Courtesy Williamsburg Winery
Georgia and Tennessee
During Prohibition, Appalachian Mountain moonshiners and the hair-raising car chases that ensued as lawmen pursued them became legendary.
The law-breaking continued, even after Prohibition ended in 1933 as the sales of bootleg whiskey, or white lightning, remained illegal.
In the past several years, a number of Southern states have elected to allow legal moonshine to be made, resulting in a new crop of distilleries and booming sales.
Those moonshine runs are the roots of NASCAR, which makes it natural for the Dawsonville Moonshine Distillery and the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Museum to share quarters in Dawsonville, Ga.’s City Hall.
“We’re real people in a real town making the real deal,” said distillery owner Cheryl Wood, who hails from a family of bootleggers. “Our ’shine is made from a 150-year-old family recipe made from natural local ingredients. Dawsonville was once known as the Moonshine Capital of the World. Tons of gallons were hauled to Atlanta, mainly through Dawsonville. There was a saying: ‘Haulin’ ’shine down Highway 9.’”
Opened in July 2012, the distillery offers tours during which groups of 15 to 20 can learn the history of moonshine and how it’s made. Tours include tastes of the real thing.
Attendees can watch early racing footage as they sit in cars at a mock drive-in movie; hear true tales of former NASCAR driver Bill Elliott, aka “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville”; meet in the racing museum’s conference room; and stay for a catered dinner.
Across the border, Tennessee shares Georgia’s bootlegging history, and Ole Smoky Distillery, opened in 2010, is cranking out Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine in downtown Gatlinburg, across the street from the Gatlinburg Convention Center.
“As soon as Tennessee passed the moonshine bill three years ago, we began working toward making the family business legal,” said Johnny Baker, tour and travel coordinator for Ole Smoky. “We take pride in it. Our master distiller is a fourth-generation moonshiner. He was home schooled and spent his lab time in the family still.”
Part of Ole Smoky Moonshine Holler, the distillery complex includes a general store that sells moonshine and ’shine-infused foods and a stage where live bluegrass music is performed daily. Free tours chart moonshine’s journey from still to bottle.
770-401-1211
www.dawsonvillemoonshinedistillery.com
865-436-6995
www.olesmokymoonshine.com
