Moonshine has a certain mystique. Secretive, strong, and sought after, the long history makes it as appealing today as it was way back when. Writer Suzanne Corbett, Real Food Traveler’s Food History Editor, lets us in on the goods, getting in on family secrets for how moonshine is made in North Georgia. Don’t miss the authentic recipe, below. Also, we’re proud to say Suzanne won an award for this article in May 2021 by the Missouri Professional Communicators, the affiliate of National Federation of Press Women.

Keep this recipe and don’t forget the family secrets behind how moonshine is made. Pin it to your favorite Pinterest boards.

Mountain Shining: Georgia’s Mountain Moonshine

Day or night, the moon shines in Georgia’s northern hills. Make that moonshine. The whiskey that earned its name by being distilled at night in the backwoods under the cover of moonlight. A method cagey mountain folk practiced in the Georgia hills for over 200 years in an effort to escape the law. It’s an intoxicating history that attracts visitors to Georgia to sip a sample while discovering the libation’s illicit past.

Many of Georgia’s distillers can proudly trace their moonshining roots to some of Georgia’s first Scotch-Irish settlers back in the 1780s. Some continue to operate forbidden, unlicensed pot stills hidden in Georgia’s backwoods such as those that have been featured on the Discovery Channel’s reality show, Moonshiners. However, moonshiners don’t need to hide out in the hills. At least the legal moonshiners, now considered craft distillers, who have been enjoying a boom with moonshine’s new found popularity.

 A moonshine still in the woods near the Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, GA.

One moonshiner, who I can recommend after sampling their recipe, and who no longer needs to worry about out running the revenuers, are the Daltons, owners of Dalton Distillery who celebrates its moonshining history and closely guards the family’s secret recipe.

“That’s my grandad’s old still. You can see where it’s been cut up (by the revenuers) and patched back together,” said Raymond Butler, Dalton’s Master Distiller and family patriarch who learned distilling from his dad and grandad who mastered the art making shine in the moonlight. “Back in those days when we had to make it in the woods, we made it using mostly corn. Grandad would use rye or wheat or whatever he had. And when sugar was rationed (during World War II), or when it was hard to get in the depression, we used sorghum molasses. But one thing we always used were sunflowers in a small amount to give it a little different favor.”

Ray Butler is Dalton Distillery’s Master Distiller and former moonshiner.

How is moonshine made in the Dalton family?

Dalton’s moonshine is the real McCoy. Made by the original family recipe that used corn, malted wheat and sunflowers, it is bottled as Raymond’s Reserve. As Raymond’s son, Chuck, who is also Dalton Distillery’s owner,  said, “The whiskey is being made the same way my Dad has made it for over sixty years. Some of the other moonshine sold today is nothing like the way the old timers made it. But ours is.”

So, how does one tell if the moonshine is quality? According to Georgia’s hill folk, good whiskey is so clear you can read a newspaper through it. Of course, any whiskey needs proofing. Proof is the amount of alcohol as defined by volume. For example, 80 proof whiskey means the liquid is 40% alcohol. Back in the day, all you needed to check the proof was a little gunpowder and a match. If the gunpowder could be ignited, it was “proof” it wasn’t watered down. My recommendation today is to rely on the proof printed on the label.

Dalton Distillery’s most unique product is TazaRay Sunflower Spirits. It’s a whiskey that was deemed the first commercially produced, gluten-free whiskey on the market – made with 35% corn and 65% sunflower seeds. TazaRay may be considered corn whiskey by some but not by the Feds, because sunflowers aren’t considered a grain. That’s a fact that sets this libation apart from other moonshine whiskeys.

The Dalton’s have used sunflower seeds as a flavor ingredient in the family recipe for generations. It’s distilled like any other liqueur but finished into two varieties, white and red. White is aged in old bourbon barrels. Red is aged in old red wine barrels.

TazaRay Sunflower Spirits moonshine made by Dalton Distillery.

More Georgia Moonshine Distilleries

Dalton Distillery is one of the still stops found along North Georgia’s unofficial moonshine trail, along with Dawsonville Distillery, located about 90 minutes southeast from Dalton Distillery, in Dawsonville. A town that proclaims itself as the moonshine capital of the world and the birthplace of stock car racing.

Dawsonville Distillery is housed under the same roof as the Dawsonville City Hall and Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. It’s an interesting trifecta to experience, combining the elements that yielded NASCAR which was born from the daredevil drivers who gained fame ridge-running white lightening in their souped-up cars that often out-paced the cops.

White Lightening moonshine is still bottled and sold as Bill Elliott’s White Lightening. It’s named in honor of Dawsonville’s favorite son, Bill Elliot, a NASCAR champion and Motorsports Hall of Famer. Georgia’s Racing Hall of Fame honors Elliot and other drivers and the sport’s moonshining. No wonder Dawsonville is home to the annual Mountain Moonshine Festival held the third weekend in October. It is counted as one of the largest vintage car shows, featuring the classics that ran shine up and down Georgia’s Highway 9. Of course, moonshine is available to all who wish to imbibe and who are of legal age.

This display in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame links moonshine to NASCAR.

I can’t think of a better time to take to the open road and head for the north Georgia hills where social distancing is easy. Take in the fresh air, the mountain scenery and when you stop to sip a sample, allow plenty of time to drink in the history that revolves around Georgia’s moonshine.

Inspired to sip and savor your way through Georgia? Go to ExploreGeorgia.org to plan where to find where the moonshine flows.

Hungry for more? Learn about another very old way to make alcohol.

Ray’s Old Fashioned

Recipe courtesy of Dalton Distillery

Get the recipe for Ray’s Old Fashioned made with moonshine.

Ingredients: 

1/1/2 tsp sugar

2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Sliced orange

Maraschino cherries

2 ounces TazaRay Red

Ice

Method:

In an eight-ounce Old Fashioned glass, place sugar, bitters, an orange slice and a two to three cherries. Muddle together, pour in TazaRed. Add ice and mix. Garnish with an orange slice, if desired.

— Story and photos by Suzanne Corbett

Hungry for more? Get a recipe for a Smoked Old Fashioned.

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