White Whiskey/Moonshine/Poitin
White whiskey (or “moonshine”) is not a legally-defined type of whiskey, but it has grown in popularity with the increase of craft distilling in America and the need for small distillers to showcase (and sell) their products while their aged whiskey stock matures. White whiskey is a clear spirit that may be produced to the specifications of whiskey or to those of a grain neutral spirit. Moonshine can be made from nearly anything; some moonshine is made from sugar and is known as “sugar shine.” Poitin, which originated in Ireland and has protected geographical indication status with that country, is essentially a white whiskey and legally defined in Ireland, but it does not meet EU or American requirements for a whiskey.
Top White Whiskey / Moonshine / Poitin Posts:
Glory Irish Poitin
The Spirits of Sugarlands Shine
Glendalough Poitin
Stillhouse Moonshine
The hip little mountain town of Floyd, Virginia (famous for the annual FloydFest music festival) has a storied moonshining history. It sits next to Franklin County, dubbed “the moonshine capital of the world,” but according to the owners of Five Mile Mountain Distillery, Floyd was actually the larger producer during Prohibition. The distillery even gets…
Read More
Following up on its single estate vodka releases, Belvedere is back with another limited edition, Heritage 176, a vodka blended with malted rye spirit (essentially a white whiskey). What’s the idea? “Heritage 176 delivers a unique taste experience by emphasizing the rye from which Belvedere is made. Using a centuries-old technique of malting, the rye…
Read More
Junior Johnson was a major NASCAR driver — but before that, he was a moonshine distiller, and was actually convicted for it in federal court. (Ronald Reagan pardoned Johnson in 1986.) Before his death in 2019, Johnson teamed up with Piedmont Distillers in North Carolina to craft his moonshine recipe the legal way. Today, Midnight…
Read More
Madison, NC-based Piedmont Distillers, best known for the Moon Mountain Moonshine series, also produces Catdaddy, an unusual mashup of moonshine and spiced rum. Catdaddy is triple distilled from corn, then flavored “with hints of vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon,” though it’s unclear if that’s exactly what comprises the flavoring bill. The finished product is unaged and…
Read More
Poitin (puh-cheen) is Ireland’s answer to moonshine, a pot-distilled spirit which can be made from a variety of base starches (much like vodka). A recent event rounded up three Irish poitin bottlings to help elucidate how different various expressions of this spirit can be. We aren’t re-reviewing the barley-based Mad March Hare here, so please…
Read More
Lancaster, Pennsylvania is best known as the heart of Amish country, but it’s also the home of Stoll & Wolfe, a rising craft whiskey producer making spirits out of Rosen rye, a heritage varietal that’s being revived. Dick Stoll was the last distiller at Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania-based Michter’s Distillery — the original location before it abruptly…
Read More
I could understand if you didn’t believe me when I say there’s a company in Berlin making moonshine. This five year old brand offers a straight moonshine but is better known for three flavored offerings. Fairly low in alcohol and all heavily sweetened, they drink more like liqueurs you’d find served warm at a German…
Read More
Southern Distilling Company in Statesville, North Carolina is making a minor name for itself with its Southern Star whiskey products, most of which center around “grain to glass” craft-distilled bourbon. The company is also a contract distiller, and it doesn’t provide a whole lot of information about much of its operation (which appears to be…
Read More
Sometimes things surprise you. Here’s a flavored moonshine, endorsed by a celebrity, and when the bottle arrived I was surprised to see it was only 50 proof. This is moonshine? As the writer of songs like “Just a Sip,” “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey,” and “Beer in the Headlights,” country singer Cole Swindell clearly has more…
Read More
John Schlimm’s name can usually be found affixed to vegan cookbooks or impressive tomes about beer. Allowing for the direct family connection between the distilling of beer and moonshine, it makes sense his next endeavor would venture deep into the Americana lore of the white devil. So much has been written on the subject of…
Read More