[narrator] On the special Master Distiller Tournament...
This looks like the who's who of the backwoods liquor world.
[narrator] ...it's a backwoods battle royale.
-[Richard] It's coming. -It's coming.
[narrator] Five champion outlaw distillers,
Amanda,
Richard,
Kelly,
Tater,
Mike,
will put their backwoods ingenuity to the test...
Well, fellers, you know,
this is a mean challenge we've issued them.
[narrator] ...through a series of sudden elimination challenges.
[Digger] I believe he's on somebody's trail.
Looky here, boom.
[narrator] Only the best backwoods shiner can come up on top...
I know one thing, that is a good drink.
[narrator] ...and earn the title of Master of the Backwoods.
It's gonna be a tight race.
Hell yeah.
[Digger] This looks like the who's who of the backwoods liquor world.
Guys, it's my honor and privilege
to welcome you all to a competition
like you've never seen before.
By the time all these competitions are completed,
we're gonna find out which one of y'all truly is
the Master of the Backwoods.
And at the end of this competition,
you'll win all the backwoods bragging rights
and this sweet little trophy for your mantle.
Every single one of you has faced not only the law,
but some of the toughest distilling competitions
in the country.
And you all came out on top.
But this may be the toughest challenge yet.
All right, guys, you're gonna have to run us three jars
of the finest heritage spirits that you can run.
Then you're gonna have to overcome
three of the toughest backwoods challenges
that we've ever come up with.
But I know that if anybody can do this,
you five can.
All right, guys,
your first run's gonna be the foundation
of what this industry was built on.
Even though it's a backwoods world,
it was always corn liquor.
And that's what everybody cut your teeth on.
But it's up to you. You could add something in there.
Let's see what you can do with it.
By the time it's over with,
we want a hundred-proof jar on our table.
[Tim] All right, guys,
but we're not gonna make it easy for you.
As you can see, we only have a copper pot besides you.
So if you're gonna make any liquor,
you gotta go through the first challenge.
So, guys, we're going to have to go outside.
We're going backwoods.
[Mark] Here we go.
All right, guys, welcome.
Now, you know any backwoods moonshiner that's worth his salt
should be able to build the most precious part
of any moonshine still,
and that's the condenser.
You know, if you can build a condenser,
then it'll operate with any pot still
that you can hook it to.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
With a condenser, you can distill liquor from any pot.
And this is where the magic happens.
The condenser cools the vapor from the pot
and condenses it back into alcohol in a liquid form,
and it runs down the condenser and into the jar.
There are many types of condensers,
but the most popular in the backwoods
are the worm,
the shotgun,
the double wall,
the Gatling gun,
and the lyne arm.
The lyne arm has an advantage for a Master of the Backwoods.
It's simple, efficient,
and easy to transport in and out of the still site.
However, the lyne arm requires a lot of running water,
and any vapor leak that occurs
is nearly impossible to repair in the woods.
[Digger] All right, guys.
I hope everybody brought their A game.
It's a simple lyne arm condenser,
but it's tough to solder.
We're gonna give you all the tools, all the parts,
and everything you need to make this type condenser.
And you're gonna have two hours to make it,
replicate it.
If you cannot build this in two hours,
you are out.
Your two hours starts now.
Good luck, and get with it.
There you go.
These are nice, nice condensers they're building.
They're a little bigger than the ones that we've had.
You know, Mike, since you're the soldering king,
you're gonna give us helpful hands if we need it?
Hey, you never know,
I might screw something up down here.
My name's Mike Cockrell.
I'm from Picayune, Mississippi.
I'm pretty much a master at soldering.
I've done it all my life.
I mean, I've been a plumber, I've welded all my life.
And I'm 100 percent confident
in putting the condenser together.
This condenser, it's a very simple concept.
It's just an inch and a half pipe,
with a three-quarter inch pipe going through the middle.
Couple of hose connectors
where the water can go inside of a jacket
and circulate 100 percent of the time
and cool your liquor off.
That's all there is to it.
Mike, how many times have you done this?
-A couple of thousand? -[Mike] Several times.
My favorite part of distilling is keeping the tradition alive
and the heritage alive.
This right here is where the magic happens.
My family done it.
I do it.
I have right at 30 years of experience of doing so.
[Digger] Mike Cockrell.
[Mike] I've been Master Distiller before.
-Congratulations, brother. -Good job.
[Mike] And I'm gonna be Master of the Backwoods.
That's who I am.
[Tater] You ever built one of these, Amanda?
I have not built one of these.
Just add this to my repertoire.
-How about you, Kelly? -Nope.
Me either.
