PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA — What started as a promising double life for famed moonshiner Steven Ray Tickle—one foot in the kitchen, the other in the shadows—nearly came to a crashing halt this week when a misdelivered load of illegal moonshine threatened to blow the cover off his hidden operation.
Tickle, a known figure in the moonshine world and reality TV, recently opened a new restaurant in rural Virginia. But behind the buzz of grand opening celebrations and the sizzle of his now locally-famous “Mike Sandler Platter,” Tickle was managing more than menus. Out back, a full-scale bootlegging delivery system was in motion—using beat-up vehicles and decoy tow trucks to quietly move over 500 gallons of moonshine in a single day.
“This setup’s been running like clockwork,” said Tickle. “One car comes in full, another leaves empty. It’s a constant cycle—money in, shine out.”
That cycle came dangerously close to a breakdown when a delivery driver dropped a liquor-laden car at the wrong address. “You went to 38 Door Run?” Tickle asked in disbelief over the phone. “It was supposed to be 68!”
The delivery—meant to pass as a junk car needing repairs—risked exposure. If a bystander or law enforcement had popped the trunk, the entire bootlegging enterprise could’ve been toast. Fortunately for Tickle and his crew, the car was recovered before anyone noticed, but not without nerves fraying.
“I pulled up expecting the worst—blue lights, cuffs, the whole deal,” said driver Josh. “But we got lucky. Real lucky.”
With growing foot traffic in the restaurant and eyes everywhere, the operation has become too risky. Tickle made the tough call to shut it down—for now.
“I’ve got everything I own in this restaurant. If I lose it, I lose everything—including my marriage,” Tickle said. “It was a smooth idea, but too hot. This can’t go on.”
Crew members Henry and Paige, though disappointed, understood. “We had a good thing going,” said Henry. “But this is Tickle’s place. If he says we pull out, we pull out.”
The closure of the makeshift bootlegging base marks a turning point for Tickle, who now appears set to leave the shadows behind—at least for now—and focus on running a legitimate business.
Still, in true moonshiner fashion, Tickle hinted this might not be the end of the road. “We’ll come up with something else,” he said with a grin. “We always do.”
