That’s probably the best way to look at it, and it’s certainly how our customers thankfully view it. The idea of selling out of Moonshine two or three times a week is still an unsettling feeling. Last week, we had to implement Moonshine rations (one bottle per customer) at the Stillhouse Store until we make a bigger release into stores. Our first shipment sold out so fast our distributor decided to wait until we’ve filled a massive order before another shipment.

Most of the thousands of visitors we’ve had since opening in April have a strong connection to Moonshine. We’ve got a great team making a great product and a wonderful brand that tells a story that belongs to many families in Tennessee.

Nothing beats seeing hard work so appreciated in so many different ways. Lately, it’s seeing how other people use our product, from co-branded cookies and cake to candies. Our Moonshine is showing up on menus. We even saw our product recently used in a funeral of a very dear friend and huge fan of our authentic Tennessee Moonshine. It’s been nothing short of amazing to feel such a deep and powerful connection with customers.

I haven’t submitted our product to contests yet, but I’m so proud to see it next to the hard work of other new Tennessee brands now emerging that share our state’s rich whiskey making heritage with the world. There are big things on the horizon for whiskey lovers in Tennessee thanks to the energy and vision of some truly remarkable people who I look forward to working with more and more.

I’m certainly not the first person to infuse bacon into alcoholic beverages. A quick search led me to a number of very informative posts by fellow bacon lovers who all seem to use roughly the same process called “fat washing.” Here’s how Southern California mixologist Don Lee describes it.

The fat is actually what makes this infusion possible. Fat is non-polar, while drinking alcohol (40% abv) is mostly water and thus polar. This prevents the fat from being dissolved into the alcohol. The alcohol itself (ethanol), however is both polar and nonpolar, allowing water to be dissolved into itself as well fat soluble compounds. What this means is that flavorful compounds from the fat will transfer into the alcohol while keeping the fat itself separate. This, combined with the higher freezing point of fat v. low freezing point of alcohol makes it possible to solidify the fat in a standard freezer and easy to remove.

Lee uses 1 oz. of rendered bacon fat in a 750ml bottle of bourbon. It’s the same recipe Jacob Grier says PDT uses in New York. You may be confident that you won’t screw up a whole 750ml bottle of bourbon or moonshine. I’m not. So, here’s my recipe that should make at least six cocktails.

Bacon infused Moonshine and Bourbon:

• 4-6 strips of thick hickory smoked bacon
• 6 ounces of bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon) or moonshine or both

Cook the bacon and collect a tablespoon of rendered bacon fat. Pour it into 6 ounces of bourbon or moonshine and let sit for two hours. This is probably a larger ratio of bacon to bourbon or moonshine than other recipes, but I love bacon. You can shove the bacon in your moonshine or your mouth or both. I did both.

After the bacon flavor has been taken by the spirit, pour into a plastic cup and place into the freezer until all the fat solidifies. This may take a few hours. Remove the fat, filter and serve neat or in cocktails that are complimented by a smokey (smokey maple bourbon) flavor.

They’re pink, blue and white and represent a good year’s worth of ignoring television and Twitter.

This isn’t all of the permits required before we can legally sell our authentic Tennessee Moonshine, but combined with the others they ought to get us from Memphis to Bristol without too much worry about going to prison. Now if we can keep the ’51 Chevy pickup under 70MPH as we travel the state, we should be fine.

God Bless America, and God Bless the Shine.

Jeff Schuler snaps a few photos of Josh Smotherman, Short Mountain Distillery’s Head of Production.

When our welder saw all the lights being set up Friday he joked with Ricky that we were going to make him famous. I told him he better get Ricky’s autograph while he can.

If it weren’t for a final piece of compliance I would have had all three of our moonshiners fire up the still right then just to warm us all up. The temperature in the shiner’s shack must have been close to freezing, but once the shiner’s took their jackets off for photos and the stories started flying, the room warmed right up.

Friday was one of those personal moments of pride after looking through the photos and seeing and feeling the history we are about to make together. I can’t wait for you to meet these living legends of our state’s whiskey making heritage.

These really wanted to be donuts. I found this recipe for Bourbon glazed donuts that pretty much read my mind, except the part where I don’t have a donut pan and the thought that this recipe is a little light on the bourbon.

Here’s my slightly modified version turning them into stunted cupcakes. It makes 12 donuts if you do it right. I used a cupcake thing and came out with about 15 adolescent cupcakes.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. Mix all the dry ingredients. Mix the milk, eggs, melted butter and 1/4 tsp. of bourbon. Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Pour a pitiful half an inch or so into each cupcake thing.

Cook the donut cupcakes for 8 minutes, then check and realize you probably need about 4 more minutes. I did. I could tell because when I lightly pressed the tops I saw batter.

While this is cooking, make the Bourbon glaze by mixing 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup real maple syrup and 1/4 cup heavy cream, about 1/4 cup of bourbon. It makes way too much, but you can taste it a lot and probably save it.

When the donut cupcakes are done, get a glass with a few pieces of ice and pour the remaining bourbon in the glass. Let the cupcakes cool and then drizzle that bourbon glaze over them and eat a few with the rest of your bourbon.

Bobby Self brought his combine and a couple of friends to the farm today and helped us shell about 300 bushels of our first organic corn. He had already finished his harvest, and like most neighbors he wanted to do what he could to help us get our first batches of whiskey and moonshine going at Short Mountain Distillery.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not humbled by how much people are connecting with what we’re doing on Short Mountain. They want to help because they want to see our country get back to work. They know we’ve gone out of our way to make sure our equipment was made by our friends and neighbors right here at home. They see our shared values and our determination in action. Most importantly, they see America’s story.

I want to invite you to connect with a growing community of neighbors and friends who are ready to help export to the world a genuine taste of Tennessee’s rich agricultural heritage. Join us on Facebook and be a part of our shared dreams and aspirations at Short Mountain Distillery.