Finger Lakes Distilling sits on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake in Burdett, NY, where it opened in 2009 as the region's first stand-alone distillery. The tasting room, called the Tippling House, looks out over the water and pours flights, cocktails, and small plates made from locally grown fruit and grain. The McKenzie line of bourbons and whiskeys put the place on the map, but the single malt program is what draws serious spirits fans back. The distillery earned founding membership in the Empire Rye Association in 2017 and was invited to reproduce a historic peach brandy recipe at George Washington's distillery at Mount Vernon. Dogs are welcome on the grounds, and the crew runs a hands-on gin workshop where groups build a custom recipe with the master distiller and walk away with roughly 40 bottles of their own creation. Private tours of the production floor, barrel warehouse, and bottling facility are available on weekdays with a week's notice. It's a proper working distillery, not a theme park, and the people pouring the drinks can actually explain how the whiskey in the glass got there.