This is the story of the most visited distillery in the country. …and it’s run by a pair of former beer guys. Both CEO, John Cochran and VP of Sales, Michael Bender were responsible for brands over at Pabst, now their specialty is Whiskey.
Old Smoky Moonshine is a family owned and operated business that started 2015 officially in all 50 states. Last year they sold 250,000 cases of moonshine. They were in Chicago recently as part of a rollout that is seeking to expand growth and distribution in the Chicago area.
Recently we met at Timothy Otooles to catch up with the crew and discuss their plans for our fair city.…here are some excerpt from that conversation.
CBG Nik So for those who don’t know, tell us what moonshine is?
John Cochran (Old Smoky CEO) It started during Prohibition, It’s un-aged corn whiskey.
CBG Nik: Im glad you cleared that up. A lot of people think its Everclear.
John Cochran No Everclear is made mostly from wheat. It’s super high proof, like 90% abv but almost tasteless because it’s all alcohol.
CBG Nik: Is there is much difference in the way your moonshine is made now compared to back then?
John Cochran The moonshine coming off those rigs in the hills is somewhere between 130-135 proof, there was a lot of variability back then. When you make things legally, much like beer, you have to make things to a certain specification because that’s what you pay taxes on. The craft and the assets are the exact same as back then. This is a 100-year-old recipe made of 80% corn, then wheat, rye and barley. Traditional shiners would use corn and some horse feed because it had molasses in it. . . which turns into alcohol faster. We make this in small batches. The fermentation lasts for 3 days. Then we run it through a 750-gallon still. We operate very small and batch it out at only 300 gallons at a time.
We proof it down with good ole Tennessee water until its 100 proof. It’s more palatable that way and great in cocktails or for some folks to drink it out of the jar.. The most traditional version is our White Lighting. If you take that and lay it down into a good barrel for 4-7 years it turns into bourbon. When it comes out of that barrel, if you run it through a maple charcoal filter you can call that Tennessee Whiskey. So Jack Daniels for example, it’s aged in a 4-season barn for 4 to 7 years in American White Oak Barrels, that’s the biggest difference. We don’t age our moonshine in barrels, it is the precursor to bourbon.
CBG Nik: What’s your top selling variant so far?
John Cochran Our top selling product is the Apple Pie Moonshine. It’s only 40 proof or 20% abv., the same goes for our Blackberry Moonshine. Our number 2 SKU is the Moonshine Cherries, a jar filled with 50% cherries and 50% moonshine. Eating 3 cherries is the equivalent to a shot.
CBG Nik What’s the process for making variants?
John Cochran For the Apple Pie we take the Shine and put it in a cooker with apple cider, apple juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and a lot of brown sugar. We use Blackberry juice to proof down the Blackberry Moonshine.
We don’t use whole fruit in each jar produce, we put it into a cooker to create a batch. After that we proof it down with water. This is the customary method of the Appalachian Mountains. They didn’t distill the fruit like you would in say a brandy. They would mix the fruit post fermentation with the moonshine.
CBG Nik Do you have a favorite moonshine to pair with beer?
John Cochran With beer? Many accounts are serving a Black Light, a shot of Blackberry Moonshine in any light beer.. I like a shot of the Blackberry with nice Belgian Wheat Ale or a lager, those flavors compliment each other well..
tasting lineup for our meeting
CBG Nik Lets talk about the Chicago rollout. What is the plan for this area?
Michael Bender (VP of Sales) We’ve got a mobile team that’s very entrenched in the bar scene here which is why we’ve done so well in on-premise accounts. We’ve been building organically here for a while.
It’s been decided that this year we are going to put our flag in the ground here and make Chicago moonshine central for the northern plains. The plan is to create partnerships with bars that you wouldn’t consider as traditional moonshine territory. Places like Wicker Park and Logan Square, a half dozen other big neighborhoods where there’s a strong, young drinking culture.
We’ve got 15 different flavors, but here we are really focused on 5 that make the most sense. . Apple Pie, Cherry, Blackberry, White Lighting and then what’s turned out to be a dark horse for us – Hunch Punch.
CBG Nik Hunch Punch?
Michael Bender It’s an 80 proof fruit punch. Folks that are unsure about moonshine grab this with club soda and quickly become fans.
John Cochran I like it with ginger beer and a lime. Bartenders can make them quick too. Its not complex, super busy bars don’t want to spend 6-8 minutes on a mojito.
CBG Nik Have you considered barrel aging any of your moonshine offerings?
John Cochran We have Charred with Harley Davidson, its aged in bourbon barrels at 135 proof for 6 months and we proof it down to 103. It’s a very young whiskey product launches in March.
We also have a distillery only product called the Blue Flame.
CBG Nik I dig that name.
Michael Bender Blue Flame is 128 proof comes in a blue jar and you can actually run your Harley on it. We only sell it at the distillery.
John Cochran It’s a clear liquid. If you take a shot of it and you light it, there’s this flame with a gorgeous blue cone hue on it. So we call it Blue Flame.
Michael Bender If you light it, you’re actually burning the alcohol off of it, which I think is a complete waste.
complimentary tastings at the country’s most visited distillery
Gatlinburg,Tennessee
bluegrass and country music daily
John Cochran It warms the shot up and gives it a smoother, sweeter taste. It still finishes hot, it’s 128 proof so there’s no getting away from that.
