The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-10
THE BEST OF ALL WHlSKEY.
IT sHoUtD BE HAND MADE SOUR
MASH AND DISTILLED IN WoOD.

Some Think II should Also he Free From
| Revenue Taint-At Least That Ia the
| Theory of an East Tennessee Noun
| taineer who Produced Unapproachahls
| Nectar-somo Old Blackwoods Stills.
"Thc hest whiskey in the world Is genuine
hand made sour mash distilled in wood. and
never allowed TO touch more metal than the goose
neck and the worm" man who should know
said the other day. Il know. because was raised
in dstillcry. Not one Of your flaming com
mcrcial whiskcy Trust affairs, but one that had
individuality and a pride in its brands My
father owned IT, first and last he owned some
thing like a dozen distilerics The one that made
me whiskcy wise was big log affair. set down In
| wooded fat beside picturesque tumbling little
| creek and spring Of tho finest clear water in
the world.
That meant something, let me tell you. The
winter that goes into the beer leaves it's mark on
the subsequent whiskey. We had fairish sized
steam engine Tor grinding. pumping, and 80 on.
II also heated water Tor the mash. and later did
the distilling. We had Atty odd mash tubs and
three beer watts whose capacity was 1900 gallons
| A bushcl and halt OF coarsely ground meal
: went into each 81 the tubs; wet thoroughly
! with scalding water then mixed and kneaded
, and pounded with the mash stick. a wooden i'm
plemcnt with a straight handle and q square
open Slated blade. The mixing took both knowl-
/ edge and muscle. After IL was done the tubs
were left until tho next day. The mash in them
! crusted over 80 hard that I sometimes amused
| myself by stepping nimbly from one tub TO on
other without breaking through the crust
"The next morning the mash was broken up
| in cold water To form sort Of thin cruel. Then
, the tubs were emptied into the vat and the Cruel
dosed literally with yeast and ground malt We
! made our own malt from corn, letting IL sproit
then drying and grinding 1t. Sometimes We
put in also a few handfus Of ground rye. Very
occasionally We had some OF the malt Of com.
meroe. For the most part, though. our whskey
| was AZ strictly home made "a hand made
"Thc beer stood two days In the vat before dis.
tling. Right there comes in the thing which
| makes sour mash much OF a CONNIE rcial i'm
| possibility. For sweet mash distillng the meal
| In mixed in the vat by machinery and goes ~ tho
! still very shortly after. Thus IL Is possible 10
keep filling the watts fast as they are empted
| and to make continuous runs from the stills. The
same thing might BE- done with sour mash but
II would take an awful lot Of space aud watts and
things u dot
My father had had copper stills and all sorts
81 boughien ones world withou, end lie had
used them 10 good purpose, too, and ought To have
been satisfied with the result-his whiskcy always
held the top ~ the market-.bu, somehow he
| wasn't So when an old fellow a half vagrant.
ct him into moonshining secret. he posted
straight off 10 East Tennessee toHhnd out II the
'aefah' had spoken 'he uu'h' nc ola icNow
n"u N''' ''''' ''i' "''uh'o'' ineh naa way o'
| ulsuiiing III hol""ed logs Inc ART mad come
down 10 lhem from 'he very earliest days when
oherr were only uaiis across inc mountains ana
! no poSsohty o' bringing III AWNING IKE q resu'
lar still Then the settlers had contrived these
timber stills using un.barrcls for the worms.
and making goose nccks from shrcds and scraps
| oil un"hfe' lie hdueu 'ha' 'ho unbcr SUI WAS
ye. tho m consumer reliance IL was not easily
hidden, but was also readily replaced when de-
stoyei' ANY hNeF teh'" c"u4d scoot on win
inc worm AMI goose neck II the re'enuers came
down anu they were really the only 'binRs esson'
ual TO sueh an "u'ht
WELL slt' We i"uah mat INC half had not been
told as Father took me along Wei both thought
| Ne knew whiskcy when We tasted It, To this day
| h.y. p,x,, d,unL IN. match IN ub,, va. ,,.n
=. u, w., 80 hi',S 49,, -, w.. =, 10 80
| US III u oS mouse HiEh UP ON ono OF 'he ohIuh
III, never chen smelt or revenuer,' said the man
who sci /, ont. A lean. lanL. s,i,,Iod old fellor
shrrwdeScd, YET kindly lie WAS Mason: ~
was my father Otherwise fancy, should
a"s rn Wv" .,n y ""'' VIC No '"
eN"fS'hihS' me sun was mol IN cave as some
,no,inr Inr chin rh, "n IN. h.rr II ,hp c,e.n
.,, y - ~ :, 50 49,. $3.50. ' 80,
n.V %e ,na 1900 " h,s .hom.a ,ho PIT,
v.,. plcn,v of ,nzor. hacks within sound ~ IN,
- - " $50
horn ~ Was the fashion 10 cali hogs there upon
long wooden trumpet Trumpet notes, how.
ever hoarsc did not. YOU sec, sueres, awning
- " my 'i''s
pu' hoES 10 he rc'chuers Neihef din Inc cabin
itself wear an illicit aspect Indeed, it was pic,u
,.s,u.ly commanded, with . I,,,I. ,sre.d I..n
U.s., ,.i, ", "'", eeu ron
10 al "n' cha' anu VIII vine spawning over the
front door IL was about twenty feet SQUARE,
with the l,gs only skcIr,d I'm, VI, so,p ,,urd
W., ,,,., a., -. ~, 4, ,' w
out mat the master OF II was Also master OF Jim
Der working.
"'I h,v,I and ,d,.d en- n,.t,y r,,,.h Ill r
~. 49,, - 49, ~ 100 "'"vi n" my
sell ne said "heh We examined the STILLS proper
Beyond question he had done a good lob
sFi,st n, had CHOSE, IN. bivr,., ,,s.s IA. could
A.. - Wv 80 - -. '"u'o
nhh' lhey must nave measured eight loot through
in the rough. From these he had sawed sections
| poth,ps Twelve feet long and brw.d the,, fan,
'"f -. ~, ,,, e' ~ " ~ "'" ''"'
saua,' y" q MY inc Sun,a,T 'nuecu mas nearly
hs sni'Sih a. ~ " Tau perh paheu linen from
sehch ne nnu anHu Hul huEr cup shape trough
a,rps. W We r'ihIi" haNhg ,hc si,'cS perhaps
nv lhChcs Hi'h. rnI one ol Ihcn ne hau Also
ncNn oul a n'aNy unlOtr CDNtt' eNocuy itung