In The News 24 September 2025

Paps Hilltop Distillery named American Moonshine of the Year at the 2025 USA Spirits Rating Competition 

In the USA Spirits Ratings competition, which took place in San Francisco in July, 2025, Paps Hilltop Distillery’s Copperas Mountain Corn Liquor won a Gold Medal and was voted American Moonshine of the Year, which is the ultimate seal of approval within the spirits industry. 

In order to receive this award, Copperas Mountain Corn Liquor needed to score highly in 3 different categories – Quality, Value, and Packaging – in a blind-tasting competition overseen by a panel of high-profile judges. In order to receive a Gold medal in the competition, a spirit needed to score at least 90 points as part of a total weighted score.

According to Sid Patel, CEO and Founder of event organizers Beverage Trade Network, “This innovative scoring system has been instrumental in identifying world-class spirits.

The judging panel consisted of spirits industry experts with extensive commercial buying expertise. 

“We are extremely pleased that Copperas Mountain Corn Liquor performed so well at the USA Spirits Ratings event,” said Christopher Lewis of Paps Hilltop Distillery. “Our goal is to handcraft a good product using Ohio grown grains. We are a small family-owned distillery in Bainbridge with big dreams. Winning a Gold medal and being voted “American Moonshine of the Year” shows that we are heading in the right direction.”

Paps Hilltop Distillery is located at 117 East Main Street, Bainbridge, Ohio. They are open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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