Green’s Dictionary of Slang

usu. of liquor, illicitly distilled.

1875		E. King Southern States North America 478: Producing from his pocket a flask of ‘moonshine’ whiskey, [he] invited us to drink [DA].
1886		Century Mag. (N.Y.) Jan. 432/1: He had a moonshine apparatus over on Sweetwater [DA].
1896		Morn. Times (DC) 26 July 19/6: Hundreds of people buy their whiskey ‘cheap.’ They know it must be the moonshine product. But they wink at the price.
1896		Spout Spring Times (KY) 30 May 1/1: A band of women white caps broke open a moonshine still near Hindman.
1905		N. Davis Northerner 221: There are three or four hundred men there, armed, and drunk with moonshine whiskey.
1913		H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders (1922) 200: Of course this was moonshine liquor.
1923		N. Anderson Hobo 97: He usually returns to work Monday morning after such visits, sick from the moonshine whisky.
1931		W.N. Burns One-Way Ride 5: Moonshine liquor he sold openly across his Burnham bar.
1947		Chicago Daily News 22 Oct. 10/6: The moonshine works was found in dense woods on the reservation near Thurmont [DA].
1959		H. Salisbury Shook-Up Generation (1961) 74: This is also an area of moonshine whisky, cheap synthetic liquor made from industrial alcohol in tenement back rooms.
1972		Jimmy Rogers ‘Sloppy Drunk’ 🎵 And I love that moonshine whiskey and I’ll tell you what I do / The reason is why I drink, I’m just trying to get along with you.
1987		‘Joe Bob Briggs’ Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 15: Whatever they put in those things works like moonshine tequila.