Slideshow

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  Shanghai Speakeasy, a drink made with Moonshine, is paired with a ham hock ramen dish.

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  Pumpkin Potcheen, a drink made with Moonshine, is paired with a clambake dish at Halcyon Restaurant.

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This fall saw a strange sight invade the upscale confines of Uptown's Mint Museum and its chic restaurant, Halycon. A bluegrass band, Jim Garrett and the Popcorn Sippers, played in the lobby, and a special menu was offered featuring that most North Carolina of spirits: moonshine. No mason jars to be found here, though. These were upscale cocktails created by Maggie Ruppert, Halycon's resident mixologist.

Coinciding with a renaissance of artisan spirits like gin, bourbon and brandy, moonshine is enjoying its own rebirth. This is not your granddaddy's 'shine. That acrid mouth-burning sensation has been replaced by spices and smoothness. It's no longer pure grain alcohol, either. As Ruppert says, "It's 80 proof, so nobody is going to go blind or fall down the stairs."

This is a whole different level of moonshine, elevated by an emphasis on high-quality ingredients and production in small batches.

To create her specialty beverages, Ruppert used three brands that are native to North Carolina: Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine and Midnight Moon (both from Piedmont Distillers in Madison) and Troy & Sons (in Asheville). Ruppert blended Catdaddy with oolong tea, saffron, local honey and tamarind to create the Shanghai Speakeasy. It's a very smooth and subtly-spiced drink that warms, not burns, and finishes with just a touch of honey sweetness.

Catdaddy was the first product of Piedmont Distillers, founded in 2005 by Joe Michalek, a native New Yorker who moved to North Carolina in 1995.

Its name comes from Prohibition legend – at the time, only the best moonshine was called "the catdaddy." The recipe is closely guarded, but it is made from American corn in a copper still and triple-distilled. The distillery says some people taste vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg or citrus in Catdaddy, but none of those ingredients go into it. They say its flavor is best described as "a little sweet, with a little spice."

In May 2007, moonshine and racing legend Junior Johnson became part owner of Piedmont Distillers, and together they introduced Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon. Based on the Johnson family’s generations-old moonshine recipe, it's also made from corn in a copper still, crafted in small batches and triple distilled. It's a clean-tasting spirit that's similar to vodka in flavor profile.

Ruppert used it as a base for her Junior's Repeal cocktail, combining it with house-made brandied persimmon, sugar, grapefruit rind and grapefruit bitters. The result was a refreshing drink that would be a perfect to sip on a hot summer day.

A North Carolina native, Johnson made his first moonshine run at the age of 14.

After years in the family business, he was convicted in 1956 on a charge of producing illegal liquor. He served 11 months in federal prison and was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. It was the decades of running moonshine that led to Johnson’s career as a racecar driver. Johnson provided the NASCAR Hall of Fame with a full-size, authentic moonshine still that he built for its displays, even helping the museum's exhibit team assemble it.

Troy Ball of Troy & Sons Distillers in Asheville wants to remind people that there was a long tradition of moonshine before NASCAR. She says her family's company was inspired by circuit-riding preachers in the 1800s that brought spirits in addition to the gospel.

Troy & Sons moonshine came to market in June 2011 and won the 2011 silver medal at the New York International Spirits Competition. It is velvety smooth, with vanilla oak undertones and a natural, almost chocolate-like sweetness on the palate. Ruppert combined Troy & Sons with macerated pumpkin and seasonal spices for her Pumpkin Potcheen (potcheen is another word for moonshine). The vanilla and pumpkin combined for a warming and satisfying creation that would be ideally suited for sipping in front of a fireplace.

Ball, originally from Texas, moved to the North Carolina foothills in 2004. She and her husband Charlie have three children, two of them with extreme special needs, and the couple also founded the Thoughtful House Center for Children (now the Johnson Center) for children with autism and other developmental disorders.

Ball's Asheville neighbors welcomed the newly arrived family with homemade moonshine, and Ball began to wonder if there were commercial possibilities for a high-quality spirit.

She uses heirloom Crooked Creek Corn in her moonshine recipe. It's a non-genetically-modified American corn that has been grown on the McEntire Farm, just a few miles from Asheville, for more than 120 years. Last spring, Troy & Sons joined partner Oscar Wong, founder and owner of Highland Brewing Company, and their distillery relocated to the Southern Railway Warehouse, site of Highland’s tasting room.

Troy & Sons has developed a following in Asheville restaurants – both the Biltmore and Grove Park inns are customers, and the Tupelo Honey Cafe makes a Bloody Mary with Troy & Sons, infused with jalapeño and bacon. Charlotte restaurants like Halcyon are not far behind. Terra Restaurant on Providence Road has an entrée dish of grilled sausage, served with mushroom ravioli and finished with an apple chutney moonshine demi-glaze. Gallery Restaurant, at The Ballantyne Hotel, serves a small plate of black-walnut-smoked pork tenderloin that’s been marinated in Junior Johnson cherry moonshine. It was a North Carolina Best Dish winner for 2011.

Back at Halcyon, the Popcorn Sippers are taking a break and all have various moonshine cocktails to sample. "We get straws!" they exclaim. "We're used to drinking 'shine out of mason jars!"