[Karl Spooner]

That is for amounts that they were going to sell. Not personal consumption

Not exactly. Not much has changed. Good luck.

Whiskey Rebellion:
"Hence many farmers and small-businessmen found themselves taxed on the capacity of their stills, which included the amounts of whiskey they consumed personally,"

https://dailyreckoning.com/the-whiskey-rebellion-whiskey-taxes-the-real-thing/

[ForYourChildren]

ya... close..

Distillers were taxed based on the size of their stills. Stills with the capacity to annually produce at least 400 gallons of whiskey were taxed between 7 and 18 cents a gallon, depending on the proof of the liquor. Distillers who made stronger whiskey paid a higher tax. Smaller stills were taxed at a rate of 10 cents for every month a still was in operation, or 7 cents for every gallon produced, whichever was lower.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/whiskey-rebellion

[ForYourChildren]

The purpose was “theoretically, the producer will pass the tax burden along to the consumer in the price of the product.”

https://www.ttb.gov/public_info/special_feature.shtml

Not individual consumption, although if you drank more than a gallon a month, per the previous post, it would be taxed.