Hootch liquor that's either illegally produced (bootleg) or just plain cheap. The word hooch is generally associated with whiskey produced during Prohibition (1920-1933), however, the name originated in the late 1800s with a tribe of Alaskan Indians. It comes from Hoocbinoo (Hootcbinoo), a Tlingit Indian village on Admiralty island, Alaska, the inhabitants of which made and sold alcoholic spirits illegally.