Corn Liquor

[Theron Volkman]

When I was in my favorite liquor store yesterday I noticed a jar of clear liquor marked as Corn Whiskey. The label said it was less than 90 days old. I don't remember the brand name right now but it was in a container that resembled a fruit jar complete with the screw on cap. It was priced at about $15.00. Has anyone seen or tasted anything similar? I was tempted to purchase it but there was a bottle of Rare Breed that won out.

Theron

[Speedy_John]

In PA we sell something called "Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey." It comes in a mason jar and sells for about $10. Never tried it, probably never will...unless I find a 10-spot laying in the street and all our bourbons, scotches and Irish whiskies mysteriously disappear.

SpeedyJohn

[OneCubeOnly]

That sounds like "Georgia Moon". I've never been able to bring myself to buy any.

[boone]

Georgia Moon is a Heaven Hill product...It's available in 80 proof and 100 proof...

More of a novelty gift, than used for drinking...There would be "no contest" in my decision to by Bourbon or Moonshine...

Bourbon , hands down...

Bettye Jo

[Nightcap]

There's some genuine humor in the fact that the label guarantees that it is LESS than 90 days old. (Aged in that very jar, no doubt.) Definitely a gag gift.

[tdelling]

> When I was in my favorite liquor store yesterday I noticed a jar of clear

> liquor marked as Corn Whiskey....

>

> Has anyone seen or tasted anything similar? I was tempted to purchase it but

> there was a bottle of Rare Breed that won out.

Don't listen to anyone who calls this stuff "a gag gift". It is most

definitely made for the drinkin'. As a matter of fact, according to the

state of Virginia's ABC website, they sold over 50,000 (fifty thousand)

bottles of "corn whiskey" in Financial Year 2003. Somebody's gotta be

drinking it! And, mind you, this is Virginia, where this stuff competes

with the local home-grown, tax-free variety!

I can't vouch for Georgia Moon. It might very well taste terrible. But I

can vouch for a very good product that I wrote up tasting notes on,

in a thread titled:

Sweet Sippin' II: Mountain Moonshine

#17093 - Wed Jun 18 2003 09:27 PM

A little warning:

Corn whiskey tasting is a Fine Art. Many people never advance far enough

in their Bourbonic Odyssey to the point where they can appreciate bourbon's

prehistoric ancestor in all of it's impressive glory. Don't be surprised

if it's a different beast than you're used to drinking. Clear the mind.

Approach it calmly. Don't make any sudden moves. In time, it's seductive

charms will become evident.

Tim Dellinger

[ratcheer]

I've never tried the Georgia Moon, but I have tasted the real thing, aka "white lightning". The old timers assured me it was of the highest quality. It was a lot like vodka, but with a raw corn whang that was hard to enjoy. I was able to swallow it and enjoy the buzz, but I turned down a second taste.

Tim

[bobbyc]

When Greg and Jo Kitzmiller, BettyeJo , Me and Amelia went on our whiskey adventure a month or so ago. While at Heaven Hill, Larry Kass got out a bottle of Mellow Corn( Among other nice offerings) There's a bit in Jim Murrays book that any serious student of bourbon should try it and every home should have a bottle. It was worthwhile to me even though this home doesn't have its' bottle yet. It's a sidebar to the bourbon experience, not Geogia Moon but the same page or so. I think it was aged a number of years and that maybe was in used cooperage.

I will definately recommend any one to at least have a drink of it. The price is such that a whole 750ml isn't too expensive.

[Nightcap]

Don't listen to anyone who calls this stuff "a gag gift". ...

Sorry for my ignorant remark. I did not realize that there were people who actually took moonshine seriously; I had always thought of it as crude alcohol, and have never even seen it seriously discussed as a drink to be appreciated by a discerning palate.

I'm curious to try some, now.

[Theron Volkman]

Based on the replies I will probably pick up a bottle next time I go bourbon shopping. I remember tasting the real moonshine when I was stationed down South during my army years. I don't remember much about the taste but it was the buzz we were after and it worked for that.

