Driving the Drink: Part 3 of 3

Nice and LegalIn the early 21st century, New Yorker Joe Michalek moved to Winston-Salem in North Carolina. Homemade moonshine was still distributed at tailgate parties and music festivals from the back beds of pickup trucks and SUVs. It went by names like busthead can and stagger soup. The penalty for manufacturing this “white whiskey” (not aged) was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, "like a speeding ticket," as former bootlegger Junior Johnson calls it. At a blues fest, Michalek fell in love with an apple pie 'shine, and did his level best to replicate it.He failed, but his defeat became one of the sweetest moonshines around. With the only legal still in North Carolina, Michalek created Piedmont Distillers and released his first product in 2005: Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine.The exact ingredient list of Catdaddy is protected. It smells and tastes of nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon, like spiced rum or egg nog. But according to Piedmont, none of those elements are included. The tiny company (eight employees) revealed that Catdaddy is a corn-based whiskey (90-95%, with a little wheat bran and malt barley) that's triple distilled. The final run is through a copper still and then infused with a blend of spices in very small batches.The result is smooth and sweet, tasty neat. Nearly every woman who tries it falls in love at first sip. It also mixes well as a robust and sweet spiced rum, and top chefs like Susan Feniger of STREET (Los Angeles) or the crew at Baby Blues BBQ in West Hollywood have discovered that Catdaddy goes great with or even a part of foods like BBQ marinades, caramel sauce, or French onion soup.In 2007 Michalek approached NASCAR legend Junior Johnson to join the rebirth of moonshine. Junior invested in the company, became part owner, and brought back his dad’s old ‘shine recipe, now called Midnight Moon. This time, all the taxes are paid. Midnight Moon is high-powered shine, even at 80 proof. Drinking it straight will raise your roof, and it mixes very well and sometimes even better than vodka.The appeal of moonshine, and companies like Piedmont, is the attraction of American ingenuity. This is us, making great stuff, despite business or legal resistance. Europe has the history of absinthe, Scotland has Scotch. Moonshine is the Wild One of U.S. spirits.Not all states carry Piedmont products, but California does. Catdaddy and Midnight Moon retail for $20-$25 a bottle, and can be found in most liquor specialty stores.There are drunk driving cases, if you want to protect your rights just contact Orange County Dui Attorneys.