Sacha and Billy open one of the boxes of Golden Rule coins.

Billy’s great grandfather, Jesse Shwayder, never missed an opportunity to attribute the success of the iconic American brand Samsonite to the Golden Rule. He even went out of his way to communicate this deeply held philosophy in a very special way as mentioned in this TIME magazine article from 1965.

The world’s largest manufacturer of luggage is named after the Bible’s powerful Samson. Its president has a name to match: King David. The firm’s official corporate philosophy is the Bible’s Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”* All company officers and salesmen carry a marble encircled by a gold band on which the Golden Rule is printed, take it out for inspiration when they have a business decision to make.

This philosophical approach — wedded to some pragmatic business practices—has paid off handsomely for Denver’s Samsonite Corp. The firm now accounts for more than a quarter of all U.S. luggage sold, and its sales last year reached a record $55.9 million. Last week, as orders from vacation-bound Americans flooded into Denver, Samsonite raised its 1965 sales estimate from $60 million to $64 million.

Last week, a package arrived with a very special coin inside that will come with every bottle of our authentic Tennessee Moonshine, Short Mountain Shine. They’re Golden Rule coins bearing the moon and the stars, and we hope they shine a little light into your world.

Sacha and Billy open one of the boxes of Golden Rule coins.

Billy’s great grandfather, Jesse Shwayder, never missed an opportunity to attribute the success of the iconic American brand Samsonite to the Golden Rule. He even went out of his way to communicate this deeply held philosophy in a very special way as mentioned in this TIME magazine article from 1965.

The world’s largest manufacturer of luggage is named after the Bible’s powerful Samson. Its president has a name to match: King David. The firm’s official corporate philosophy is the Bible’s Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”* All company officers and salesmen carry a marble encircled by a gold band on which the Golden Rule is printed, take it out for inspiration when they have a business decision to make.

This philosophical approach — wedded to some pragmatic business practices—has paid off handsomely for Denver’s Samsonite Corp. The firm now accounts for more than a quarter of all U.S. luggage sold, and its sales last year reached a record $55.9 million. Last week, as orders from vacation-bound Americans flooded into Denver, Samsonite raised its 1965 sales estimate from $60 million to $64 million.

Last week, a package arrived with a very special coin inside that will come with every bottle of our authentic Tennessee Moonshine, Short Mountain Shine. They’re Golden Rule coins bearing the moon and the stars, and we hope they shine a little light into your world.

Ben talks colors with Mike for the ’51 Chevy’s paint job.

We’re all just a little jealous. While some of us will be making moonshine, Billy, Ben and Christian will be touring the state of Tennessee later this Spring in this sweet ’51 Chevy pickup truck.

And what could be more fun than driving around in a ’51 Chevy selling our moonshine!? Mike says he put in a 305 roller out of a 25th Anniversary Camaro. I guess that ought to do it … if we were bootleggin’ it.

Homemade moonshine is often proofed by “checking the bead,” shaking it to see the size and duration of bubbles.

Most people around the world know Tennessee for two things: country music and whiskey. They kinda go together if you think about it. Since a change in state law allowed more distilleries, whiskey’s spirited cousin promises to put Tennessee moonshine on the global map.

Ole Smoky plans to open second distillery
Ole Smoky Distillery, a Tennessee-based moonshine distillery, plans to expand operations and open its second distillery in the Smoky Mountain town to meet the demand for its products. Ole Smoky co-owner Joe Baker said he and Chuck Edwards have purchased Legends Restaurant on the downtown Parkway and will make different spirits at that site.

More moonshine distilleries in the planning stages:

‘Full Throttle Saloon’ TV star plans to open distillery in Trimble
Ballard, the star of the wildly popular reality series “Full Throttle Saloon” on the truTV network and successful business owner, received permission from the Trimble Board of Mayor and Aldermen to open a 9,000-square-foot moonshine distillery at the eastern end of South Main Street, where a cotton gin once stood.

Tennessee has a few moonshines on the market in addition to Ole Smoky. Collier and McKeel’s White Dog is a traditional sour mash recipe of corn, rye and malted barley used to make their aged Tennessee Whiskey. Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey uses a recipe of a third generation Moonshiner that lived and distilled his moonshine whiskey in Cocke County. Corsair offers Wry Moon Unaged Kentucky Whiskey and Pumpkin Spice Moonshine and Prichard’s Distillery produces Lincoln County Lightning Whiskey.

