Whiskey Distilling Business

To really understand the “whiskey distilling business” in our area of the South you must go back a long ways. Our ancestors, which included the Scotch, Irish, French, German and English, brought with them to America the formula for the various distilling processes.

Their ancestors had acquired it many centuries ago and handed it down from one family to the next. It is said that it really dates back to China, Japan and India well before the birth of Christ. As for Georgia, most of our ancestors were Scotch Irish that had landed on the central coastal areas and migrated down the Appalachian Mountains in the early 1700s.

The Irish left Ireland for many reasons but one in particular was the excise tax imposed by their government on the distilling of whiskey. The process had been going on for a number of years and was widespread and the Irish government decided that a tax was necessary. The very independent Irish were offended by the government’s actions and were ready to try the new free country at once.

Independence and freedom to do what they wanted to do, free from government intervention was the key. The Scotch Irish were very proud of their distilled product. It was also considered a medicinal product and always in every household for cures for bad colds, stomach cramps, headaches and it was often given to their children for various sicknesses. It was said that a drop or two in each ear would help deafness. It was also a product that was used in excess at all community outings and led to the famous old Irish song…

A cup of good whiskey will make you glad
Too much of the creatur will make you mad
If you take it in reason, ‘twill make you wise
If you drink to excess, it’ll close your eyes.

In about this same period of time our country was primarily wooded and crossed by many streams. Families were moving into the area by the wagon loads. It is estimated that a quarter million Ulstermen or Irish poured into America during the five heavy waves of the great migration of 1717-1776.

Land was available by lottery and many families acquired land with very little, if any, money down. They cleared land and built houses and barns and started a new life. Most had come over from Europe and brought their many habits and customs with them.

Most all of the cities were on the coast and had the advantage of many imports including rum, wine and some other “spirits” but the farmer and landowner inland had none of these advantages and was forced to live off the land as best he could.

After the Whiskey Rebellion our government also imposed taxes and certain restrictions on the illegal whiskey still. This really sent it to the back woods in each county. Sheriffs and Government Revenuers came into the picture to seek and tear up stills as shown in the picture above.

This placed a real hardship on the local sheriff elected by the people. Everyone knew who was making illegal whiskey in our area and where but they kept quiet. Sheriffs had to tread softly because they were elected by the people that desired “John Barleycorn.”

This necessitated the influx of Government Agents or Revenue agents to seek and tear up the illegal stills. This was mostly in the north Georgia mountain areas where whiskey had reached the “big time” and was being hauled into Atlanta in great quantity during the Prohibition years.

This also was the beginning of the “rum runner” or hauler or “bootlegger” or those that did not make the brew but profited in the hazardous selling, handling and hauling business. Many early admitted NASCAR drivers leaned how to race after running from the law this way for years.

They did so on up into the late 1940s but finally, with the use of airplanes and other modern surveillance methods, “Illegal Moon Shinning” all but disappeared.