Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey distillers in the US, Stranahan's is said to have "kicked off the Colorado distilling craze" with its whiskey and the designation it invented, Rocky Mountain Whiskey. It was Colorado's first microdistillery, and the state's first legal distillery since Prohibition. The first batch of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2006. Stranahan's was sold to New Jersey-based Proximo Spirits in 2010, with operations remaining in Colorado. By 2012, Proximo had increased whiskey production from around 12 barrels per week to 30, with plans to grow into the high forties. Stranahan's was sold in 38 states and 7
Moonshine by country of distilled spirits typically consists of taxes. With the availability of cheap refined white sugar, moonshiners can make saleable product for a fraction of the price of heavily taxed and legally sold distilled spirits. Some people also use moonshine alcohol for herbal tinctures. The number of jurisdictions that ban alcoholic beverage sales has steadily decreased, which means many of former moonshine consumers are much nearer to a legal alcohol sales outlet than before. Many legal distilled beverages, usually neutral spirits or corn whiskey, with names evoking moonshine exist, such as Onyx Moonshine, Virginia Lightning, Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey, Ole Smoky