GreenLP
07-29-2011, 11:18 AM
Distillery to make South Carolina's first legal moonshine
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Two entrepreneurs are taking advantage of South Carolina's new micro-distillery laws to make traditional moonshine whiskey legally in the state for the first time.
The Dark Corner Distillery will open next month in Greenville, where engineer Joe Fenten and longtime home beer brewer Richard Wenger will produce and sell small batches of 100-proof moonshine from a custom-made copper still.
[snip]
"They thought it was their inalienable, God-given right to make whiskey," said Fenten, a Dark Corner native.
[snip]
Moonshine traditionally was the term used to describe illegally distilled corn whiskey often made covertly by the light of the moon. The product made at the new distillery will be un-aged corn whiskey, but will be taxed and regulated.
The area came to be called the Dark Corner in 1832 by South Carolina politicians seeking to nullify federal law and who cursed the people of the mountains as Unionists, said Dean Campbell, a Dark Corner native who is the distillery's official historian.
Whiskey taxes after the Civil War and then Prohibition in the 20th century made the place more lawless, Campbell said.
News accounts in the 1920s called the Dark Corner "a little Chicago" because of federal agents' raids on stills, killings, and gun and knife fights that broke out after church, he said.
Illegal moonshine is still being made there, Campbell said. In June, sheriff's deputies busted a still in Landrum, South Carolina, and confiscated 2,000 gallons of illegal white liquor along with $150,000 in cash.
http://news.yahoo.com/distillery-south-carolinas-first-legal-moonshine-155820738.html
Now if they'll wise up to the other drugs that were made illegal.
Btw, love the first comment about this article:
"NY legalizes gay marriage while SC makes moonshine legal. VERY telling about priorities."
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Two entrepreneurs are taking advantage of South Carolina's new micro-distillery laws to make traditional moonshine whiskey legally in the state for the first time.
The Dark Corner Distillery will open next month in Greenville, where engineer Joe Fenten and longtime home beer brewer Richard Wenger will produce and sell small batches of 100-proof moonshine from a custom-made copper still.
[snip]
"They thought it was their inalienable, God-given right to make whiskey," said Fenten, a Dark Corner native.
[snip]
Moonshine traditionally was the term used to describe illegally distilled corn whiskey often made covertly by the light of the moon. The product made at the new distillery will be un-aged corn whiskey, but will be taxed and regulated.
The area came to be called the Dark Corner in 1832 by South Carolina politicians seeking to nullify federal law and who cursed the people of the mountains as Unionists, said Dean Campbell, a Dark Corner native who is the distillery's official historian.
Whiskey taxes after the Civil War and then Prohibition in the 20th century made the place more lawless, Campbell said.
News accounts in the 1920s called the Dark Corner "a little Chicago" because of federal agents' raids on stills, killings, and gun and knife fights that broke out after church, he said.
Illegal moonshine is still being made there, Campbell said. In June, sheriff's deputies busted a still in Landrum, South Carolina, and confiscated 2,000 gallons of illegal white liquor along with $150,000 in cash.
http://news.yahoo.com/distillery-south-carolinas-first-legal-moonshine-155820738.html
Now if they'll wise up to the other drugs that were made illegal.
Btw, love the first comment about this article:
"NY legalizes gay marriage while SC makes moonshine legal. VERY telling about priorities."