Thanks Nick for starting this post. It has developed into a great post in many ways
I have many years of business ownership, consulting, professional board experience, regulation development, government lobbying for legislative purposes, and a ton of other things, but this isn't a post about my resume!!
Firstly, no business gets anywhere in the long term by cutting down the competition. If you want to be better than the competition, don't cut them down, just BE better than the competition. Whether that is better customer service, better location, fancier bottle, etc etc etc, but it can be very subjective when you say better product. Keep in mind that you are producing a product that you are proud enough of to put your name on. In the end, the product will speak for itself. However as history has shown, marketing can make it better than it actually is!!! but that's a different topic
Secondly relates to the the direction that micro / craft / artisan distilleries will take over the next years. This to me this is a craft, your interpretation of what a specific spirit should be and how it should taste and how it should be produced (within the constrains of the governmental guidelines and of course a safe drinkable spirit). If it is what people like, they will buy it and if not, it will fail. Regulations are important but look at how long it has taken to have regulations, set in place many years ago by the big players, changed to allow this fledgling craft industry to even exist. Regulations are often put in place lobbied by those who have become established trying to protect their own livelihood by restricting new business from entering the marketplace. The basis of self-protectionism, now that I'm in, lets try to shut the door. Careful thought needs to be taken to over-regulation of a new ARTISAN industry or all we are doing is repeating history.
It can be a slippery slope if we regulate the art out of artisan.
Just my 2 cents