The Atlantic published in January 2013:
 
“As I once heard a tour guide at the Wild Turkey distillery explain: ‘How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.’”
 
The saying quickly became popular on Twitter.
 
   
Google Books
American Heritage of Invention & Technology
Volumes 21-22
2005 (Google Books date might be incorrect—ed.)
Pg. 42:
(One distillery tour guide described the process as follows: “You put some moonshine in a charred oak barrel, add a bunch of federal regulations, let it sit, and you’ve got bourbon.”)
   
The Atlantic
Whiskey Business
The regulatory ordeal of the American micro-distiller
WAYNE CURTIS JAN 2 2013, 8:41 PM ET
(...)
(As I once heard a tour guide at the Wild Turkey distillery explain: “How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.”)
 
Twitter
The Atlantic
‏@TheAtlantic
“How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.” http://theatln.tc/UnRjjd
2:00 PM - 4 Jan 13
 
Twitter
Nick Sorrentino
‏@LibertyandEcon
“How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.” http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/2013/01/want-to-make-whiskey-better-pay-the-feds-and-the-state-a-few-times/ …  #tcot
8:49 AM - 24 Jan 13
   
Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH)
APRIL 03, 2013
Good Spirits
Clearing legislative hurdles is just the first step for a growing batch of local distilleries
by Douglas Trattner
(...)
It’s not just sales and marketing that’s killing the little guys; it’s the paperwork. There’s a saying in this industry that goes: “How do you make bourbon? You take some moonshine, put it in a barrel, and add a bunch of federal regulations.” And, according to practitioners, it is anything but hyperbole.