I'm Tater.
I'm a true blue, through and through
backwoods moonshiner.
I've growed up in the woods.
I laid out of school a lot.
I was in the woods every day.
I've been around true outlaws in my life.
I've lived an outlaw life.
A lot more than a lot of these people
that's in this competition.
Tater,
you're the next Master Distiller.
-Well, thank you, y'all. -Congratulations, old buddy.
[Tater] I have one Master Distiller,
so they better load their damn dogs
and get ready to go hunting, because here we go.
[Mark] Tater, he don't solder a lot.
No, he's a tile and stonemason.
He's kind of like I am.
I don't have to know how to solder because you do.
[Tim laughs]
[Tater] To be a backwoods shiner, you got to know how to solder.
You got to know how to fabricate all your stuff.
You got to know how it operates,
and you got to know how to operate.
If you're lacking any of that, you have major catastrophes.
[Mike] What that sandpaper?
[Richard] So much damn trouble.
-Too much trouble? -Too much trouble.
My name is Richard Landry, from New Iberia, Louisiana.
I have been distilling for almost 13 years.
And I went to Master Distiller and I actually won.
Richard, you're the next Master Distiller, my friend.
[Richard] I've won quite a few times since then.
That means I just get to come back
and win this Master Backwoods.
I won't blame this kind of condenser on anything.
But I used it when Tim Smith beat me
in the last tournament.
And I lost with it, Tater.
[Tater laughs]
I like this little fountain you got set up here.
I love this.
Yeah, that's gonna be the keeper jar right there.
And the winner is...
Tim Smith.
Congratulations, Timmy.
-So, he remembers? -He remembers.
So hopefully, you know,
he's used up all of his bad karma...
-[Tim laughs] -...with you.
Yeah.
Maybe history will repeat itself, Richard.
I hope not, Tater.
[Tater laughs]
Mike, you're moving kind of fast, huh?
That's kinda intimidating.
This is a competition, we're in a hurry.
[Richard] Mike Cockrell and I have a little beef going on,
and I've competed against Mike several times here.
We're always trying to beat each other.
When you put all that together in a competition,
we got trouble on our hands here.
Down there next to the expert, huh?
Mr. Cockrell. [chuckles]
[Richard] That's really intimidating.
Just watch what he does.
My name is Amanda Bryant,
and I'm from Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania.
When I first came on Master Distiller,
I just practiced distilling as a hobby.
Since I have competed a few times,
I started working in the backwoods
with Mark and Huck.
[Mark] Be careful. Watch for snakes.
[Amanda] What kind of snakes we have here?
-[Mark] The deadly kind. -[Amanda laughs]
It doesn't get much more backwoods than these guys.
They are old school, and they're my mentors.
So I've been working really hard
to polish my backwoods techniques,
and I deserve to win this competition.
What do you think Mike's a-doing down there, Amanda?
I think he's putting those cups on the end of that...
-[Tater] Yeah? -...jacket.
I am soldering my reducers
on the end of my case pipe here.
In order to put my actual condenser pipe
through the center, you solder these first.
Then put your three-quarter pipe through that one.
Hmm, a little different order than I would have done.
I'm definitely revising my strategy now.
[Amanda] We have to make a lyne arm condenser,
which is one I've never used before,
and I've definitely never built one.
But I have made
a bunch of different still parts before.
So I feel pretty good about building the condenser.
We're off to the races, this thing has to work.
So I think I'm better off taking my time.
Yeah, this is not where I want to be in a hurry yet.
I'm Kelly Williamson from Cosby, Tennessee.
I started distilling moonshine many years ago.
Can't really tell you when, but it's been a while.
To be a true Master of the Backwoods,
you got to do a little bit of everything.
And thank goodness I've got a background in farming
and doing a little excavating work.
So you just learn how to do stuff
you're not real comfortable with.
And try it till it works.
Yeah, I don't know if I can trust
Mike's advice with
the history that we've got.
The last time I talked to Mike
about anything to do with copper
is when he blew up a still he thought was mine.
-Ooh. -Oh!
What's good for the goose... is good for the gander.
He didn't do that.
Oh, yeah. He done it.
[Kelly] Mike has pulled a few stunts over the years,
but he's earned his right to be here, for sure.
But, you know, that would be, kind of,
my worst nightmare is to lose to Mike Cockrell.
[laughs]
I heard that, buddy.
All right, guys.
One hour left. You're halfway there.
[Mark] Thing about these condensers,
they either work like they're supposed to or they leak.
I just want 'em all to get 'em put together,
leak free, so they can all compete.
[Tim] Tater is soldering like crazy.
