Southern Spirits

Standing on the porch of the Swag House, a mountaintop inn above Waynesville, North Carolina, I’m struck by the grandeur of my surroundings: the towering trees, the handsome rough hewn–log cottages, the ancient mountains giving way to the gathering night.

Johnny Baker’s hillbilly accent is as authentic as the moonshine his family has been making for generations, and he uses it to marked effect as he entertains tourists at their Gatlinburg distillery. “We are making coooorn liquor—moonshine,” Baker says, stretching out the vowel to emphasize the appeal of a distillate with a shady, complicated past.

On a hot Nashville morning, Charlie and Andy Nelson walk through a distillery that is at once brand new and steeped in history. The gleaming copper still, tasting room, and retail shop are the...

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Southern Artisan Spirits creates its beverages by combining traditional distilling methods with unusual ingredients.

Keith Nordan and Chris Hollifield, producers of the award-winning Carriage House Apple Brandy, opened Carolina Distillery in 2008. Here's how to mix their hooch.