[narrator] this time on moonshiners.
- Ghost town. -[digger] it was a big deal
to get to come up here when you was a kid.
[ramsey] ideally, we would be able to suspend these
barrels by something good and strong.
There is a lot wind that comes through here.
Appreciate you guys bringing me up here.
It's a great opportunity for me to just learn anything I can.
[rogers] amanda is young, I thought I might teach her
how to do some of the old things
and she might show me something about the new things.
I need a little book, so I can write all this stuff down.
I think he's gonna show up at the last minute.
It's been a long time coming,
I've got all my family and friends are here.
I'm beginning to lose hope right now that
jerry's gonna make it to the wedding.
[man] this is how we make the moonshine!
-Your ears popped yet? -A-ha.
[ramsey] we should get a barrel up here to the top,
just to turn it loose down the mountain.
Time it got to the bottom, hell, it'd be aged.
-Yeah. -[chuckles]
[narrator] in haywood county, north carolina,
mark and digger device a plan to harvest the weather on
an abandoned mountain top theme park
to replicate the effect of sea aging their tennessee whisky.
[ramsey] the sea aging process ages
this tennessee whisky in six months.
Equivalent to five years.
If we can recreate the conditions on dry ground,
we can accomplish the same thing
right here in our backyard.
Man, this is a lot of memories.
[digger] to duplicate what happens in the ocean,
we got to have movement,
we got to have drastic temperature change.
[ramsey] in our mind, ghost town
it seems to be the best place to be.
I'm telling you, it was a big deal
to get to come up here when we was a kid.
[digger] ghost town is an old amusement park
that started in our childhood about 1961.
It's been abandoned for quite some time.
[ramsey] main street, ghost town.
In the sky.
Ghost town is behind a locked gate.
Our friend cowboy, he will let us in
and he will let us out.
That's huge for us.
When we come up here, I was a little bitty fella,
this place looked bigger than new york city.
[digger] I've seen a fella get shot
right off the boarding house yonder,
landed right there, scared the piss out of me.
I went to the general store down here and bought me
a pair of six shooters.
Ain't nobody gonna mess with me.
Was a shoot 'em up old west town,
every little fella that come in here,
hell, he wanted to see the guns-a-blazing
lookey here.
-Yeah, there I am. -There you are.
[digger] undertaker parlor.
Used boots, they was big on selling used teeth
and not boots.
Diggers undertaker partner,
that was prior to me being nicknamed digger.
You're a little wider than that.
Yeah, they would have to build me a bigger one.
I don't have the cod lock on that nickname.
[ramsey] over here are some boots,
let me see if they fit you.
[digger] I wasn't concerned about no damn
undertaker or boots,
-I was all about the guns and the shooting. -[ramsey] yeah.
[digger] diggers tale on that,
he'd hang around waiting for the gun fights,
so then he'd steal the boots off the corpses
and sell 'em to the folks in the streets.
[ramsey] ain't nobody here.
We can drive right down main street, if we need to.
Damn, that looks like you in the bathtub,
both your feet hanging over.
[ramsey] moonshine manor.
[digger] oh, this was a shooting gallery.
[ramsey] it's a joy to be here and just
enjoy ghost town again
but we are here on a mission,
we're trying to find the location
to put some barrels before we can get some movement in 'em.
If we can readjust its surface area,
as often as possible,
that's what we're looking for to try to duplicate sea aging.
Jeez, look how big this place is.
Hell farm!
[ramsey] I don't ever remember this.
Oh, it's a theater, ain't it?
[digger] yeah, it's a theater,
this is where the indians danced.
Yeah, what about that.
Them fans need a pecker pill, something fierce, don't they?
[digger] yes, they do. Kinda reminds me of me.
[both laugh]
[ramsey] let's go in, we're getting nothing done
on finding us a place to put barrels.
That must have been a hotel there.
Hey, look out yonder...
At the block and tackle there
with a stiff arm up from above.
Man, put new rope on it, it might swing a barrel by it.
[digger] maybe.
Give me up on your shoulders and I'll get that for you.
[ramsey] looks like something's been eating on that stiff arm.
That little strong arm ain't that strong no more.
I don't think that's gonna count.
-No. -[ramsey] I'd love to have it up there,
but we'll make something here that works.
-[huck] we're right on time. -Exactly.
[narrator] in graham county, north carolina,
mark and huck meet with a bootlegger
who distributes a large volume of shine
throughout the region.
Me and huck's going down here to meet old jason, one of our buddies.
Here he comes.
Got some good corn shine,
little bit of barley in it, he said he wanted it.
Little order, so we're gonna let him taste it
and see what he wants.
-Oh, jason. -[jason] mark, how are you?
You bring me something?
[rogers] yeah, we brought you a little something.
