Greyt Big Talk w/ Dave Rigo & Greg Lehman

Dave Rigo is co-founder of Watershed Distillery in Columbus, Ohio, which he started in 2010 with his business partner Greg Lehman. The two left their corporate day jobs, raised about $180,000 and set out to build a business in the community where they both grew up, with a modest first goal: a company that could support two families.

Watershed began with a single still and small 30-gallon barrels. Within five years it had grown to three stills and 10,000 square feet, sourcing as much as possible from within Ohio, with a lineup that includes Four Peel Gin, Bourbon Barrel Gin, vodka, bourbon, nocino and a bottled Old Fashioned. In 2017 it became the first Ohio distillery to open an on-site restaurant, Watershed Kitchen & Bar, after a change in state law. The distillery marked its 15th anniversary in 2025, and its staff now describe it as the largest distillery in the state.

Greg Lehman is the founder of Watershed Distillery in Columbus, Ohio, which he started in 2010 with his business partner Dave Rigo. Raised in Central Ohio, he played volleyball at Ohio State University, where his team reached the Final Four in his senior year, then turned down a conventional corporate job to play volleyball professionally in Switzerland for two years. The self-sufficient Swiss towns he saw there planted the idea for Watershed. He went on to spend more than eight years in the agricultural industry before he and Dave left their day jobs, raised about $180,000 and set out to build a business in the community where they both grew up.

Watershed began with a single still and 30-gallon barrels and grew to three stills and 10,000 square feet within five years, sourcing as much as possible from within Ohio. Its spirits include Four Peel Gin, bourbon, nocino and a bottled Old Fashioned, and in 2017 it opened Watershed Kitchen & Bar, the first on-site restaurant at an Ohio distillery. Watershed marked its 15th anniversary in 2025.