I get asked this question a lot. What is the difference in Rum, Whiskey or Moonshine. The process for all three is basically the same. The difference is what kind of ingredients you are using.
To make whiskey it has to be some kind of grain. That would be like rye, barley, corn, wheat or a combination of them
To make rum it has to be made from Sugar cane. That includes molasses. Rum is probably the easiest to make because the sugar ferments a lot easier than grain does in whiskey.
To make moonshine it could be made from most things but typically the main thing is corn. On tv when you see them putting in all the fruit and sugar in the mash and then running it through the still they are technically making Brandy. Moonshine normally gets flavored after it comes out of the still.
Tequila is made from Agave. In the USA we can make tequila but we wouldn’t be able to call it tequila. It comes from a little town in Mexico called Tequila.
Rum and Whiskey helped build this country, moonshine was a popular thing during prohibition. People couldn’t make whiskey and they couldn’t get any money for their corn so they started making moonshine. At night in some counties whole mountainsides would be lit up with moonshine stills. The distillers would make their spirits with the light of the moon, determination and the need to feed and clothe their families. Making moonshine was a way to keep their way of lives going.