Taste that and see what you think about it.
-[jason] smooth. -[rogers] yeah.
[jason] y'all don't disappoint, but...
I've been looking for something a little different.
-[rogers] have you? -[jason] yeah.
You think y'all can do anything,
maybe a little more pizazz to it?
-[rogers] something flavored? -[jason] yeah.
[rogers] well.
[jason] you just wanting something a little bit
smoother or...?
Little smoother and something a little different.
[rogers] little different with the same kick?
[jason] yeah. Same proof.
-[rogers] how much? -[jason] I'm looking to get about 10 gallons.
[ramsey] we can see what we come up with
and let you try that and see if you like it.
How quick you needing it?
[jason] I'm looking to get it pretty quick.
Think y'all can do that?
[huck] well, we may have to go up on it
a little bit,
have to get a little more than what we would
just regular old shine.
-[jason] that's no problem. -[huck] no problem.
-[jason] no problem at all. -That's what we like to hear, no problem.
Just get it, right?
[jason] just get it, soon as you can.
[huck] go ahead and keep that there.
You might sip around on that and want
a big order of that later.
-[rogers] you might change your mind. -[chuck] he might.
[rogers] but we'll be hollering at you as soon as we get it.
He liked this but he wants something
that's a bit different taste,
something with a little more flavor to it.
Well, I pray to that.
[huck] yeah, more work.
But he buys a lot of liquor. If we can change the flavor up
maybe we can sell him a lot more.
Yeah, I know somebody that's real good
at infusing the liquors and stuff.
We'll try to reach out to him,
maybe we can get something fixed
to little more of what he's looking for.
Boy, oh boy.
Today is the big day for me and jenna.
We're gonna tie the knot and make it official
and make our family whole.
[narrator] in sevier county, tennessee,
with friend and moonshine partner, jerry,
sidelined by brain injury,
mike prepares to marry his fiance, jenna.
[mike] I met jenna seven years ago
at an important time in my life.
I didn't even know if I was going or coming.
She's stood right by my side, no matter what.
We've been hip-to-hip ever since, that's for sure.
I don't believe I've ever been so nervous
all the days of my life.
One thing that's going through my mind here today is,
I'm thinking about jerry.
This brain hemorrhage almost killed my partner.
Sometimes we take relationships
and friendships and brotherhood for granted
and within a blink of an eye,
somebody can be gone and jerked out of your life.
I'm hanging in there.
They're just trying to figure out what's going on.
Bleeding on the brain, they're trying to figure out why.
[mike] oh, my god, man.
They have him hooked up to all these machines and ivs
and pumps and all kinds of gadgets and stuff.
[mike] it'd be dear to my heart if jerry
can actually make it today.
About as clean as this old hillbilly can get.
Here goes nothing. Damn!
Now, this is our blueberry champagne.
In the middle of this whole process
of making this blueberry champagne,
jerry had his aneurysm
and even though he couldn't be there
in the physical sense, with me,
jerry talked to me from hospital to complete this stuff
and I'm taking these 24 bottles here
to the wedding tonight.
It would just mean the world to me,
for jerry to be there
and be able to see people enjoy the champagne.
I've got a lot of pressure on me right now.
I'm getting married to the love of my life
and I've gotta try to get the other 24 bottles of this stuff sold.
Jerry's got a lot of medical bills,
I just wanna get some money back in jerry's pocket.
[ramsey] looky here, digger.
Know what the three-legged dog said when they went in the saloon, don't you?
[digger] yup, I'm looking for the bandit that shot my paw.
We're here at the old ghost town
on buck mountain in maggie valley.
Get and do your best can-can dance.
I'll sit here and shoot my six shooter up.
Mark and myself were in there looking for anything that we can repurpose
in this place.
So that we can mimic the sea aged
tennessee whisky here in the mountains.
You gotta have a saloon.
You gotta have a drain in the middle of the floor
to wash the puke and the piss out the next day.
Look out yonder, can you tell how high we are?
We kinda wanna view, puss.
If you could jump, you can make it right over yonder.
[ramsey] ain't that pretty?
You see right there, why it's called
the smoky mountains, though, can't you?
[digger] yup.
Do you feel how much cooler it got in the last ten minutes?
It's all them poltergeists.
There ain't no damn poltergeist.
Honestly, puss, every time the sun goes down,
behind the cloud, the temperature changes.
[digger] yeah.
This is what we need, this change in temperature,
that's what forces the liquor
in and out of the wood on the barrel.
Blue skies right there.
Clouds over here.
This is perfect.
The only thing we gotta contend with is movement.
It don't have to move a lot.
They just need to move four or five inches.
[digger] well, let's look around some more.
[ramsey] we're going to find a place to put them barrels.
