THE DISPENSARIES OF DEMOCRACY.

The boutique distillery with its exotic whiskies might be Arch Deluxe writ large, and the experience of tasting the various mixes is likely not conducive to healthy living in a plague.

The alcohol from those stills, however, when mixed with the right ingredients, makes a healthy hand sanitizer.  The owners of such places are entrepreneurial-minded enough to see the opportunity, and in many cases, such as DeKalb's Whiskey Acres, the product goes directly to first responders and clinics.

The distillery, at 11504 Keslinger Road, DeKalb was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to convert its distillery to make hand sanitizer, using a special formula approved and passed on from the World Health Organization. By the end of next week, Walters said he hopes to have several thousand bottles of hand sanitizer to donate free of charge to Kishwaukee Hospital and countywide paramedics and police officers who respond to 911 calls.

The conversions are beginning to catch on, although the proprietor reports inquiries coming in from first responders up to a hundred miles away.

Perhaps once the contagion is tamed, there will be an opportunity for a thank you party buying the products the distillery ordinarily offers.