We Ask Marketing Director Stephanie Moraine about National Moonshine Week June 1st – June 7th starring Ole Smoky Lemonades

National Moonshine Week is right around the corner (June 1-7) and Ole Smoky Moonshine is putting its roots on display through a weeklong campaign filled with cocktail inspiration, giveaways, and good old-fashioned Southern charm.

Chilled chats with Marketing Director Stephanie Moraine about National Moonshine Week and must mix Ole Smoky Lemonades.

Tell us about Ole Smoky and the history of Moonshine

Traditionally, moonshine has been a catch-all term for any illegal alcohol, and particularly unaged spirits. Moonshining was extremely popular during the Prohibition Era because it could be produced and sold quickly without spending months in barrels. The backwoods of Tennessee became a hotbed of moonshine production using corn mash as the main ingredient. Today, moonshine is legal and sold globally, but it maintains its heritage and down-home roots. Ole Smoky Moonshine is Tennessee’s first legal moonshine, made in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains from a century-old recipe.

In 2009 Tennessee law changed to allow the legal production of moonshine. Ole Smoky’s founders saw this as an opportunity in their hometown of Gatlinburg and opened the first legal moonshine distillery in East Tennessee in 2010. The team started with a 100 year-old recipe that had been passed down through generations of local families.

With Gatlinburg’s location in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited national park in the country, Ole Smoky quickly grew as a tourist destination for millions of visitors who were looking to experience the once illicit spirit. Since its founding in 2010, Ole Smoky has expanded beyond moonshine and now has a full range of flavored whiskey, premium straight bourbon whiskey and a line of ready to drink cocktails.

Tell us about National Moonshine Week & the inspiration behind it.

Moonshine is a spirit with rich American history and National Moonshine Week is a way for Ole Smoky to celebrate that legacy and share it with the world. We’re bringing this holiday to life so others can enjoy it as well!

We’ve developed a 360-marketing campaign to bring National Moonshine Week (June 1st – June 7th) to life for the fourth year in a row. We will have point of sale material featured in stores and bars around the country as well as messaging pushed out on our social media channels to drive awareness of National Moonshine Week. This messaging will help get consumers excited to celebrate and will also include an option to enter the sweepstakes with a grand prize VIP trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

A QR code will be used to drive people to our dedicated National Moonshine Week microsite where they can enter the sweepstakes, find moonshine lemonade cocktail recipe ideas & purchase Ole Smoky moonshine merch. Not only will consumers have a chance to win a fantastic prize, but they can also get inspired to celebrate the day in bars or at home!

What should bartenders know about NMW?

Our team will be out in full force to bring National Moonshine Week to life at bars and restaurants, our distillery locations and off premise accounts throughout the country. We want everyone to celebrate this special week that’s a nod to our history!

Our cocktail focus for National Moonshine Week will be Moonshine Lemonades. Just pick an Ole Smoky Moonshine product and mix with lemonade! Great products to use are: White Lightnin’ Moonshine, Blackberry Moonshine, Strawberry Moonshine & Hunch Punch Moonshine. These Moonshine Lemonade cocktails are easy for consumers to make & enjoy at home as well as for a bartender to create and serve. It consists of 2 oz Ole Smoky Moonshine, 3 oz Lemonade. It’s delicious, refreshing and easy to make!

Talk to us about how you’re celebrating at your distillery locations.

We’ll be celebrating National Moonshine Week at our Holler distillery location with the following:

A limited-time Lemonade Stand which will feature moonshine products (Blackberry, White Lightnin‘ and Strawberry) on display along side lemonade kits for purchase (includes cooler, mini lemonade, branded mason jar, pour lid)
A Pam Sutton signing on 6/1 from 2-5
A band, The Wellington, playing at the Holler on 6/7 @ 8pm

Tell us about the OS Moonshine Lemonade Cocktails.

We want to bring the taste of Tennessee to National Moonshine Week celebrations across the country with Ole Smoky Moonshine Lemonades. The goal is to transport your taste buds to the peaks of the Smokies with every Ole Smoky Moonshine Lemonade. Crafted for those craving a twist on tradition, our lemonades are not only easy to make but irresistibly refreshing. Grab an Ole Smoky Moonshine product and mix it with lemonade!

Give these Moonshine Lemonade variations a mix:

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