I tell you what we can do.
We can look down there to lower parking lot area,
where that roller coaster was,
might be something to work with up there.
I'm telling you,
for its day, that roller coaster was something else.
[rogers] what kind of blade you're carrying there?
[amanda] oh, it's an akonua buck knife.
Was made the year I was born, so it's my lucky knife.
[rogers] it's a good looking knife, sharp.
So, I'm making,
like, a hazelnut white rum.
She impressed me pretty good
on the way she made the hazelnut.
Amanda, buttery notes,
the creamy notes, it's wonderful.
Amanda is the next master distiller.
[all applauding]
we got to talking,
she wants to learn little bit about the old ways
so I thought might do a little trading,
teach her how to do some of the old things
and she might show me
something about the new things.
-Is this something you guys made? -[huck] yeah.
-You wanna try some of that? -[amanda] I'd love to.
[huck] that's a stone cold liquor.
I started making liquor about five years ago.
I'll pour you a little bit on that cup.
[amanda] thank you.
I basically, fell in love with the craft
through the history of it.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
I'm fascinated by the lengths
that the old timers went through
to just pay their bills and take care of their families.
The corn is perfect, smooth, a little bit sweet.
With mark and huck,
I feel like, I can really get a good idea of
how that's done still today.
'cause they're still doing it in the old fashioned way.
[rogers] we'll help you out all we can.
But you can help us out on real good flavor later.
It'll sure help.
I'll do my best, I'm pretty good with playing with flavors
and making liquor that people like to drink.
[rogers] I'll tell you what we're gonna do,
we're gonna start you from the scratch,
we're gonna show you how to build a furnace.
Early in the spring,
people buy a whole lot of liquor.
So we'd set up a good easy fix,
you know, before we get running quick.
-We're gonna use clay. -Clay.
-You don't use cement, it'll crack and bust. -Yes.
Clay is the best thing you can use.
Now, I thought it'd be a good time to
set us up a rock furnace.
It will help us on later runs.
I love playing with modern rock,
so I'm super excited about it.
[rogers] I'm getting some age on me now,
and amanda, she's young,
we gotta teach her everything we can.
[huck] you'll see it right there.
This whole ridge is, like,
dig down a little bit past that topsoil,
so we got good clay.
We gotta keep this moonshining going on,
even when I'm gone,
it still needs to keep it going.
You wanna do the sifting or the shoveling?
I'll shovel.
-I'll get the buckets. -All right.
If you don't sift this stuff out real good,
you'll have them big clumps in it.
Can't get your rocks to lay good,
it's aggravating work.
Clay, you know, is a real package,
the old timers,
that's what they used to
chink the cracks in their log cabins
and lay the rock for their chimney, you know.
See, when you sift it out
this about makes it like powder.
Then when you mix a little water with it,
you know, it'll be just like glue.
Amanda, what type of still you got?
[amanda] I have a 25 gallon copper pot.
Mark and huck are on a whole different scale
to what I do at home.
Volume, is something that I'm
really trying to increase right now
and they're experts at it.
Yeah, I use a little propane burner.
And it could be... The heat's direct,
so I have to be really careful about solids in the pot
and scorching the mash.
And that's another benefit of doing a furnace
'cause it's not directly on the pot.
You're more or less heating the sides of the furnace.
-Float them... -Yeah.
Amanda, I know she's a good worker,
she started in shoveling that clay
and I know we're in good shape with her there,
she ain't lazy, I'll tell you that.
That ought to be enough.
[huck] so, then we'll teach her how to build a furnace.
[ramsey] if you can get a barrel hanging out there,
that will be the place for it, it will swing.
There's a lot of wind that comes through here.
It's a thought but I don't think it will work.
I mean, as much as I'd love to have
whisky barrels hanging here...
[digger] it ain't feasible.
We'd have to hire a crane.
[ramsey] and what if you drop one of 'em,
when you're trying to hang it up.
[digger] you would have shot yourself in the foot.
We don't have the equipment it'd take
to put barrels up on these rails here.
It's too far off the ground, we can't do anything with it.
We gotta study about it a little bit,
how to hoist it up and get it,
get it hanging and moving.
We gotta get it in motion.
We're not gonna be here babysitting these,
there's no electricity up here.
We have to do it naturally
with the resources that mother nature provides.
Hey, puss. Dream catcher.
Huh.
[digger] looks more like a nightmare to me.
[ramsey] I don't ever remember riding that. Do you?
No, I don't.
It may have been put there later.
[digger] looks like exactly what I was thinking.
[ramsey] let's see if we can--
[digger] that hole there for the exit, it'll hold a barrel.
[ramsey] oh, my!
