Trivia Time! Ever wonder why there are always “X”s on the side of olde tyme moonshine jugs?
Believe it or not, there is a practical reason. Each one of those “X”s indicates a pass through the still. Each run strips more non-ethanol components out of the spirit, making it higher proof and making it taste “cleaner”; some might say stripping the flavor out though. It is a matter of taste. Either way, a triple distilled “XXX” jug o’ shine will be high proof and should be close to flavorless, but is usually just referred to as “the good stuff”.