Where it all began… Terry Gibson
Growing up in Toronto’s Cabbagetown during the 50’s exposed Terry to a variety of cultural influences, and the ‘backyard business’ of making corn whiskey. Sundays, when wives and mothers took younger brothers and sisters to church, the scent of sweet corn would float over the fences from owner-constructed sheds where kettles “cooked” their fine golden liquids of corn meal and sugar – the traditional ingredients used for corn “whisky”. Terry could often be found standing over 10 gallon stainless pots from the local steel-ware factory, stirring paddle in hand with specific instructions to “keep the liquid moving” and “Yes…..it’s okay if it thickens…..keep stirring until it starts to thin….and oh! … don’t stand too close to the fire.”
Thermometer readings were recorded meticulously, some “backyard brewers” adding their “secret” ingredients “just to make mine a little different” and all was a curiosity to young Terry… especially when an ingredient used by his Mom in making bread was added, cast over the mash, a job he was never allowed to do but nonetheless watched with particular fascination as the gentle bubbling preceded “Stand back….let’s get this pot off the heat”.
Lids were placed loosely on this cooling “brew” and a week later the process of filtering and “cheese clothing the mash” for every ounce took hours, repeated over and over until only a perfect milky fluid remained. Then his Mom’s pressure cooker would appear with one end of a 10 foot copper coil inserted into the lid, the remainder coiled and run through a bucket of ice, its end protruding just above the bucket’s bottom and the process of “distilling” had begun. Our boy wasn’t allowed to stick around “for your own safety”.
To give the neighbourhood a break over the Summers, Terry was shipped off to Cape Breton to his father’s air force buddies’ cabins finding himself well accepted and appreciated for his growing skills in the art of “Shine”.
And it was here that he learned the refinements to traditional methods handed down for three hundred years through the descendants of immigrants from the Yorkshire area of England, the origin of “moonshiners”. Some of the finest bourbon recipes in Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas can trace their roots back to these techniques.
Moondance is distinct from typical American products as it is made using corn, wheat and barley. The results are a smoother, sweeter flavour with more character and an alcohol content well below “scary”. MOONDANCE can be mixed in place of your favourite spirit for a distinct and “Clearly Yours!” result.
MOONDANCE Premium is MOONDANCE Whiskey Corporation’s first contribution to the beverage alcohol industry. Great stuff for a really good time!
Quick Summary
Developed with rising star Ben Murphy of Murphy’s Law Distillery, Elmira, Ontario, MOONDANCE is a ten times distilled, triple charcoal filtered corn mash spirit several notches up from moonshine and is the first offering of its type made in Canada.
MOONDANCE is an alternative and complimentary choice to vodka and other clear spirits, enjoyed both neat and in mixed cocktails.
MOONDANCE can be purchased at participating LCBO locations or to be delivered to your nearest location. Contact info@moondancewhiskey.com for availability. All necessary trademarks are registered to MOONDANCE Whiskey Corporation.