The dream catcher's kinda tilt the world up thing,
it's got little seats that on their own swivel
and your chair swings out,
you know, the g-force makes the chairs
go out as they turn around.
[grunts]
hey.
Look at this.
This might be exactly what we're looking for.
[ramsey] I can see barrels
in every one of these.
[mike] here we are, the wedding day is here.
Champagne's ready.
The bride asked for it and she got it.
Me and jenna have been engaged for long damn time
but today is the big day,
we're finally getting married.
You know, I've been married a few times before
but this is our first time,
and hope, her last time.
So, everything's gotta be perfect,
you know, for her.
[all exclaiming]
[all cheering]
making the final damn walk.
[all laughing]
I'm happy that friends and family
and all the guests are coming.
Maybe, the fifth time's the charm.
I don't know, who knows.
[all laughing]
[mike] got all my grooms here,
everybody is here but jerry.
We're just missing one guy, man.
One and only, my partner, jerry benson.
So, don't know if he's gonna be
able to be here or not today.
We'll just remember him today.
Hope that he gets better.
I think we got 'em all in one piece.
[rogers] that's one thing you can't do with harder rock.
[huck] one thing I like about stone furnace,
once you get it hot,
it's gonna stay hot for a long time
and it takes a lot less wood.
You know, it's a little more work, fixing one.
But once you get it fixed right,
it pays off in the long run.
Hand me the pot, we'll go inside the layer
and get it fixed.
The main thing is it sits right
and then we're gonna build around the pot.
We got this black corn maize.
It work and while we're working
on the build and the furnace
but it's not gonna be this, like, old traditional whisky.
Pretty solid.
[huck] amanda's gonna help us
infuse this liquor and turn it into something special.
We'll get furnace that's build tight and everything,
it will be good stuff.
-How's this looking for-- -[rogers] looks good to me.
Peace rock.
[rogers] you wanna lay the first rock?
Oh, I'd love to.
I've never built a wood burning furnace before.
About how far out should we bring it?
-I'd go in closer. -[amanda] in closer.
But I do work as a roofer at home
and I do stone masonry work.
-About right there. -[amanda] oh, okay.
So, I feel right at home with these guys.
I love working hard,
I don't mind getting my hands dirty.
Now, how close are we gonna put these stones?
In here, just bud 'em up.
And then we'll fill in the little gaps with the clay.
Amanda's young, she's eager to learn.
[amanda] when do you wanna
start putting the clay in here?
[rogers] well, if you wanna make us a batch.
She ain't lazy.
I like somebody like that.
Guys, I do have a question.
At home, I'll usually just mix
small portions of cement 'cause it sets.
But this isn't gonna set until we cook it, right?
-That's right. -So, I can mix a good amount of it,
so we have it to work with.
That makes two buggies.
-Can we rest you at minute? -[amanda] sure, thank you.
When I work with cement
you know, there's lye in cement,
so you can't get it on your skin
'cause it literally eats your skin.
Is that the same with this clay?
It's not, right?
All it does is changes color.
[both laugh]
well, I'll be red-handed.
I did bring some gloves
to avoid that.
[rogers grunts]
[amanda] how thick are you going in between layers now?
-Just enough to seal it. -[amanda] okay.
This is something that don't have to be perfect
all it needs to do is hold heat.
[amanda] I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I'll keep that in mind.
[huck] he'd mess up too.
[rogers] no.
[amanda] I like the clay, it's a lot easier
to work with then cement is.
Amanda, she knows what she's doing,
you can tell she has laid rock before.
[all laughing]
[amanda] so, about how far up do you wanna build,
like, right where you got it here marked?
-[rogers] yeah. -[amanda] oh, it's sliding.
[rogers] it is sliding.
Let it settle.
Worry about-- [sighs]
damn, there's one rock
we should have put in right there.
[amanda] no big deal. No big deal.
That's a masonry saying, isn't it?
[huck] look like you got a damn mess, what happened?
[rogers] son of a bitch failed.
Believe we're onto something here handy boy.
-[ramsey] how many chairs are there? -[digger] ten.
[ramsey] we've got enough barrels of liquor
to put one in every chair.
[digger exclaims]
now, watch her go.
[ramsey] we have to harness the power of wind
to keep our barrels in motion.
We can roll them right up here on this flat spot,
-advance it forward. -[digger] yup.
[ramsey] hook 'em up, move to the next one.
The dream catcher might be exactly
what we're looking for.
Look at that, if that right there don't
simulate the motion of a boat on the ocean,
I don't know what will.
And this thing moves very easy.
And it moves in every direction
that a boat would.
This is sea aging on dry land.
This goes all over the place.
I think we can make something work with this.
When you let go, it's gonna keep going. I mean, watch it.
It will go for a few shakes on its own
and then that blinker's gonna
keep going in sides for a while.