[Digger] Yeah, if he has a leak, it ain't for the lack of solder.
He's using up rolls of solder.
It only does so much.
[Tater] It ain't real pretty but seems to work.
Thank you, sir.
[Mike] There it is. All right.
You know, Mike's done.
He, he's done good.
-Are you finished? -I'm done, brother.
That's no surprise to me.
I knew he was gonna kill it at this.
How's yours holding? Good?
I don't see water running out yet.
What they've done,
they've all took 'em a bottle of water.
I don't know how much leakage that would show
because they're not under pressure yet.
[Digger] So it's just gravity.
[Mark] Just gravity flowing.
[Tim] It would leak if you put pressure on.
-[both] Oh, yeah -It'd be spraying everywhere.
Amanda, she's making nice solder joints.
She's very meticulous.
[Digger] She's a perfectionist.
You know, if you don't take the time
to do it right the first time,
you'll find the time to do it again.
[Kelly] I need four more hands.
[Amanda] Yeah, this one's tricky.
This is not my thing.
This whole thing,
creating this lyne arm condenser
is something that I'm not real comfortable with at all.
There's a couple of holes being cut in this big pipe,
and we've got to solder in a true fitting for that,
and that's not my expertise at all.
Kelly is struggling a little bit
'cause this is not what Kelly does.
He's in excavation.
He could pick one of them nipples up over there
and not bring up a bit of dirt with the excavator.
-[Mark] Yeah. -But putting them together is not his strong suit.
[Kelly] And on this one, I got a leak.
[Amanada] Really? Are you sure it's not coming out the valve?
I've gotta get this condenser fixed and right so it doesn't leak
or I'm out of the challenge before we even get started.
[bleep] I got a leak.
Damn it!
[Kelly] Damn it! I got a leak.
I've gotta get this condenser fixed and right, so it doesn't leak,
or I'm out of the challenge before we even get started.
How you coming along, Kelly?
-I suck. -You fix it?
I don't know.
[both chuckle]
Why doesn't that surprise me?
How many times have you done each part, buddy?
-Three. -Three? Well, the third time's always a charm.
That's what they say. I hope like hell that's right.
Five minutes left, guys.
If you ain't got all them leaks fixed,
you probably ain't going to.
[Mike] This is my wheelhouse here.
I know what I'm doing to build this condenser
because a real backwoods shiner, Master of the Backwoods,
you should know how to build every piece of your still.
But Kelly, on the other hand,
he don't know whether he's coming or going
when it comes to build anything that goes to a still.
You got one, two, three, four, five, six joints.
It can leak.
That's encouraging, innit?
[Amanda] Don't let it get in your head, Kelly,
you got this.
[Kelly] This has turned that way.
I think I'm about there.
I believe this is my last joint.
[Tater] Kelly has got a damn condenser bill.
-For a fella that don't do no soldering. I, I, I-- -You can tell it.
-You done good. -[all laughing]
Well, it don't look too pretty,
but hopefully it'll work.
-Maybe it's sealed off. -All right. All done.
-Last, but not least. -Well, lady and gentlemen, grab them condensers.
We're gonna go clean 'em and test 'em.
-Lead us out there, Mark. -Here we go.
All right. You completed your first challenge.
You made your condenser.
They look good.
But will they work good?
[Mark] All right, guys,
we're gonna water pressure test 'em here
to see if you've got any leaks.
If you ain't got no leaks,
there's nothing about these that's unsafe.
So, Amanda, please.
We don't wanna see
water coming out from anywhere, guys.
All right. Here's your cold water coming in...
This will be your exit water going out
after it's done its condensin'.
Once we get this water flowing,
we'll slowly shut that valve off
to keep pressure on the jacket.
We'll see where we're at.
We put it against a closed circuit
that will tell you if you've got a leak or not.
Watching the judges test my condenser
is a little bit nerve racking.
If this condenser doesn't function properly,
we'll eliminated from the next round of the competition.
So no matter what
I just hope there's no leaks.
[Digger] Here's the true test.
That air is going out.
I don't see any leaks, guys.
That was nerve racking. [chuckles]
Well, Amanda, you passed inspection.
-Here you go. -Thank you very much.
-Mike. -There you go.
[Mark] All right, here we go.
So far, we've got one can make alcohol.
Not gonna be a competition unless we get two.
[Mike] Looking at this condenser,
to me personally, it's not that big a challenge
because I could lay in my bed
and put it together with my eyes closed.
[hissing]
I hear a leak.
I hear air leaving this.
[Mark] No, it's just the hose.
[Digger] Yeah. Just didn't tighten up the gasket.
