“MOONSHINE”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20455, 7 November 1934, Page 5

“MOONSHINE”

Illicit Distilling Rare in Canterbury. SOUTHLAND’S HOKONUI BRAND. Since the passing of the Distillation Act in 1908 Canterbury has not gained a reputation as the home of unlicensed stills. Customs officials of long experience state that the case in which a Ilornby resident was fined £IOO for that offence is the first for many years. One official said that the inducement to manufacture liquor for sale in a licensed area was very small, and not worth the risk of a fine of up to £SOO or a sentence of two years imprisonment. Probably a good deal of illicit distilling had taken place before the passing of the Act. and even now there might be a few small stills in Christchurch operated mainly from curiosity, but the case which came before the Court on Tuesday was almost unique as far as Canterbury was concerned. An interesting fact mentioned by the Customs official was that, although licensed stills existed in New Zealand for the manufacture of naphtha and other chemicals, there were none for the making of whisky or other spirits. It was quite possible for anyone to apply for a license to operate a still, but manufacturing on a large scale was an expensive process. The distillation of whisky and other alcoholic liquors is not a complicated process, and in its simplest form requires comparatively little apparatus. The process consists of evaporating or volatilising the alcohol obtained by fermentation, and then passing the vapours to a condenser, in which they are cooled and condensed. The apparatus used in distilleries varies from the simplest form of a copper still and worm condenser to the modern fractionating apparatus. Primitive potstills are employed by some distillers, who claim that a certain characteristic flavour of their whisky can only be obtained in this way. Such are also used for illicit distilling, namely, making “ moonshine ” whisky.

Use of “ Worm.” The name “worm” is puzzling* to many people unacquainted with the art of distilling. It is the most important part of the still, and is actually the condenser used for cooling the vapours from the fermented mash. In its simplest form it consists of a length of copper tubing bent into a spiral shape. One of the most primitive types of still consists of a large kettle for cooking the mash, and the worm which is led under running water. The liquid -which drips from the “moonshiner’s” worm is very different from the smooth golden-brown product dispensed across hotel bars. It is a crude milky spirit, containing more or less undesirable alcohols, chieflv fusel oil (amyl, propyl and isobutyl alcohols) and unfit to drink. The distillate is sometimes purified by passing it through a bed or thick of ground charcoal or bone-black, which removes more completely the objectionable fusel oil. Too Much Fusel OiL “Moonshine” whisky is usually stored in a barrel for six weeks, but even the best product contains a proportion of fusel oil, which cannot be removed with the primitive apparatus at the disposal of the illicit distillers, and is raw and acrid to drink. Hokonui whisky, which gained its name from the hills outside Gore, where many stills were concealed in the early days of Southland, is perhaps the best liquor produced by the illicit distillers. It is a clear, almost colourless liquid, which many who have sampled it prefer, when at its best, to imported Scotch whisky. Hokonui whisky could be obtained in the Southland hotels a few years ago, and has been sold in Christchurch. Southland has always been famous for its illicit stills, most of which are said to be located in the Awarua swamp country. Police and Customs officials periodically make raids, but in spite of the heavy penalties inflicted on the law-breakers, distilling continues. Stills have played quite a part in the history of Southland province, and Whisky Creek is said to have derived its name from an early’ settler who distilled a particularly intoxicating liquid from the hearts of cabbage trees.