You know, the motion with the temperature changes
and the biometric pressure,
it causes that liquor to turn over.
And it gets more exposure to wood,
every bit of that liquor would get exposed to the wood
quicker than it would sitting in the rickhouse,
which magnifies the aging process.
Just build a sail out of two-by-fours
and put 'em up there about four by four,
something like that.
[ramsey] a sail.
-Capital idea, young man. -[digger] yeah.
If we can get some sort of sail,
put on these domes
and it can catch just enough wind
to get it to rock,
we'll get plenty enough movement
to get done what we need to get done.
[ramsey] I think we have solved our problem
except for one thing.
We can't haul them barrels all up here by ourselves.
They're 500 pounds, we gotta roll 'em up here
and get 'em up on this flat spot.
It won't be easy to do.
-We'll have to have some help. -Yup.
-We need daniel. -[digger] yeah.
[ramsey] we gotta have help.
I believe this is our location, hatty.
[digger] let's go get started, reach out to daniel.
[huck] wait, that will be good.
[rogers] yeah, we got a pretty looking rig here.
We gonna light her up and bake her out.
[exclaims]
[huck] what's up?
[rogers] amanda, you be careful
if you ever do this right here.
What is that you put in there? Is that, like, lighter fluid?
-[rogers] it's gas. -[amanda] gas.
[rogers] if you do it right, it's safe.
But if you just throw a bunch of gas
in all them fumes is dangerous, it's gonna blow up.
But this is a good safety right here
to blot and weigh up wood.
No matter how wide it is, it will light.
Don't spill it, whatever you do.
-[amanda] it's like, a candle. -[rogers] yeah.
So, only the top of it burns.
Yes, it's like, a candle.
[amanda] oh, my gosh.
[rogers] rock furnace, good steady heat.
It keeps your steam running just about right.
Take a good hour or better to get hot, you know.
That's what it take to make some real good
smooth, high proof flavor.
When mark told me we're gonna build a furnace,
I was thinking, he would teach me
how just to build a furnace.
You know, I kinda already know how to work with stones
but in building the furnace, I feel like I learned
a whole lot more than I ever anticipated
and can't wait to take it home and put it all to practice.
You learned me a whole lot so far.
Well, I'd say you can learn me and huck a lot
-from what we're told. -I hope so.
I can pay you back a little bit for all this
good knowledge you shared with me.
[photographer] guys, let's strike a pose.
Let's all look at different directions.
Y'all are good at this.
This weeding's been a long time coming.
I've got all my friends and family are here.
I'm beginning to lose hope right now
that jerry's gonna make it through the wedding.
We basically, got about ten minutes
and pitching to walk down that aisle.
I think he's gonna show up at the last minute.
[woman] if he can, he will.
He's the tire man.
Yeah, I hope so.
I don't know.
I hope he can get to make it out today.
[man] there's jerry right there.
It is jerry!
[mike] what's up, brother?
Didn't think you'd make it, bro.
-[jerry] are you good? -I'm good.
It's been a few days.
Glad you're here.
I'm glad I'm able to be here.
Yes, sir, me too.
Yup, the party's complete now, brother.
No doubt.
I'm lost for damn words, I get emotional,
you know, when I talk about jerry and his health
and how fast something could happen.
-Love you. -Love you, brother.
Oh, lord!
[exclaims]
I'm grateful and I'm thankful that he's here
and he's in good enough shape to be here to stand by me,
means everything in the world to me.
-[jerry] you nervous? -[mike] yeah.
I'm really nervous, you know.
But I feel a lot better now.
[jerry chuckles]
you know, I've been nervous for a month now
waiting on this wedding day.
But now that we're all here,
I'm pretty much getting calmed down.
You know, I'm a little bit nervous,
I'm fixing to marry the love of my life
and I'm getting kinda antsy,
I can't wait to see her in that pretty dress.
I went through a whole lot with women folk
but I know for a fact I've got the right one this time.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may kiss your bride.
[all cheering]
[mike] you know, now we're officially a married couple
after seven years.
[announcer] ladies and gentlemen,
big round of applause
for mr. And mrs. Mike cockrell.
[mike] married my wife that's so beautiful
and having everybody here,
this is the best day of my life.
The first thing I wanna do,
I wanna thank each and everybody
for showing up to this very special day.
This is our special blueberry champagne.
We're gonna give a toast for me and jenna.
We've been together over seven years
and with these rings,
it's forever, ever more.
-That being said, I love you, baby. -I love you.
And I'm ready to spend the rest of our lives together.
[all applauding]
[all cheering]
[mike] champagne actually is very, very pretty,
it's very purple
but kinda transparent at the same time
and got plenty of bubbles in it.
