Moonshine is coming out of the shadows in Floyd, Virginia. The homemade whisky was and still is illegal. Nonetheless, moonshine has a long history in this area; before, after and during prohibition in the 1930s. The first legal micro-distillery will soon open in Floyd, giving new life to an old spirit.
"This comes from our heritage so it fits for us make Floyd County moonshine which Floyd county has been famous for, for a long, long time."
Kerry Underwood is a well-known figure in Floyd. Owner of Oddfellows Cantina and part owner of the Republic of Floyd general Store, his family has lived in this area since the 1780s.
"We’re going to do what we consider a traditional moonshine which will come in around 100 proof."
Traditional in most ways except for the fact that a recent change in Federal law has made microbreweries and distilleries legal. No longer a covert activity, if it ever really was much of one around here
"The culture in these mountains, is you know most people’s family made some type of whisky. It’s always been something hidden back in the back woods but it’s something they could be proud of and talk about."
And this is something of a family business, Underwood and his wife, business partners with Jessica Taylor and her husband are bringing back this building which had been falling into disrepair here on Floyd Highway since the 70s
"It was the old waterworks building and it would pump the water out of Dodd’s creek then it would treat the water and pump it to the town."
They’re transforming the sturdy concrete and steel facility into what will be a working distillery where you can watch the process. There’ll be a tasting room, a kind of history museum from pre to post bootlegger days --and thanks to a change in the law; you’ll be able to legally buy Moonshine here.
"There’s tons of read tape you have to go through the federal permitting process. We were pretty lucky ours went through pretty quick. Typically it takes around 6 months to even a year. We got ours in 30 days."
There’s a handful of micro distilleries making legal moonshine in Virginia. Hundreds more out west in places like Colorado and Oregon. And that’s what got Kerry Underwood to thinking.
Kerry Underwood: It just kind of came over me and it was partly because I was aware it was being done elsewhere and I thought well why wouldn’t we do this here in Floyd. We are part of the heart of where it all began .
Underwood says an old time Moonshiner, now a consultant on the project, told him he still can’t believe making corn whisky like this is actually allowed.
"He told me he thought he was going to die before he could ever show any body this craft because it was illegal."
Not only is moonshine now out of the shadows it will soon be on the major thoroughfare in town -- something it’s owners believe people will leave highway 81 to come see. They plan to hire a few people and create a high quality corn whisky that will sell for around thirty dollars a bottle under the name Five Mile Mountain Distillery.
"Five Mile Mountain quite often ran -- That’s the way they moved liquor up and down the mountain was down that way and Shooting Creek as well. And some other roads but those were the two main routes."
And before there were laws about it, you know that old time moonshine could be a powerful brew.
"That’s basically where Nascar came from is moonshine cars that on Sundays they would get on a dirt track and race each other."
Plans are to open in the next few months and sell to liquor stores in Virginia and beyond. But Underwood may not be able to offer it at his Oddfellows Cantina, a restaurant and bar. This is not dry town, but Floyd prohibits the sale of hard liquor by the drink. A ballot question asking whether to change that ordinance is on the ballot in Tuesday’s election.