Didn't tighten it.
-[Mark] This one's good. -[Digger] We're good to go.
Good job, Mike.
Appreciate it.
We have two who can make alcohol.
Gosh!
There you go, Mike. You passed inspection.
-Thank you, sir. -Tater.
See here what we got to do, what we're working with here.
[Tater] I hope you're gentle with it.
[Digger] Open it up.
You run against close circuit, you've got no leaks.
I believe you're gonna be good here, Tater.
Well, I hope so.
I patched it through
and got blessed with being able to run my liquor.
But now it's the challenge of actually working
and doing what it's designed to do.
It looks like we've got three in the competition now.
-All right, Richard? -Yes, sir.
[Mark] Thank you, sir.
[Richard] We're running, like,
a corn mash through this condenser
that I just built, I can put something together,
I can use it to make alcohol with?
There's no feeling better to me.
[Digger] Yeah, let's see if we got something going on here.
There's water running.
I can hear it.
Here's your proof in the pudding.
[Mark] I believe that it passes muster.
-[Digger] It does in fact. -[Tim] Mm-hmm.
Sounds like we got four in the competition.
I'm relieved because I don't have
the best of luck with this condenser
but I'm gonna turn that around.
-Nice job. -Thank you.
'Cause I was a little worried right there.
-[Kelly] Oh. -Least, but not last.
-Can we not test mine? -[all laughing]
[Mark] I think this is the one that concerns me.
Me, too. Are you sure you want this?
I don't want you to get eliminated before you get started.
Me neither.
[Mark] All right, Kelly.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, boss.
-Me too. -[Mark] Here we are.
[Tim] I hear the water.
[Mark] It's filling up.
[Digger] Well, here we go.
[Mark] Well, I'll be damned.
[exhales]
The wonders of life never cease to amaze me.
You talk about breathing a sigh of relief.
At least I get to run some liquor.
It would be so sad to get out of the challenge that quick.
-Good job, Kelly. -Damn good job, Kelly.
Came through.
Good job, Kelly. You're in the competition.
-Thank you. -Pass it off to Kelly
and tell them how surprise-- I mean, proud we are of him.
-[all laughing] -There you go, Kel.
-Thank you. -[Mark] You guys done
an excellent job assembling your condenser.
Things are good to go. I'm very proud of all of you.
-Appreciate it. -Thank you.
-Good job. -All right, guys,
everybody passed muster on this one.
Now we gotta get everybody where they need to be.
It's time to make that corn liquor.
A the end of this challenge,
one of you'll be going home.
There's two many in this room right now.
So Amanda and Kelly, you'll follow with me.
Yes, sir.
[Mike] Good luck, guys.
-Thank you. -Good luck to you guys.
All right, men, you know what to do now.
Gotta make that liquor.
[Tim] All right. You all brought your own corn mash to run.
You have three hours to complete this challenge,
and get your best jar on the table.
[Digger] We want 100 proof jar
of your signature corn liquor,
modified however you want to.
-Your three hour starts... -[Tim] Time starts now.
-...now. Good luck. Get with it. -Get to work.
Oh, [bleep]. I missed the whole thing.
Tater, that mash ain't worth a damn on the floor.
Just saying.
-I guess that would be the angels part, wouldn't it? -Yes, sir.
Corn liquor, that's the money maker.
I know how to make it,
and I know how to make it damn good.
Gonna try to add a different profile to it.
I figured, heck, I'll just think outside the box
and try to make me some coconut moonshine.
So I added coconut milk to my mash.
That's just like I'd do it if I'm in wood.
The only thing about it is if they want anything special,
they've had to put it in their mash
'cause they ain't got no thump keg.
They got no thumper to work with.
Mike's mash is a little bit browner than Tater's.
[Richard] It smells good.
What did you put in that mash, man?
I put a little salted caramel in with my corn mash.
-Salted caramel? -Yeah, just to see if I can transfer
some of that flavor over.
Since we don't have no thump,
no nothing, coming straight from the pot to a jar...
Everybody loves salted caramel, right?
But, you know, put something like a salted caramel syrup
into a corn mash like that is always a big risk.
This could make my alcohol fiery as all hell.
That's why I'm gonna go as slow as possible.
I call that kettle corn liquor.
[giggling]
[Mike] Whoo!
What'd you put in yours?
Just some oats. That's all.
-Oats. -Corn and oats.
My plan for this run is to just come out alive.
'Cause this run is an elimination round.
So I just wanna make sure that
I don't go too fancy with it.
Just turn in a real good, clean jar of liquor.
I'm okay if they just leave it the way it is.