Everybody's taking a toast,
taking the drink, I don't see any frowns,
nobody's spitting at the floor,
so hope everybody else like it.
You know, the other half of this champagne,
I still gotta sell it and try and make some money.
Cheers, everybody!
[all cheering]
[mike] I am as happy as any man can be
about how everything went down today.
Married my wife
and jerry was able to be there by my side.
It was a perfect day.
-[kisses] -love you, baby.
[laughs]
[ramsey] we're betting it all, we're letting the big end drag
on this adventure here.
If it don't work,
we wasted a lot of time.
[amanda] can't wait to see the furnace, all dried up for us.
Mark and huck are the first old-school moonshiners
that I'm gonna get to make a run with.
[rogers] let's clean this up, a bucket or two
and see if we can get this run started.
[amanda] they use furnace heat,
so it's not direct heat on the pot.
And that can give a whole different flavor.
So, I'm really eager to learn how they do that
and just to see
what the difference in the taste is.
[huck] I'll tell you what to do, amanda.
Take it off, firstly see what it looks like.
I can do the honors.
Think it's a good sign if the bees like it.
[huck] they're the first customers.
The way we're doing it this year.
[amanda] I'm gonna give him right to you.
[rogers] we're making up some real quality liquor, you know.
Some different stuff all these other moonshiners got out
but today, we're gonna get back to the basics.
We're gonna show her how to do it
the way we've always done in all our life.
It's getting down on to the corner now.
[rogers] now it's done, I'll fire it up.
Yeah, we're just about there.
After one more bucket, it will do it.
This is the part that I've been waiting for
this whole time,
to run the smash with mark and huck.
Tell you what I'll do, I'll get the fire started,
I'll let you and amanda cap your mouth for muck.
We'll do it.
My nerves are pretty much gone at this point.
And I'm just really excited to
see how this furnace works.
The wood's gonna be any different today
-than what we-- -[rogers] yeah.
Get it started good but I'm gonna add locust to it.
-[amanda] okay. -Make her hot as we can.
So, the special locust wood. Cool.
Locust is more dense, it don't smoke much.
It burns longer, gets hotter,
that's the hottest wood we got in these mountains.
[huck] amanda, let me show a little trick here.
Anytime, if you work around these joints
like, this right here and here.
If it gets leaking on you,
keep some old rags on it.
Just wet it real good.
And just kinda... Just wrap it around that, like up there.
I get real frustrated when that stuff leaks sometimes.
-This will stop it. -Oh, shoot.
I need a little book, so I can write all this stuff down.
Yeah.
[rogers] amanda, let me show you something right here.
It's so big, it's gonna take a long time for it to heat up.
Let's just pull him straight to the furnace.
What we're trying to get to is the bed of coals, right here.
One it starts running, watch it stream.
If the stream gets too big
-just pull your coals back. -Yeah.
[rogers] if it slows down, just push more coal.
-Then you can work it then. -[amanda] got you.
[rogers] I'm gonna let you run this run.
That's the best way to learn
is do it yourself.
-Baptism by fire, correct? -Yup.
Yeah, it's just like, teaching the little youngins.
Tell 'em what she wants and let 'em go at it
and they'll learn that quicker than
any way that you can do it.
[huck] amanda, here's what you've been waiting on.
-Here you go. -[amanda] oh!
[huck] let it run for a little long then you throw 'em
heads off, start catching you liquor.
So, the way we're doing things here is a little bit different
than how I do it at home.
I keep track of temperature
to see exactly where we're at in the run.
[rogers] if your stream starts dying,
you gotta put some wood in.
But small stick, don't never use nothing big.
No, I just have a little nozzle I can turn up
to check the propane and adjust my heat.
I'm so careful that I try to make sure I make my exact cuts
but you guys just know by eye and by taste
exactly how to do it.
-I think, I overthink things maybe, yo think? -[rogers] yeah.
-[huck] good looking liquor. -[amanda] smells really good.
[huck] clear as a bell.
What do you think?
Really good. It's hot but really smooth.
I think it tastes better
with that wood burning heat, I really do.
I think, maybe, 'cause that heat is so evenly distributed,
it's not directly on the bottom of the pot.
The whole pot and all the mash got heated
evenly at the same time.
And I think, maybe that helps the liquor run a lot smoother.
-Good way to do it. -Yeah.
Yeah, it's like, all clicking for me now.
Mark and huck, they don't need a textbook,
they don't need a thermometer,
they don't need any special rule of how to do things.
They just know how it's done.
It's really cool to see,
you guys are still practicing this the way the old timers did it.
I have so much respect for that.
That's really the only way that I know.
See, if you can cap this bucket off,
we'll begin to check.
[amanda] all right.
