cascode
Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine Original
White — Tennessee, USA
Reviewed
October 29, 2022 (edited January 20, 2024)
Nose: An instant hit of ethanol, faint vanilla, a twist of lemon peel … and not much else.
Palate: Ethanol with overtones of popcorn, acetic acid and acetone. The texture is slightly oily and not that bad.
Finish: Short. Surprisingly citric.
The nose was unexpected. I thought this would just have the bland aromas of vodka with maybe some corn on the sides, but it was a bit more interesting than that. It does have the sweet vanilla presence that is characteristic of vodka but there is also a mild citrus hint. The palate follows on in the same manner and the finish just trails out into a peppery citric flavour.
Not as bad as I thought it might be, but nothing to praise either. I thought it was adequate but overpriced and I'd never consider buying a full bottle.
The only valid comparisons for this moonshine are against another moonshine or vodka. I have not tasted any other corn moonshine so I can’t form an opinion there, but in comparison to vodka it reminded me of the Citron Absolut vodka I tasted here a while back, but on the whole I thought the vodka was better.
Not horrific, and come the apocalypse when I’m reduced to drinking moonshine distilled from rotten fruit in my own jury-rigged still I’ll probably look back at this with longing … but not before.
Tasted from a 50ml official sample. A full bottle of this costs AUD$86 and I'll be chuckling at the absurdity of that for days to come.
“Adequate” : 72/100 (2 stars)
86.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@cascode I admire your courage, this was by far the worst spirit I have ever tasted.
The profile of Ole Smoky fits your description so I guess it is legit new-make white corn spirit, although technically not real illegal “moonshine” of course. I’ve not tasted new-make corn spirit before but I have tasted genuine malted-barley moonshine (warm from the still at around 130 proof, in fact) and it is not at all like the corn spirit. It’s all herbs, green apple and funky spices on the nose with tinned fruit salad and a yeasty quality on the palate. It’s illegal to run a still in Australia without a commercial licence, so of course I didn’t make this myself ;-)
The only true moonshine I’ve ever tried was given to me by my uncle, who got it from a from a local jailer in Tennessee, who confiscated it from someone… the popcorn note, salty and sweet, and the odd citrus note were there though… almost like a high proof tequilla