Here’s the scene: you’re at your local liquor store, perusing the bourbon aisle. A new bottle in the “local” section with a folksy label and weighty, round-shouldered shape catches your eye. You pick it up. “Whiskey produced by hand and made from an old family recipe using small-batch, artisanal methods,” the front proclaims, while the hanger tag proudly displays black-and-white photographs of the founder’s great-grandparents posing in front of a handmade still.

Seems legit – right? Do you believe that somebody in your local community got up one morning, schlepped themselves into the distillery, and spend the day laboriously grinding,…