Ole Smoky Moonshine created from century-old corn whiskey recipe

Moonshine is a tricky word to define. It’s still largely regarded as the illegal hooch that Appalachian distillers would produce clandestinely to make a buck during hardscrabble times, using corn mash as the main ingredient.

But for Ole Smoky master distiller Justin King, moonshine is the clear, unaged spirit that his distillery in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, produces in many varieties, including Original Moonshine, a whiskey made from corn grown by local farmers in East Tennessee and from a century-old recipe that uses a grain bill of 80 percent corn (the remaining 20 percent is a secret ingredient that, according to the distillery, sets Ole Smoky Moonshine apart from the rest of the white whiskeys produced legally in the U.S.).

Other Ole Smoky whiskeys, which have been recently added to store and bar shelves in Texas, range from more nontraditional flavors like Apple Pie and Big Orange. And they all come in mason jars, a clever nod back to the long history Ole Smoky’s founders have at discreetly producing moonshine in the mountains, well before Tennessee law changed in 2009 to allow the distillation of spirits.