Joe Baker

“Moonshine Family Tradition”

Joe Baker loves the Smoky Mountains, his family and tradition. From the moment that Joe was born, the Great Smoky Mountains have called him home. He and his family are in love with the mountains, nature and are appreciative for all that it has brought them.

Baker, like so many of us born in East Tennessee, grew up with stories of family moonshiners. The Baker family, after all, is from the Sevier County, an area of East Tennessee where moonshining was a way of life. So, it comes naturally.

Despite his love of the outdoors and home, Baker went off to college to the University of Georgetown in D.C.  for his undergrad and returned home to the University of Tennessee to obtain a Law degree. He then stayed in Knoxville and began a successful law practice, but moonshining was still in his blood.

So, in 2009, when the State of Tennessee legalized moonshine, Baker decided to take one of his family traditions (and moonshine recipes) to rest of the world. That decision took Ole Smoky Moonshine LLC from a family tradition to a company that now controls 40% of the moonshine market.

“For anybody on the outside looking in, it looks easy. It’s easy to see this as just a wildly successful business that anybody can do, but I think the more realistic assessment would be: Damn, that’s hard,” says Baker.

Baker, his wife Jessi, and a small ownership group started Ole Smoky as quickly as they could following Tennessee’s legalization of moonshine. When they did, Baker says that they wanted to do it differently than most traditional distilleries. They wanted it to go hand-in-hand with the Smoky Mountains and focus on a “meet-n-greet” approach to grow their business.

This approach worked well with tourists and seeing that the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited park in the United States, that approach turned out amazing results. Ole Smoky has grown into a distillery that receives 4.5 million visitors a year! The most visited distillery in the U.S.!

“I was ready to be happy with growing the distribution into all 50 States,” Baker said. “I had no idea it would grow into 30 countries.”

Despite all the growth, the business additions of Yee-Haw beer and the 2022 purchase of Ober Gatlinburg, Baker still loves playing second fiddle to the national park. And he’s okay with that.

When I interviewed Baker, he let me know that at the heart of all his business ventures are people and the communities in which they exist. From Jessi Baker, whom Joe says none of his successes would have been remotely possible, to the employees and customers at any of the sites where Ole Smoky is celebrated and sold, its people. They make Ole Smoky what it is today and what it will be in the future!

And in case your wondering on Joe’s favorite moonshine…….Apple Pie.

Contributed by: M. J. Jacobs, Knoxville, Tennessee

Ole Smoky’s Moonshine Line

Ole Smoky’s 100+ Proof Moonshine Line Including Original Moonshine, Moonshine Cherries, Blue Flame and WhiteLightnin’

Ole Smoky’s Flavored Whiskey Line

Ole Smoky’s Whiskey Line Including Tennessee Blended Whiskey and Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Contributed by: M. J. Jacobs, Knoxville, Tennessee

References

Joe Baker Interview- Michael Jacobs interview of Joe Baker on Jan 13th, 2023.

Volunteer Spirits - University of Tennessee College of Law (utk.edu) article