7 Super Southern Alcohol Traditions

Royce Neeley's first still

Trying to define Southern alcohol traditions can be tricky. The South is not a monolith — just ask any barbecue fan what the “right” way to make barbecue is. But there are a few traditions that seem universal. Burying a bottle of Bourbon upside down at your wedding site 30 days before your wedding is one that seems to happen all over. As the lore goes, you bury a bottle at your wedding site, dig it up and drink it on your wedding day, and you’ll have clear skies for your wedding. It’s such a fun tradition that there’s even a new customizable bury the Bourbon kit available! We asked Southerners and Southern transplants from Kentucky, Georgia, and Virginia for their thoughts on Southern alcohol and drinking traditions.

Bourbon Balls & NASCAR

Bourbon balls

In the South, corn is king, so it makes sense that bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, and corn whiskey are at the top of the list of what Southerners drink. Every Southern grandmother has a coveted Bourbon Ball recipe, and there are some other surprising traditions, including the advent of NASCAR, which started among bootleggers who were adept at outrunning the law.

Hiding Bottles & Porch Drinking

Front porch drinking photo credit depositphotos

“Bootlegger roads and Baptist guilt,” says Doc Brown Farm and Distillers co-founder Amy Brown. “Southern alcohol carries what I call dual citizenship, rebellion and redemption. Before the big distilleries polished the stories, bootleggers were the South's first master blenders and logistics experts. Most went to church and were very active in all of the church activities, and as history tells us, most churches here in the South were built on moonshine and bootlegging money, which leads to the Baptist guilt. And it runs deep, not just about drinking it but actually enjoying it. There's this notion that pleasure needs permission, so we grew up feeling the 'guilt' of hiding bottles under the sink while serving casseroles at the Sunday night social, thus the reason tons of money was (and still is) donated to build the community churches. The other one that comes to mind is front porch drinking, whether it's a highball glass of Bourbon or a mason jar of something that 'ain't store bought,' porch drinking is less about what's IN the glass and more about WHO is in the rocking chair beside you, and the older I'm getting the more this rings true!!!”

Tailgating

Tailgating at Doc Brown Farm

“Georgia has a signature cocktail named after Georgia's most famous Southern Belle, the Scarlett O’Hara Cocktail,” says Doc Brown Farm and Distillers co-founder Paige Dockweiler. “It’s made with Southern Comfort, cranberry and fresh lime juice. I remember Southern Comfort being a staple in my grandparents’ home, my city grandparents. Also, I can remember like it was yesterday, watching my Dad take shots of whiskey then chasing it with water out of the water hose! HA! That’s how we rolled in South Georgia. There’s nothing like sitting on the tailgate of your pickup truck having a drink after a long farming day, this was my country grandparents.”

Running Liquor in Disguise

In disguise

“I have two stories from both my grandfathers to contribute,” says Doc Brown Farm and Distillers co-founder Daniel Williams. “On both sides in my family there are long lines of running bootleg liquor. On my mom’s side, my grandfather would tell me when he was really young there was a group of guys that ran liquor and “competed” with my great grandfather around the area. My granddaddy would say this group of guys would come flying down the dirt road and when they got to the house they would drive by and shoot at my great grandfather because he was selling in their territory. They would shoot back at these guys but I don’t think anybody ever got hit. My grandfather's brother Herman was the runner and would deliver it. I heard that personally from him about making runs. My grandfather Williams on my other side was the liquor delivery guy. His grandfather would make it and pack it into bags of fill dirt and they would deliver it to people’s houses on the weekends. His grandfather also got kicked out of Friendship Church for having all the deacons over and getting them all drunk!! Such funny history. I guess from the family history of running it to the guys that ran it up in Dawsonville, GA that eventually became NASCAR, that whisky is as southern as anything you’d find.”

Burying a Bottle

Bury the Bourbon kit

“The first thing I was thinking of was the tradition of burying a bottle of bourbon upside down 30 days before your wedding day,” says Neeley Family Distillery Founder Royce Neeley. “That's a definite southern thing. You're supposed to bury that bottle of bourbon upside down 30 days before your wedding day, and then if you do that, it's not supposed to rain on your wedding day. And then you dig the bottle up and drink it at the wedding. 

"Growing up in Wisconsin, I had no clue about the Southern tradition of burying a bottle of bourbon—upside down, no less—right at the wedding site exactly one month before the big day,” says Reservoir Distillery Director of Distillery Education Shelley Sackier. “Couples regularly send us pics of themselves digging up their buried bourbon, part of the folklore to guarantee good weather. In the far north, we battled winter with pine needle tea spiked with whiskey, a medicinal concoction I assure tastes better in legend than reality. Honestly, I’m thinking of adopting the Southern ritual—I’ll stick to the bourbon and magic shovel to keep bad weather at bay. Because honestly, I’d rather fend off soggy weddings with booze than choke down pine sap to soothe a sore throat.”

Drinking Moonshine Mixers

Moonshine Mixers

Neeley also shares that there’s a connection between Moonshine and Mountain Dew. Specific southern drinks like Mountain Dew and Ale-8-One, which were designed to mix with whiskey, with moonshine initially, and then became popular drinks. Ale-8-One is another one of them that's in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Mountain Dew originated in Tennessee. That's why the original one actually had a moonshiner on the front of it with his jug and the cork popping out. 

Pairing Moon Pies & Whiskey

Moon Pie

Neeley also shares, "I was also told back in the day that moon pies with moonshine, the coal miners, they would eat Moon Pies and then drink their whiskey. I thought that was kind of an interesting connection when it comes to the culinary side of it. What I was always told is back in the day, these guys would take them to snack on coal mining or whatever else and they started pairing that with their whiskey also. I think the use of running on the log was a pretty southern thing, too. It's blurred the lines now, but you know there were certain types of stills that were used in Eastern Kentucky with the horse head cap. Western Kentucky used the coffin still predominantly like Casey Jones still uses today. You saw those in the Land Between the Lakes region. You had turnup stills and submarine stills used in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively, and groundhog stills as well. Those are all pretty southern things. Whereas, as far as I know in the north, you're just looking at traditional alembic pot stills.”