Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/701904
Now in its second year, the Masters of Moonshine competition challenges bartenders across the country to produce a cocktail using one Ole Smoky expression. Last year's finals, held at Preux & Proper in Los Angeles, featured Blue Flame, the 128-proof moonshine, and L.A. resident Tony Pereyra came out victorious with his Help is on the Way cocktail, which celebrated the fall season. Building on the inaugural year, the finals for this year's competition will take place at Tales of the Cocktail (TOTC) in New Orleans. The regional semi-finalists from Philadelphia, Nashville, Dallas and Cincinnati were chosen in April and will have the chance to bring home $5,000 in July by mixing their best concoction with Apple Pie. Dana Dixon, the 2016 Master of Moonshine Nashville semi-finalist, decided to go simple with her creation: "At my bar, no one wants a super-fancy cocktail. They appreci- ate something that they can make at home. They also love that Ole Smoky is authentic and from Tennessee; even people who don't know about moonshine ask about it because they see the colorful Mason jars behind the bar. People will drink it for the first time and try to buy bottles from me. People keep coming back for it!" Will the people of TOTC clamor for her Ole Smoky Moonshine drink as well? If you will be attending this year's festivities, you can help decide the winner by casting your vote at the Ole Smoky Moonshine tasting room, running from 3–5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20 in the Royal C & D Tasting Room at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. May the best Master win! The Holler, Ole Smoky's Gatlinburg moonshine distillery, packs the house with live bluegrass per- formances from the likes of the Soggy Bottom Boys, featuring Dr. Ralph Stanley. It also holds square dances in the autumn. work, so we built simple, well-done cocktail and shot programs for bars to use. We have seen success with national on-premise accounts by focusing on these fundamentals. We also discovered that some markets are more open to Southern culture; we call it the Moonshine Corridor, but that doesn't mean we are confined to that area. As the public becomes more aware of the category, it will be interesting to see how it grows." At The Holler, as you belly up to one of the tasting bars and experience a lively walk- through of the samples, you can witness moonshine enlightenment for yourself. As guest after guest puts a sample of Ole Smoky to their lips, a curious look washes over their face—it's one of surprise and delight. One that we imagine will continue to pop up all over the country as the fog lifts from the moonshine category. Tony Pereyra, the 2015 Master of Moonshine, and Dana Dixon, the 2016 Master of Moonshine Nashville semi-finalist. MASTERING Moonshine july 2016 / the tasting panel / 59