The moonshiners
Bootleggers preferred to manufacture their own alcohol or steal it from other bootleggers in order to hold down expenses, which as has been seen were considerable. But there was another source of illegal liquor available in the United States which had been illegal for years, manufactured mostly in the Appalachian Hills, by distillers trying to avoid taxes. It was high-proof liquor, distilled from corn and other grains, and could be cut with water and flavored to create other beverages, such as liqueurs and cordials. It was and is called moonshine, because the distillers often worked their stills under the light of the moon.
The large urban bootleggers were at their worst in Appalachia, desirous of the product, but unaware of the customs and traditions of the hills. After purchasing the moonshine it was delivered to shipping points by family members or friends of the moonshiners, if not the moonshiners themselves, paid for in cash. Once in the hands of the bootleggers it was shipped to their warehouses where it was used as the base for several different beverages which appeared in the northern speakeasies as Scotch, rye, bourbon, or even, if properly flavored, as brandies of various types.
Because it appeared on tables and bars as being something other than what it really was, moonshine did not become popular in the north during Prohibition, though much of it was sold there. The bootleggers did little, if anything, to extend their protections to the moonshiners, who often were forced to deal with local sheriff departments on their own, as well as the tax collectors with which they had always contended, known to them as revenuers. Although most bootleggers were forced to find other ways of making a living after the repeal of Prohibition, most of the moonshiners continued to distill illegal whiskey, as do many in the twenty-first century.