In the mountains, local law enforcement and police don`t care much about moonlight investigations. As long as someone is not outrageous and sells it to children, law enforcement has better things to do than hunt down the elders who hunt down smugglers. Tim, 54, is a third-generation moonshiner from Climax, Virginia, who became legal seven years ago. Otherwise….. THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHOW, without a doubt and from bottom to top! “This was my chance to show the world what real moonlight should look like. The Beardwood & Co. team understands that Climax Moonshine must stay true to who I am. The packaging shows what makes my Moonshine special – my story, my hometown and my dog Camo,” said Tim Smith, founder of Tim Smith`s Climax Moonshine. To legally sell moonlight, you need to register your distillery and prove that you comply with brewing and sales regulations. Unfortunately, it takes money, time, and effort to complete the process and run a legal business. For many moonshiners, they learned to do moonshine based on the knowledge of generations. They do not have the resources or the inclination to adapt their production to the strict standards required for a legal operation. Chuck and his wife, Jeanette, founded Belmont Farm Distillery on their Virginia farm, made moonlight, and continued a legacy from his grandfather, who in his time illegally mined moonshine all the way to Northern Virginia and Washington DC.

Chuck remembers his grandfather as a dairy farmer. At the end of the day, it`s a secret that producers don`t want us to know. I suspect most moonshiners will tell you that they present their authentic self to the world. But the ego and I are strange and moody things. “We also created bespoke panoramic illustrations for each brand`s interior, with different scenes from Tim`s world, including Camo showing her working with Tim and his legendary moonlight surgery,” adds Loren Clapp, Design Director, Beardwood & Co. An individually perforated shipping box becomes a showcase of products in retail. The shipper`s pages show scenes from the inner label and serve to extend the story beyond the bottles. I watched the show from day one when Tickle fell off the roof and broke his ribs. Tim discovered the extreme cost of legalization. People are right, but as long as taxes are paid, they are pretty much left alone. The only thing that amazes me is that the forest health department cannot go down the throat to keep the product clean and safe, but on the other hand, they use new pots and it is cooked to make it sterile. I live in Ky and one day I will go south or east to meet some of these guys and find out what`s real and what`s not.

I`m sure there`s a lot of staging, but regardless, these guys are mountain boys. Don`t worry much about the time he tries to talk and be more professional than him. Master distiller I think they`re running out of ideas these days. But in 2014, after more paperwork, the government finally relented and approved this missing piece of the moonlight tour. Now, each tour ends with the proper tasting of the cherry pie or apple pie in the moonlight. From time to time, at election time, you will see a good game of chance or a moonlight flash. The rest of the time, however, the moonshiner really has to do something else. In fact, the only reason Tickle was arrested was possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Do we still believe that someone who brings an exotic item to Rick`s pawnshop just arrived from the street? Have we ever found it strange that whenever “American pickers” arrive at someone`s home, even on “surprise visits,” the owner is completely micro? So if the moonshiners in the series get the right permits and pay the proper taxes, they can walk around the forest and make as much corn alcohol as they want without ever breaking any laws.

Bartholz & Co. (www.beardwood.com) are problem solvers that connect brands with people on a human level. Beardwood & Co. consists of strategists motivated by creative potential and designers inspired by human ideas, focusing on branding, insight, advertising and innovation. The top-notch team has won long-time clients including Coca-Cola, Westin Hotels, Bath & Body Works, Colgate-Palmolive and Sperry Top-Sider. He pioneered the recent wave of moonlight mania, which shows no signs of slowing down, and he clearly appreciates the notoriety associated with it. It`s a role he was born to do. The license to obtain from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms took a few years, but in 1988 it became the first legal moonshiner in the United States. The term moonshine originally referred to illegally produced alcohol in general. However, moonshine is now considered a certain type of grain alcohol.

It is actually best described as whiskey, given the process used to make it. However, where whisky usually matures in barrels, Moonshine is consumed relatively fresh. You can also age in the moonlight, although it is not made in barrels, so it does not get the same color and flavor. Like most alcohols and spirits, the main ingredient in moonshine is grains, especially corn. Corn is made into corn porridge through the standard brewing process and then fermented to produce alcohol. I had the pleasure of working with Chuck and his wife, Jeanette, while working in tourism development and marketing in this part of Virginia. Belmont Farm Distillery is one of the most popular tourist attractions, and visitors travel from all over the world to see it for good reason. My dad made spirits and I love the show, but some things are not possible that these guys so officially bottle up Moonshines Moonshiners Tim Smith`s Climax Moonshine in their Belmont Farm operation.

Chuck estimates that the distillery now sells about 10,000 cases – 120,000 bottles – a year. Moonshiners is back for his new season, but don`t expect so much outlaw antics, especially from Tim Smith. Tim Smith is just one of many Shiners who are regularly featured on the show. Like the others, he used the show to explain and dramatize the moonlight tradition. However, Tim decided to shift gears and focus more on making moonshine through legal means. He recently partnered with Belmont Distillery to create Climax Moonshine, his own glossy brand that is completely legal. Moonlight may no longer be secret, but Tim still clings to tradition. Its moonlight is distilled in pots and made with corn, as it always has been. According to Tim, the lifestyle change has been good, although she has her own problems. Belmont Farm is also the only distillery in the United States that grows its own grain. Millers grow their own maize on the farm, harvest it, grind it and distill it until final bottling.

These are people who make a representation that is a version of themselves. Probably pretty narrow versions of themselves. It`s also important to note that what makes moonshine distillers illegal in the past is not the illegal nature of whiskey cooking.