Wow, awesome... thanks all for your thoughtful responses. I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity... and also, unfortunately, by your advice. I am still trying to get the lingo down.
First, to my Eagle scout friend, thank you so much for your concern. I am not selling anything or even buying alcohol - just infusing for friends but keeping my methods and recipes secret, trying new flavors, experimenting with different techniques. So I hope I haven't done anything terrible. It is certainly nothing more than a different twist on things I have read about in Martha Stewart Magazine and the like. But now so many non-friends are wanting me to do the same for them. I'm not comfortable doing it for people I don't know, and it certainly doesn't make sense to spend my time that way if I am not getting paid. But I seriously get calls every day from people begging me to make it for them, offering to pay me whatever (which I can't take), wanting large quantities for corporate gifts, weddings, or events. It is crazy, silly really. My "product" is simple, but people love it.
Reading the responses, it sounds like I don't really want to set up my own distillery. I need to find a distillery or micro-distillery or (is there another type of operation?) who will produce my stuff on contract, correct? So then what? How do I sell it since I can't sell it myself. It has to go through distributors, right? What does that process look like for a teeny-tiny operator like me? I have business experience and a good idea of how I would go about producing a small, exclusive, word-of-mouth spreading product like, say, bbq sauce. But the picture seems entirely different in the liquor business.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's help. Even knowing that there is such an active community so willing share is incredibly empowering. If I could, I'd invite you all over for a lovely evening but instead, I'll have to settle for offering my sincere thanks.
S