Bottling moonshine and distributing it undermines the very meaning of the word—it’s your grandfather’s sitting-in-his-backyard-lawn-chair drink, not something made in a factory and sold in stores. But we just could not resist the stainless steel cans that Stillhouse’s 100% 80 proof corn whiskey comes in. They kind of look like gigantic flasks, or maybe brake fluid or gasoline cans. The fun packaging is also useful: …
There’s something rugged and pioneering about the history of moonshine. Whether it’s Appalachian myths and the human spirit, the Whiskey Rebellion post-War of Independence, or a prominent surge during American Prohibition when it took on greater meaning, there’s a story in every sip. Many families have bootleggers in their past (and present), producing rough homemade magic. The folks behind American Born Moonshine, Patrick Dillingham and …
In 2010, a former Kentucky rooftop moonshiner joined forces with the great-grandson of a Prohibition-era bootlegger. Kings County Distillery was born; the first of its kind in New York City since the national alcohol ban of the 1920s. Kings County produces highly awarded, small-batch moonshine, bourbon and other whiskeys at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Paymaster Building—where naval officers once picked up their paychecks. Now, co-founders …