I'm really looking forward to helping them
make a really smooth, delicious infused moonshine.
And maybe, I can teach them a little bit something as well.
Woo!
[man] hell, yeah. What do you think, daniel?
Well, you didn't know he's getting here
-to a carnival. -We're up in the clouds.
[ramsey] we are, that's why they called it
ghost town in the sky.
[digger chuckles]
we're trying to do a experiment here
to make us something where we can
sea age our tennessee whisky on dry land.
This thing is recreates every movement
that a boat would on the water.
We really feel that this old dream catcher machine,
here at ghost town,
will serve our purpose tremendously well.
I think that you're on to something here.
I really think it will work.
The chore that we're gonna have
is getting the barrels in these damn buckets here
is gonna be the deal.
So, now you know moreover why we brought you here.
-We need your horsepower more than your brainpower. -Yeah, I got you.
You know, daniel is several years
younger than me and digger.
You can look at him, he's stout as a bear.
[digger] once you get it going,
it will come out on its own.
[ramsey] these barrels are full,
they're heavy, 600 pounds each.
Watch your fingers, watch your fingers, boys.
[grunts]
you know, you can't have too much help.
[digger] I hope we got enough juice to get it up there now.
That's a heavy bastard,
did you hear the truck squeak right down there?
[ramsey] you can kick it, how you go, hatty.
How about them apples, huh, mister?
I just don't wanna drop it too fast.
[grunts] I hope this old deck's solid.
If we can get it on wood, it will help us.
[daniel] there, we got one.
-Damn! -[digger] just take your time.
[sighs]
[ramsey] all right, it's good enough.
[digger] we've got ten barrels with us.
That's what tennessee whisky, we've got cup.
Son of a bitch, this is too much like work, boys.
And if we can get them in some of these seats
and get 'em moving, we're going to be in business.
-[daniel] we got it. -Put it right there now.
Hard on fat boys, ain't it.
[ramsey laughs] yup.
We got to get that damn cherry picker up here.
Damn you.
[all exclaiming]
[ramsey] here you go.
[digger] 30-40 more minutes of that and I'd have
this thing jacked up high enough to get her on there.
[ramsey] oh, it's, just a little tedious
but sure will help.
Put it right there. Hold it right there.
[daniel] look at it.
[ramsey] you know, we gotta secure 'em.
We don't wanna come back up here
and them fell through the deck,
laying on the ground, busted open.
And all our liquor running down buck mountain.
[digger] oh, we're good.
[ramsey] that right there is the motion of the ocean, boys.
It is.
If it just moves around like this here during some wind,
that's plenty.
It sure is.
You know, when you look at these things,
it kinda looks like, a baby sitting in a cradle.
It's kinda what it is. It's in infant stages,
now we gotta bring it to maturity.
A-ha.
I guess that's the end of it, boys.
Do we bring some more up here?
[ramsey] now, we're gonna start building sails.
[digger] well, mark has come up with a design,
we're gonna build kind of a square
and tack a tarp to it.
Then, we're gonna screw that
to the ride itself.
[daniel] hell, yes, I got my raise, boys.
[ramsey] hell, if this is that,
-we'll make a move to the next. -[daniel] move on.
Well, it's gotten cooler.
We can hear thunder in the distance.
We might just very well see a little bit of wind
come here in a little bit.
[ramsey] you know, we spent a lot of time
trying to build this contraption.
We're betting it all, we're letting the big end drag
on this adventure here.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out
that we're kinda deeply invested
in this tennessee whisky,
so we got no choice but to get these barrels to move.
-I know one thing, boys. -[daniel] what's that?
As hard as we worked on this brilliant thing,
if it don't work,
we've wasted a lot of time.
-Yeah. -[ramsey] and several dollars.
The damn storm's a-coming.
[digger] if they don't move, we're done.
[digger] get in there, boy.
You're under arrest.
[ramsey] oh, I don't put no liquor in here.
Damn, jail house.
[digger] damn, brother, what you do?
They cut your hand off.
This ain't no count.
Well, I'll be here to see you in the morning.
I'll be right over here on this flea ridden bed,
taking me a nap, waiting on you.
Don't you dare try to escape.
[ramsey chuckles] so, that was a bust.
[digger] as usual.
[ramsey] the damn storm's a-coming.
[digger] if they don't move, we're done.
[digger] whether this is gonna work or not,
it remains to be seen
but at this point, it's all we got, it's our only option.
Here we go, here it comes, guys.
[digger] there you go, there's your guest coming.
We're catching wind, guys.
[digger] yeah, if we just get a little bit more wind.
[ramsey] little bit more, it's a-coming.
[digger] oh, yeah.
Hell yeah. Look how it's blowing here.
[ramsey] that's the plan, that's all we gotta do.