CBG Nik Tell me about the family that produces this moonshine.
Michael Bender That is an important part of the story. The Baker Family are our principal founders and East Tennessee natives, they have been making this product for 150 years. We’ve only been doing it legally for about 4.
John Cochran If you ask these guys how long they’ve been making moonshine, they first question back is, legally? or illegally?
Joe Baker started making moonshine as a preteen. His cousins, Justin and Jason are our Master Distillers. Joe’s dad and uncle also both work for us, its generational, good nepotism. These guys have been doing it all of their adult lives.
CBG Nik So you guys are both former beer guys right?
John Cochran We both worked for Pabst. The owners wanted to move the business from Chicagoland to LA. They hired me in part because I was already there. In 2010 the business was declining so many of the Chicago employees were let go.
Michael Bender Back then I ran the Midwest for John including Chicago. In the last 20 years that was the most fun I’ve had. Being the PBR guy in Chicago and Milwaukee? We had a relationship with the Cubs, I was the Old Style guy as well. It was a fantastic business, and really fun.
CBG Nik PBR is a weird cultural phenomenon around here.
Michael Bender We had had 37 brands that we were actively brewing at any give time, but Pabst Blue Ribbon was 45% of our market. The other big brands in our portfolio were Old Milwaukee and Colt 45.
CBG Nik Colt 45!
John Cochran We sold 10 million cases of Colt 45 a year back then, it was a beast.
CBG Nik Jesus Christ! Billy Dee Williams was the man back then.
Michael Bender On premise Old Style still outsold PBR in Chicago.
John Cochran It was a good run and PBR was an animal that’s is hard to describe.
CBG Nik Outside of Gatlinburg,Tennessee what are some of your biggest cities?
Michael Bender Nashville, LA San Fran, Chicago is a powerhouse. Indianapolis and the big cities in Ohio have also been good for us.
We now sell the brand in all 50 states and to all branches of the military. They are really one of our best customers. Last year South America, The Caribbean and Mexico.. Most interesting for us that Europe is gravitating toward it, specifically Sweden. It’s the number 2 selling American whiskey in the entire country.
CBG Nik Dude what is with Sweden? Brooklyn Brewery’s top account outside of Boston and New York City is Sweden!
John Cochran Its funny you say that. Our broker is the guy that took Brooklyn Brewery to Sweden. He lives in San Diego but he grew up in Sweden. Those guys import casks for Sweden, Finland and Norway.
Originally we shipped 3000 cases of the original (White Lighting) over there. Now there taking orders the original for Blackberry and Apple.
open 364 days a year
CBG Nik You guys recently just opened an impressive new distillery.
John Cochran Yep , We call our newest distillery The Island, it’s geared towards tourism, it has a Ferris Wheel.
The Island on Pigeon Forge was built in October. It’s run/ rate revenue is half of the original location. That’s great because it just opened.
Michael Bender Our original location is the most visited distillery in the entire world.
John Cochran On a good year Jack Daniels gets 500,000 visitors. We get well over 2 million annually. We had 300,000 visitors in the month of November.
CBG Nik Why do you think that is?
John Cochran We’re 200 yards from the opening to Old Smoky National Park. We’re a community at the entrance to that park. 4 million people a year go through that entrance.
We’re in the heart of the great, artisan community at the entrance of the park. It is the must visit spot for an entire day when you visit. We’re open 10a -11p , 364 days a year.
There is free bluegrass country music and complimentary moonshine tastings in the courtyard. People come at noon and stay the entire day.
Down on The Island at our second distillery we aren’t that far from Dollywood, the biggest amusement park in that part of the country. People from Ohio, Illinois and Indiana come down often.
You should come down! We are building out 3000 hotel rooms. It’s the size of a casino, without the casino.
CBG Nik Whats the nearest city to fly into down there?
John Cochran Fly into Knoxville. It’s 45 minutes from there, only 20 miles.
CBG Nik You guys saw 30% sales increase in Illinois last year. What are the contributing factors to that type of growth spurt?
Michael Bender. People are gravitating toward our product the same way you see a growth in bbq places. It’s a good fit, it’s Americana, it’s southern culture with a progressive twist.
John Cochran There’s a bit on intrigue as well because it was illegal for so long. People like being a little bit naughty. Nearly 35% of our business comes from women. You can be naughty without getting completely crushed.
CBG Nik That’s important.
John Cochran White Lighting has been distilled 6 times. It’s a product with a very clean taste profile. You’re getting 25% more alcohol and its got more flavor. Many accounts are using it to replace vodka and rum. If you were to make a martini or even a margarita with this it’s a lot more fun then just a well vodka.
Michael Bender People try our product and love it. So many recipes just work well with it. An Apple Pie Moonshine Martini with Stoli Vanilla shaken with sugar and cinnamon on the rim and Moonshine Cherries added. Manhattans made with Blackberry Moonshine, Jack Daniels and a shot of vermouth. Blackberry Moonshine & Lemonade/ Peach Moonshine & Iced Tea.
These are all simple basic, user-friendly cocktails that taste great!
–Nkosi