[gr8erdane]

Theron,

One other thing you should consider is that not all moonshines are the same either. My father once told me that he visited an old man who ran his own still but mainly for his own consumption. In a cupboard off his kitchen, he had shelves upon shelves of jars and invited my father to 'share a taste or two'. From his experience, some were sweet while others tasted like rubbing alcohol and yet others had little or no taste at all. In the end, it took him a while afterward to regain control of his legs. Seems a sip or two was almost too much.

Dane

[pepcycle]

When I tried it, the corners of my mouth kept jerking towards my ears in a Joker-Like grimace. Not the normal reaction for whiskey drinking.

"Gag" gift may be the appropriate name.

I guess I don't appreciate it.

[texascarl]

I can't remember where I read it, but I recall reading about a moonshiner discussing how he 'spiced up' the flavour of white lightening. They'd take a few small pieces of white oak and dry-fry them in a skillet until the wood was charred 'red' but not blackened. They'd add several pieces of this cooked oak to a gallon jug, fill w/raw spirits, shake it daily. The writer claimed it only took a few weeks to smooth and 'sweeten' the flavour considerably, bring it closer to the realm of bourbon. I haven't tried it, make no claims. But it was interesting enough that it stuck in my memory.

[cowdery]

The father of a close friend of mine has done some home distilling and he swears by this method of "aging."

For the record, most moonshiners today use table sugar, not corn or any other grain. Of course, I'm talking about the serious moonshiner who is in it as a business. They use sugar because it is cheap, easy to get and easy to work with. The people who distill grain or fruit spirits, albeit illegally, are more the hobbyists.

I keep a bottle of corn whiskey on hand because it's the closest thing you can buy to what bourbon tastes right right off the still, so I have it to demonstrate the considerable impact of aging. The bottle I have has lasted a long time.

[LeNell]

I was surprised at how many of these little buggers sold during the holidays. Folks really did grab them as a "gag gift" but with the intent of somebody getting drunk. Amazing how many asked me, "Is this good?" My reply, "It ain't as good as what I've had sittin' on a front porch down South, but it'll do."

[tdelling]

> Folks really did grab them as a "gag gift" but with the intent of

> somebody getting drunk.

I've seen Georgia Moon turn up at a few bachelor parties, but I've only

seen the victim take two or three sips. The jar, still mostly full,

does make a great memento to help remember the night, though.

Tim Dellinger

[dhooch]

I have a jar of Georgia Moon corn whiskey. I have it on my premium bourbon shelf, as a joke. It tastes like corn, believe it or not! To think that in the 1700's and 1800's this is what whiskey tasted like! No wonder bourbon became such a hit in New Orleans! That new Bourbon, KY stuff was actually drinkable!

[kitzg]

Heaven Hill makes a product I believe is called Mellow Corn (I am not looking at the bottle but I have one). I actually think it is really tasty. I kind of like diluted white dog so naturally I'd like this. I've never bought a jar of Georgia Moon. -- Greg

[cowdery]

I believe Mellow Corn is the product that actually has a little age on it, something like six months in used barrels, much like Seagrams gin. Another corn that I think it still sold is Platte Valley, which is sold in a crock and is, I believe, a McCormick product.

[rccoulter]

I bought a bottle of this for a Bourbon tasting I held a few years back. I wanted to offer it first in order to show the difference between an aged and unaged whiskey. I sipped it first, and decided not to serve it to the guests for fear it would destroy their pallates, if not permanently, at least for the night. I settled for passing around the jar and having them smell the difference. Truth is, I probably didn't even need to pass the jar around. Just open the lid and wait ten seconds.

A bottle of Bourbon doesn't last long in my house but this bottle sits nearly* full, next to the bitters, in my otherwise empty cabinet.

*I will say, however, that it makes an excellent addition to a meatball sauce.

[boone]

Just open the lid and wait ten seconds.

That's a understatement It's "Smelly" stuff I mess with that "stuff" before the lid gets put on. My job is making sure that "jar" gets sealed proper and the fill point is legal.

I fill the jars just a bit over legal...by the time it reaches the capper a lot has been sloshed out...lost...usually on everybody close by and especially the ones putting the heat shrink wraps on the jars...

You otta see them when the capper gets a lid hung in the hopper. No lids, they are grabbing as fast as they can...being drenched with the stuff as they try to shut the capper down...They are not "Happy Campers"

Bettye Jo