Did you know that the origins of moonshine can be traced back across the Atlantic to Ireland and Scotland?
(2 of my absolute favorite places!!)
Chances are if you have been to Tennessee you know that moonshine and whiskey are a time honored tradition dating back generations. In fact, until the last decade or so the practice of producing moonshine was illegal. So how did moonshine and whiskey become so popular in Tennessee? Simply put, in the Celtic countries of Ireland and Scotland both producing and partaking in whiskey were time honored traditions. When immigrants made their way to Appalachia they used local corn to distill whiskey. This went on for decades without issue.
You see, before the American Revolution, production of whiskey was pretty limited. Rum was the chosen spirit of the time. However, in 1791, the Washington administration decided to impose an excise tax on whiskey. This sparked a rebellion in 1794 when farmers in western Pennsylvania figured out it was more profitable to transform their large corn crops into something easily transportable. Ultimately the uprising failed, but it proved that Americans were willing to provide for an illicit market, if the price was right and odds of prosecution were fairly minimal.
Moonshine (also known as white lightening) is just a generic term for high-proof distilled spirits that are usually made illegally and often in an effort to avoid taxation. The daring people who decided to produce whiskey illegally were known as moonshiners and/or bootleggers. The name came from the fact that the whiskey was often secretly distilled in the mountains under the light of the moon (at night).
In fact, making moonshine became an important source of revenue in Tennessee. Specifically, in the Smoky Mountains area where transforming corn into whiskey equaled major profit. The underground cave known as the Forbidden Caverns was a favorite spot of moonshiners. Visitors today can still see an old moonshine still during a visit to the cave.
Prohibition was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. According to Visit My Smokies it was rumored that during Prohibition notorious gangster Al Capone stored his alcohol in the Smokies. The mountains provided an impeccable hiding spot for his liquor before it was moved to Chicago.
Moonshiners were quick to take advantage of the demand Prohibition created for their product. Their priorities shifted from the quality to the quantity of their liquor, specifically because they could make so much more money. According to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, “paint thinner, antifreeze, manure, and embalming fluid were just a few of the hazardous ingredients used to make this moonshine.” During this time many moonshine drinkers were paralyzed or even killed because of the poisonous nature of the drink. Unfortunately for the 13 years of Prohibition thirsty and unwavering drinkers didn’t have much of a choice but to buy the crude but effective shine.
While Capone may have been one of the more notable figures the moonshine era produced some legendary characters of its own in the Smokies. For example, Lewis Redmond became somewhat of a legendary figure when he shot and killed a deputy who tried to arrest him in 1876. He became an outlaw of Robin Hood proportions when he shared the money that he earned from moonshining with Appalachian residents. He was arrested in 1881 but after a presidential pardon he worked in a government run distillery.
Moonshining wasn’t just for men; there were several famous ladies who were moonshiners. Mollie Miller famously led the moonshiners of Polk County and killed several informants. According to the Tennessee Historical Society, “Another woman, who reportedly weighed six hundred pounds, ran a bloody family business, comforted by the fact that lawmen could think of no way to physically transport her to the seat of justice.” Of course, the most well known contemporary moonshiner was Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton who was busted by the federal government in 2007, but died before serving his sentence. He gained fame by appearing in documentaries and releasing an autobiography entitled “Me and My Likker.”
It wasn’t until 2009 that Tennessee changed the state laws paving the way for legal moonshine. Now visitors to the Smokies can enjoy moonshine legally and we recommend that \you do! Check out our post on our favorite distilleries here. The state’s first licensed moonshine distillery, the Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg, opened in 2010 and it was our favorite distillery!