At Short Mountain Distillery, we just received federal label approval for our first moonshine: Short Mountain Shine, a 105 proof authentic Tennessee moonshine. It’s made using a family recipe handed down for generations made with organic corn and spring water from our farm.

Jeff Schuler snaps a few photos of Josh Smotherman, Short Mountain Distillery’s Head of Production.

When our welder saw all the lights being set up Friday he joked with Ricky that we were going to make him famous. I told him he better get Ricky’s autograph while he can.

If it weren’t for a final piece of compliance I would have had all three of our moonshiners fire up the still right then just to warm us all up. The temperature in the shiner’s shack must have been close to freezing, but once the shiner’s took their jackets off for photos and the stories started flying, the room warmed right up.

Friday was one of those personal moments of pride after looking through the photos and seeing and feeling the history we are about to make together. I can’t wait for you to meet these living legends of our state’s whiskey making heritage.

Crane’s eye view compliments of Jeff Schuler.

The crane operator said this is the baby crane after slapping close to 37,000 pounds of counter weights on it this morning.

It didn’t take much for the baby crane to lift our chiller and boiler over the roof of the still house before the cold front blew through. These huge pieces of machinery are the muscle of our distillery, and like all of our major equipment, they were manufactured right here in the United States.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Over the past year, we’ve shared at least a book’s worth in posts and photos as we built our first still house, but this one really says a lot about how far we’ve come.

Our core team defies all the odds, both private and public. We made deep personal sacrifices. We changed the law. We worked through the necessary compliance and permitting. We put our friends and neighbors back to work and helped bring back something they call manufacturing. And in a matter of months, we’ll export our heritage and our pride to the world.

That still, the still house, the people, the whiskey… none of it would exist like it does if it wasn’t for many of you showing up last year and voting to change the law and make it happen. You trusted us. After a year of hard work, we’re ready to deliver.

Over the next two months, you’ll see us work to fire up the stills and bring into the light the magic of a centuries old craft handed down from generation to generation. You’ll see the old ways come back to life, the ups and the downs, but mostly we hope you’ll see our shared pride.

The parking lot is coming together. It’s space for about 40 cars. We could probably park a few more if we had to and if it wasn’t muddy.

In the video, John Whittemore takes the roller on a short tour through the parking area before more crusher run arrives.

There are twelve new trees here: 8 Crepe Myrtles and 4 Dogwoods.

Y’all know I’m not one to start fights, but what was said in this video clip from the short-lived Moonshiners dramatization about one of Tennessee’s more famous moonshiners, Popcorn Sutton, just ain’t right. But as author Max Watman pointed out on Facebook, there was a lot not right with that hoax of a show.

Let me start by saying I never knew or met Popcorn Sutton, and it’s sad that he took his life given the options he had to elevate the craft of whiskey and moonshine making. That said, someone has clearly told Popcorn’s widow a few white lies.

“We have a distillery set up in Nashville, TN.” Popcorn Sutton’s widow Pam says in the video above. “We can’t legally call it moonshine. We have to call it Tennessee White Whiskey, and also Popcorn’s liquor is the first White Whiskey that the federal government has approved.”

It’s not a big secret that Popcorn Sutton does not have a distillery in Nashville. They are using another company’s federally registered distillery, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that.

Maybe Jamey Grosser knew Popcorn well enough to know he didn’t care what Jamey called it, but it’s perfectly legal to call it what it is: moonshine. Google it. Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine, Original Moonshine, Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Moonshine, Georgia Moon Moonshine, and our very own Short Mountain Shine – Tennessee Moonshine.

Despite what Pam was told, Popcorn’s recipe is hardly the first to call itself “White Whiskey,” a term that simply means they ran it through a barrel fast enough to convince the federal government that it’s whiskey. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s be honest. We all have Google.

Read also:

• Who Makes Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey? And Why Call it “Wild?” – Rowley’s Whiskey Forge
• Moonshiners dramatization passed off as reality TV – Christian Grantham

One of the Southern most mountains in the Appalachians (Middle TN’s highest point) is now properly represented on the Appalachian Quilt Trail. And by “proper,” we mean with moonshine, but it probably doesn’t count as much as having this big beautiful quilt tile painted locally by Diane Mooneyham on one of our barns. That’s Diane’s husband Kevin way up there on the ladder.

Kevin had some special help from Short Mountain Fire Dept.’s Brad, Michael, Skylar, and Chris. We love our neighbors!

If you’re traveling the trail through Tennessee next Spring, don’t forget to stop by the still house behind the barn and learn how they’ve been making moonshine on Short Mountain for over 150 years.