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Bartenders, cocktail enthusiasts take a shine to unaged whiskey
Unaged whiskey, commonly known as moonshine or white dog, is pushing its way into the mainstream and shedding its illicit connotations as bartenders incorporate its bold flavor into classic drinks.
Cocktail aficionados praise the young spirit's versatility and assertive flavor profile, and guests are intrigued by its rough-and-tumble reputation.
"A lot of people do come in saying 'I heard you have moonshine,'" said William Davis, manager at Cochon in New Orleans. "I think people come here for it."
Cochon's Boss Hogg cocktail uses Midnight Moon, a spirit that bills itself as "Carolina moonshine" with cucumber-flavored vodka, watermelon juice and limeade.
"Since the summer time it's become one of our highest selling cocktails," he added.
The restaurant also serves several other unaged whiskeys, which Davis said adds to the restaurant's Southern identity.
The word "moonshine" may conjure up images of stills hidden deep in the mountains producing rough, unrefined and illegal spirits. Even the Boss Hogg cocktail at Cochon is a wink and a nod to the fictional villain from television show, "The Dukes of Hazzard," who illegally distributed moonshine, among his many criminal exploits. And the Midnight Moon used in that drink was developed by Junior Johnson, a NASCAR legend who got his start in fast driving by running moonshine for the family business.
But the spirit is gaining legitimacy as more distillers, in particular craft and boutique distilleries, are bottling and selling their own unaged products.
"It's very much a new phenomena," said Max Watman, author of "Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw's Adventures in Moonshine," a book detailing the history of moonshine in the United States. "There is a whole new segment of the population drinking and experimenting with white dog, and it certainly is very prevalent among the geeky spirits crowd."
"The definition [of moonshine], in fact the very existence, has...