Consumers Take A "Shine" To America's First Legal Moonshine

MADISON, N.C., Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Distillers in Madison, North Carolina, creators of the first moonshine to be sold legally with recipes from the family of legendary bootlegger and NASCAR hall of famer, Junior Johnson, today reports that sales are soaring well past expectations. Coinciding with the recent opening of Piedmont's new distillery in Madison, the company has released its first public sales report.  During the first six months of 2012, Piedmont has sold over 100,000 six-pack cases, and according to the sales trends, is on-track to attain a major industry milestone of selling more than 250,000 six-pack cases this calendar year, a 200+ percent increase over 2011. 

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120208/CL50176 )

Piedmont Distillers was the first craft distillery in the United States to offer a legal moonshine in 2005. Their brands include Catdaddy Spiced Moonshine, Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon Original, and a line of six new Midnight Moon Fruit Inclusions.  All of Piedmont Distillers' moonshine is made in small, handcrafted batches from American corn and triple-distilled to deliver an ultra-smooth, clean tasting spirit. In the past year, the company's distribution has expanded across the United States and into duty free.

"Consumers literally cannot get enough of the new line of fruit inclusions," said Joe Michalek, founder of Piedmont Distillers. "We get e-mails from consumers all the time who thank us for taking the extra time and expense to make our handmade moonshine just like nature (and moonshiners) intended.  What makes the Midnight Moon line of fruit inclusions special is the fact that they are authentically infused in traditional moonshine jars with real, honest-to-goodness fruit.  No artificial colors or flavors.  All of the delicious flavor comes from the fruit itself.  We like to say, they are the only spirits available that taste like real fruit, because they are made with real fruit."

According to Joe Flock, vice president of sales and marketing, "The combination of the color from the real fruit and the traditional moonshine jar are really drawing consumers' attention. We've seen the proof in our sales as our case volume has been more than doubling every six months.  In many states, retailers are now stacking cases of Midnight Moon on the floor to keep up with consumer interest in this emerging category.  Recently, some of our distributor partners have begun to order by the truckload.  I have never seen anything like this in my forty years in the spirits business.  It's really something special."

Retail sales of Piedmont's brands are on pace to exceed $30 million in 2012.  To accommodate this growth, the company recently opened its new distillery in Madison, North Carolina; and just as they got it up and running, they ran out of capacity and have expanded the distillery twice since the beginning of the year, with a third bottling line scheduled to begin operation this week.  Since January, the distillery has doubled the size of its team and now employs over thirty people.  Based upon the volume growth, It appears that consumers have really taken a "shine" to Piedmont Distiller's line of handmade moonshine. For more information, please visit www.piedmontdistillers.com

About Junior Johnson   

Junior Johnson is a legendary moonshiner from North Carolina, who brought his family recipe to Piedmont Distillers in 2007.  The Johnson family's moonshine is considered to be the best.  Junior grew-up tending to the family's stills during the day and bootlegging 'shine at night. Johnson's incredible driving skills enabled him to stay two steps ahead of the revenuers. While never caught delivering his moonshine, Johnson was eventually arrested while firing up the family still. He served 11 months of a two-year sentence and then later received a presidential pardon from Ronald Reagan for his 1956 moonshining conviction. Junior used the racing and car building knowledge he acquired while bootlegging to become one of the most successful drivers and owners in racing history, culminating with his induction into the 2010 inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Johnson has been featured in a number of shows airing on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, CBS Sunday Morning, and various others, all highlighting his moonshining and racing skills.  He was the subject of Tom Wolfe's famous essay for Esquire magazine in 1965 titled, "The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Yes!", and the 1973 film, "The Last American Hero", starring Jeff Bridges.

SOURCE Piedmont Distillers