[digger] oh, it's gotta move, right there.
This ain't out of control wind and it's a-moving.
Yes, this is just a good, steady breeze.
[ramsey] if it'll do this two or three days a week,
we're golden, boys.
You know, as long as these old chariots here
are moving a little bit,
then the whisky inside the barrel
don't have any choice but to move.
Just like a baby in a cradle.
It's as safe as it was in its mommy's arms.
Thing about it is, when these stop,
that liquor ain't stopped,
it's still in there moving, it's sloshing around.
We got the biometric pressure changes here,
we got the temperature changes
and now we've got the wind.
All this is perfect.
We couldn't have got it no better.
God, we've done it sure as hell.
All the hard work is paid off,
it is gonna work.
I'll tell you one thing, I was concerned.
You know, we've worked terribly hard
to get this done.
I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel on it.
[digger] I'd hate to have done all of that damn work
-for nothing, wouldn't you? -[ramsey] yeah.
I think all of our hard work has paid off,
it's gonna work fine.
That's why they say, if you don't like the weather
in the mountains, wait a few minutes.
[digger] wait a few minutes, it will change.
I'm liking it.
I'd like it even more when about six months pass.
This is gonna revolutionize our liquor selling world,
we're gonna get five-year old liquor
in five to six months.
Longer it stays in there, better it's gonna get.
Exactly.
I say, we just come and get it as we need it.
[digger] oh, yeah. There ain't no sense
in taking 'em all out at once.
Whenever we get one, we just replace it with another.
Yeah. Daniel, you know what this means, don't you?
You and kelly's gotta double time it now,
we gotta step up our tennessee whisky.
We gotta have them tennessee whisky.
This old dream catcher here
seems to be what dreams are made of.
Boys, we ain't doing it no justice here.
A watched pot don't boil and watched liquor don't age.
I think, dream catcher whisky has a right, catchy sound.
This calls for celebration.
You know, I'd probably try it.
Sea aging in the mountains.
[mike] the champagne went over really well at the wedding.
I'm gonna see this guy, biscuit.
A friend of mine, o'brien, put me onto him.
It's his cousin.
I'm gonna go up there and see if he wants to buy
the rest of this stuff.
He sounded really interested,
I'm bringing the rest of the 24 bottles.
I'm gonna try to drag a pretty damn good,
hard bargain tonight.
I'm gonna try to get a 100 bucks
a damn bottle for this stuff.
And try to get some money in my pocket
to give back to jerry to help him with his,
you know, hospital bills.
It's been a few days since my wedding now
and... All I can think about
is trying to help jerry out
with his financial state and his doctor bills and stuff.
I'm gonna see if I can't sell some champagne.
I just wanna get this stuff sold
for a damn good premium price
and get some money back in jerry's pocket.
-[biscuit] hey, there! -What's going on?
-[biscuit] mike, right? -Yup, you must be biscuit.
That's right, that's me, how are you doing?
[mike] all right, nice to meet you, brother.
Well, I heard from o'brien
that you might want some of this champagne here.
Well, o'brien said it was really good.
He was just raving about it.
It had really good flavor and everything.
[mike] it does, it's got a damn good flavor.
You wanna take a sip of it?
[biscuit] yeah, let me see what it tastes like.
He said it was really--
[mike] whoa!
Well, that's gonna take off, ain't it?
[mike] yeah, buddy!
-Ooh, buddy. -[mike] it's champagne.
That's good champagne, right there.
Well, it smells good.
Some of the backwoods finest blueberry champagne.
[biscuit] you can smell blueberry in it.
[mike] take you a little sip and see what you think.
O'brien was right, that's got the flavors coming right out in it.
-[mike] you like it? -That is really good.
He loves it. I can see it in his eyes, he's wanting it.
I'll tell you what,
it's gonna cost you $100 a bottle.
Oh, man!
Coming at me hard, ain't you?
[mike] well, what are you thinking?
-I was think $50 a bottle. -[mike] oh! [bleep]
you're crazier than hell.
I gotta make money on it.
I don't do this stuff for my health.
I'll tell you what I do, I go $90 a bottle on it
and, you know, that's gonna be about it, man, for me.
I can't go that high.
I'll take all 24 of 'em, right now,
if you give me $75 a bottle.
That's as high as I can go.
$75, I see.
-That sounds like a deal. -That will work.
You know, that's $1,800 going straight to jerry.
I sold each and every bottle.
This is a heavy load.
-[biscuit] just set it right there. -[mike] yes, sir.
You know, all that matters to me
is getting jerry back to full health
and giving him the money to pay his bills
and getting him back in the field with me.
[biscuit] I appreciate you, brother.
[mike] all right, man. You have a good one.
[biscuit] all right, man. You too.