When Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) agents did a fly-over of Wilkes County in the 1950s, they mapped a moonshine still on nearly every creek in the county. One of those 50+ stills belonged to Willie Clay Call, nicknamed "The Uncatchable” by an ATF agent who chased Call as he ran his homemade hooch down the mountain in one of his infamous bootlegging cars. An optimized, juiced-up 1940s Ford that could outpace any race car, Call’s hooch hauler held as many as 130 jugs and jars of shine in its massive trunk.

This legend is simply one of many family stories passed down in the Call family, and barely scratches the surface of their history. Making moonshine legally and illegally is a Call family tradition dating back to the 1800s. That tradition continues today in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, not far from the Yadkin River at the Call Family Distillery, owned by The Uncatchable’s son Brian Call. And yes, it’s legal.

Preach and Distill

Call family lore maintains that their kin started making hooch before the Civil War. Daniel Call and his family were living near Lynchburg, Tennessee. A Lutheran minister, Reverend Call also owned a general store and made his whiskey out back with a little help from a young man named Jack Daniels.

"Jack lived with Reverend Call and his family when he was a boy," Brian Call explains. "He learned how to do the books and Reverend Call taught him how to make whiskey."

In 1868, they started the Daniel and Call Distillery No. 7, District #4, and legally sold their sour mash whiskey to folks in the area. But the Reverend soon caught some heat that had him wrestling with his better angels.

"The Temperance movement began and one of the women leaders of the movement looked at Dan and said, ‘You’re gonna go straight to hell selling that whiskey,’" laughs Brian Call. "So, he sold his part of the business to Jack Daniels, stuck to preaching, and that was that."

Though the Reverend was done publicly making and selling moonshine, the family recipe and process was passed on to the next generation.

Over the Mountain and through the Moonshine Capital of the World

In the early 1900s, a branch of the Call family moved over the Appalachian Mountains and into Wilkes County. From the 1930s-1960s, Willie Simon Call, Brian’s grandfather, used the family still and ran whiskey through what was then a dry county and out of the mountains into greater North Carolina. Even after Prohibition ended, Federal tax rates on selling liquor were so high that many moonshining families in the county, including the Calls, kept the operations off the books. Though illegal, running moonshine was a financial necessity not just for the Calls, but a lot of folks whose main income was tied to farming. Distilling corn into sour mash whiskey was a livelihood that carried many Wilkes County families through floods, low-yielding crop years, and the Depression.

In the 1950s, moonshine reached its heyday and received some notoriety when journalist Vance Packard deemed Wilkes County, "The Moonshine Capital of the World." Both Willie Simon and his son, Willie Clay "The Uncatchable" made and delivered moonshine in their 1940s-era Fords to Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Raleigh, and beyond.

This is around the time that the ATF spotter plane discovered more than 50 stills on creeks in the county and Federal agents started investigating its infamous illegal moonshine and bootlegger community. Eventually, it caught up with the Call men.

"Yeah, Granddad was caught in 1951. We got the mugshots," says Brian.

The Uncatchable eventually was brought in on a conspiracy charge in 1960 and spent about 18 months in jail. With the ABC board moving into Wilkesboro in 1965 and other industries taking off, moonshining operations scaled back. Willie Clay got into the cattle business as his main money-maker but continued to make moonshine, a trade he passed down to his son Brian.

Moonshine in a New Millennium

You can get a taste of the good ol’ days from a genuine good ol’ boy at the Call Family Distillery in Wilkesboro. Started in 2016 by Brian Call and his wife Laura, the Call Family Distillery is family-owned and operated–and using the same whiskey recipe since the late 1800s.

"Everything comes around full circle. The Reverend had a legal distillery, and then moonshine went illegal for a generation or two, and here we are making it legal again in the 2000s," laughs Brian. "I guess I’m paying the state back all that money from when Dad and Grandad ran illegal moonshine."

One part tasting room, one part moonshine museum, and all above-board operation, the Call Family Distillery has brought seven generations of moonshining to life. Three of The Uncathable’s moonshine cars are on display, including his favorite–a 500-horsepower 1961 Chrysler New Yorker painted Carolina blue. Visitors can get up close and view this enormous car and imagine how it once zoomed down backroads in Wilkes County, taillights out, and laden with gallons and gallons of moonshine.

On the walls hang pictures of the Call family and other moonshiners. Willie Simon’s original copper still is on display along with vintage tools that once shelled corn and ground it into cornmeal. The two lightning bolts on their logo represent illegal gone legal and are a wink to one of moonshine’s many nicknames: white lightning.

"That same sour mash whiskey recipe from the 1800s has been handed down and that’s what we do here at the distillery," says Brian. "I was probably seven when daddy taught me, and it’s the same way as his daddy taught him. We’ve got better technology, but it’s the same technique they used when they were damming up the spring to make it."

That technology includes a custom-designed stainless steel and copper, 2,100-gallon direct steam injection still that Brian designed. Lovingly nicknamed "The Bull," it is the largest direct steam injection still in North Carolina. Instead of working right off a spring, they now use deionized water to make sure the water is "just perfect" for the three-day fermentation process, but the ingredients remain the same: corn, malt, yeast, and sugar.

Belly up to the bar–fashioned out of one of Willie Clay’s whiskey barrels–in the tasting room and you can try some pretty smooth spirits that pay homage to the Call family history:

• Willie Clay Call’s The Uncatchable Sour Mash Moonshine will knock your socks off. It’s 101 proof of clear, true Wilkes County white lightning, just the way the Calls have always made it. It comes in a couple of flavors that may entice shine novices and veterans alike: apple pie, strawberry, and cherry.
• Willie Simon Call’s Peach Brandy and Apple Brandy will soothe your sweet tooth at 86 proof.
• The Reverend’s Forbidden Fire is a sweet cinnamon liquor sure to warm up even the chilliest of visitors at 70 proof.

Coming up for the Call Family, a release of a coffee liqueur and whiskey and expanding their distribution out of North Carolina. Brian’s son Austin has joined the team and is helping with the distilling and marketing. They also recently built an outdoor stage, the Mash House, that brings in bands from the southeast.

"It’s been an adventure and we’re doing really well," says Brian. "We’re excited to bring big bands to the area to help the community, restaurants, and motels."

Perhaps to be expected, Brain’s favorite part of the business lies in tradition.

"I like running the still, making the whiskey, and bottling it," says Brian. "My son is the 8th generation to come on board and is learning everything from the ground up. Getting to work with him every day is the most enjoyable part."

Visit the Call Family Distillery
1611 Industrial Drive
Wilkesboro, NC 28697
(336) 990-0708