Another legal moonshiner opens in Tennessee

The newest moonshine.

The continually expanding white spirits niche has gained another player.

The East Tennessee Distillery, the ninth distillery opened in Tennessee since liquor laws changed in 2009 to allow production, has opened in Piney Flats, TN.

It is producing and selling Mellomoon, a 100-proof unaged white whiskey.

Partners Gary Melvin, Byron Reece and Neil Roberson went into business to take advantage of the popularity of the white spirit in East Tennessee.

Melvin, who began as a home distiller, says "Everybody around here has got a recipe. They all really involve the same type of fermentables -- corn, rye, barley, sugar, corn syrup."

The newcomers are starting slowly -- one still and one product. But, with so many recipes floating around the region, that may change. Melvin notes his research into moonshine recipes has turned up some that date to the 1700s.

Of the nine distilleries that have opened since the law changed, about half produce moonshine. The first was Ole Smoky Moonshine, which is located in Gatlinburg.

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