Moonshine is a strong alcoholic product with a high alcohol content (often above 40 proof degrees). It's made mainly by distilling a special mash. And that mash, in turn, is made from all sorts of products, from potato peelings to sour apples. For strength, sugar is almost always added to the mash.
Moonshine is most often found in recipes with these five products:
Moonshine has a pronounced, distinctive smell that makes it easy to recognize. An expert, after tasting the drink, can tell what it was made from. But it's precisely because of this smell that it's rarely added to dishes during cooking. For the dough for chebureki, for example, people prefer to pour in vodka or pure alcohol (which has no smell at all).
If the moonshine aroma doesn't put you off, it can safely be used in home cooking, since it has all the properties of alcohol. So if a recipe says "add alcohol," you can replace it with moonshine.
By the way, to make this drink smooth, it's often infused with something more aromatic. The result is wonderful moonshine tinctures.
For example, on honey, lemon, orange — really any fruit with a pleasant smell. Even on dried fruits it's possible.