American Born Moonshine brand range launched

American Born Moonshine is a new family of Moonshine products from Windy Hill Spirits of Nashville, Tennessee, which will be available in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and California.

An unique, eye-catching package design that has a bold, prominent shelf appearance commensurate with the new spirit’s premium quality and smooth finish, was asked of Saxco International, a global packaging specialist for the wine, spirits, beer and food industries. “Our role was to assist with the all- important packaging aspects of the American Born Moonshine brand and help to create a distinctive design with an overall attractiveness using all American components,” says Jimmy Owens, new product representative and category manager for craft spirits, for Saxco International. Owens worked closely with the Windy Hill Spirits brand development team and was able to manage the tight turnaround time schedules, while staying within the project’s budget parameters.

Saxco got the project started by developing a private mold traditional looking, classic American mason jar with a heavily embossed “American Born” shoulder which was produced by Piramal Glass, of Park Hills, Missouri. The jar was used for all three American Born Moonshine flavours-Original, Apple Pie and Dixie.  In addition, Piramal Glass supplied three different six-jar lithographed and laminated antique wood cartons imprinted with a snake logo and the words ‘Don’t Tread On Me’.

One of the unique aspects of the project was the development of the closure for the mason jar – a custom food-grade thermoplastic synthetic silver coloured lid from C & N Packaging, of Wyandanch, New York. The top was further customized with a tee-top cork pour spout inserted into its centre, an application by Paulson Supply, California. The custom tee-top was then over-fitted with a multi-colored tax stamp.

Windy Hill Spirits was founded in 2012 by Pat Dillingham, a former Notre Dame quarterback, and Sean Koffel, a former US Marine Corps Captain and Iraq War veteran. The entrepreneurial pair set out to bring moonshine whiskey to consumers that would ‘honour the tradition of America’s moonshiners’. Over the last decade, the two have been inspired by family moonshine stories and recipes shared by friends and fellow Marines that grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. While starting Windy Hill Spirits and American Born Moonshine, Dillingham and Koffel spent a year traveling the Appalachians and the greater South, spending time with families, hearing first-hand accounts of moonshining and bootlegging legends, tasting a lot of great moonshine and developing an enormous appreciation for the role moonshine has played in American history.

American Born Moonshine offers three flavours-- Original, Apple Pie and Dixie. American Born Moonshine Original is 103% proof, 51.5%abv, and is an un-aged corn whiskey made from a blend of corn, sugar and water. The recipe is high in corn content, yet still embraces the sugar to allow for a smooth finish. American Born Moonshine Apple Pie is made from a corn base with natural apple and cinnamon flavors and a hint of caramel. American Born Moonshine Dixie is the first sweet tea-flavoured moonshine. Dixie is made from a corn base combined with natural tea flavours. Both Apple Pie and Dixie flavors are 83% and have 41.5%abv. The average retail price is US$25 for all three flavors.

American Born Moonshine is produced and bottled in Nashville, Tenn. and all other elements of the product and packaging are made in the US, mostly in the South.

As the company builds on its foundation in the Southeast, plans are in place for a disciplined nationwide rollout of American Born Moonshine over the next two years. On its path to becoming a national brand, the company will be laser-focused on winning markets one region at a time, embracing the company’s fundamental belief of selling whiskey with a handshake.

“Our goal with American Born is to provide consumers with a truly authentic product that tells the story of these strong Americans,” says Dillingham. “We want to pay homage to those that have demonstrated the best American ingenuity and independence by making, running and selling moonshine whiskey in order for their families to survive during most difficult times in the history of our country.” In addition Koffel explains that it is extremely important to us that we honour the American Moonshiners of the last three centuries. “Making our product in the South, where moonshine tradition was born, will always be the core of our brand,” Koffel relates

23 June 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor