-the-bull type of game that’s harder than it looks (you use a narrow-head hammer, the end to the right in the photo below). The video below illustrates the game well, but hopefully you have more fun than they appear to be having.

Since I doubt many bars in the United States would allow its presence, you’ll have to try this one at the next barbecue.