This Dorchester distillery is the brainchild of Boston Beer Company cofounder Rhonda Kallman. Despite nearly 30 years of craft beer experience under her belt—in 1990 The Institute for Brewing Studies named her a “Pioneering Woman in the Beer Industry”—the born-and-bred Bostonian admitted that whiskey was her first love. The distillery she dreamed up, and founded in 2012, now serves as a gathering place and hub for spirits of all kinds.

From Putnam New England Rye to Lawley’s Small Batch Rum, the roster of booze names pays homage to the companies (producing nails, ships, and even ice cream), that once inhabited the space, with its 40-foot ceilings and combination of exposed brick, wooden beams, and mixed-metal lighting fixtures. A slew of other tributes to the region—from a Spirit of Boston line of limited-edition spirits distilled from Samuel Adams beers, to a coffee liqueur made with Vermont maple syrup, Rhode Island coffee syrup, and Mass-roasted coffee—have helped solidify this startup as a local institution.