<Tr> <Td> A crude moonshine (aragh) device in an Armenian village </Td> </Tr> <P> The Armenian name for moonshine is oghee . The production of oghee is widespread in Armenia . White mulberry, grape, cornelian cherry, plum, and apricot moonshine are especially popular, particularly in the countryside . The Arabic word Araq (Arak) is derived from the Sanskrit word Ark (or Urk, where the sound of U is as in BUT), which means distillate . </P> <P> Distillation of alcohol requires an excise license in Australia . The sale of stills and other distilling equipment, including yeasts, flavourings, and other ingredients specific to distillation, is legal . </P> <P> After World War II, there was large - scale immigration from Italy, with many of the immigrants settling in irrigation areas with orchards and grapevines . Many of the immigrants made wine for their own use, which was perfectly legal . However, some of them gathered and fermented leftover grape skins, seeds and stems to distill homemade grappa . Because of the woody seeds and stems, the raw liquor held substantial methanol; and there were occasional incidents of poisoning, sometimes at large parties, by distillers who didn't discard the head (the first portion of their condensate). </P>

Is it illegal to distill alcohol in australia