I'm a huge fan of corn liquor as it is.
-Yeah. -What do you reckon Kelly and Amanda did
-with their mash? -I don't know.
[Kelly] Are you gonna try to run all your mash,
what are you doing on that?
No, sir. I'm gonna leave
some headspace on top of the pot.
[Kelly] What did you end up doing special to your mash
to make flavors?
Well, it's a corn based mash,
but I put a little peach in there.
[Amanda] Some peach puree and some fresh peaches.
I went with peaches.
I know it's a really good option.
And I know some of the judges really have favoritism towards peaches.
Compliments the corn, I think, a little bit.
This is a Backwoods competition,
and if we can't bring it in this round,
we don't deserve to be in the next one.
How about you, Kelly, what'd you put in yours?
Well, I just decided I'd go with straight up corn.
[Amanda] As long as you made a good corn liquor.
Yeah, we'll make it work.
I want my corn liquor to just be straight up plain corn liquor.
[Kelly] I think anybody that couldn't make good corn liquor,
don't need to be in a Backwoods challenge.
Kelly, you lost?
I'm just trying to figure out the sequence of events
that needs to take place here.
I've never used a condenser like that
that has anything to do with what we're doing.
Well, this type of condenser, I've never even seen operate,
so I'm afraid I might get myself in trouble.
Hm. Hm, hm, hm.
Kelly, you lost?
I've never used a condenser like that
that has anything to do with what we're doing.
This type of condenser, I've never even seen operate,
so I'm kind of just trying to figure that out.
I don't know how confident I am
in hooking this dang condenser up like that, are you?
I'll give you a hand, we can figure it out.
[Amanda] I'm gonna leave my cap off up.
Let's figure out yours first.
[Kelly] You know, me and Amanda are in a competition,
but she's willing to help and just share in her knowledge.
It's just a fact of Backwoods life
that we try to work together and help one another.
Yeah, you can put the hose on the bottom.
[Amanda] The one thing that I'm concerned about
is jut kind of running this condenser.
It's totally new to me. I've never done this before.
But these are all really important parts of making liquor in the Backwoods.
So, the only way to learn is to do it.
All right, no leaks. Cool.
-[Richard] Mike, you good? -[Mike] Yes, sir.
I've actually used these type of condensers before,
and I know that
I have got run it as slow as I could possibly run this still
to try to get that perfect jar.
That right there will work out, won't it?
[Digger] It will in fact.
[Richard] The only advantage to having a condenser like that is...
as soon as that gets hot,
-it's coming. -It's coming.
[Richard] Typically in the moonshine making process,
we'd have something much much bigger than this.
[Richard] But if you're gonna be a Backwoods Master,
it would be necessary to know about different condensers
and what they do.
I'm familiar with this type of condenser,
so I'm feeling confident.
I like them condensers there.
[Digger] Yeah, they're ideal.
I mean, that was original of them just running a trough full of water.
Now, I have never ever used one of these condensers,
but being a hillbilly or Backwoods shiner,
I'm pretty confident in how I do things,
so I can pretty much accomplish anything I set my mind to.
Fellers, you're halfway home.
[Digger] Burned an hour and a half. You got an hour and a half.
Make 'em minutes count.
-Won't be long now, will it? -[Richard] No.
[Digger] We're looking for that bench mark of 100 proof.
That's gonna put their skills to the test.
[Mark] Well, they know when it's holding a bead and when it ain't.
[digger] Well, you know, that's another thing that kind of trick you,
when you have something to the mash,
sometimes it can give you a false bead,
so that's gonna rely on the eyeball and the palate as well, I believe.
[Richard] Yeah, I'm starting to get a few drips down here, Tater.
Oh, you are?
[Mike] He's running wide open.
[Tater] It's coming out, boss.
Get a little stream, ain't it?
I'm starting to drip right now and I'm only at 165.
I wonder what that old Kelly and Amanda has done over there.
Looky here, boom.
[Kelly] Alcohol is hot.
-[Tim] You hear it, Amanda? -[Amanda] Ten-four.
-Peekin' at my flames? -[Kelly] Yep.
-I feel okay about it. -[Amanda] I am good.
This ain't my first rodeo, Kelly.
-I know, but I... -[both chuckling]
I appreciate it, though. I appreciate it.
I feel like we're all veterans of making a corn liquor.
So the real challenge here
is gonna be how our condensers function for us.
[Amanda] I'm tasting peaches.
-[Kelly] What do you think? -I'm surprised my peaches
are actually coming through a lot better than I thought it would.
-Really? -[Amanda] Yeah.
I'm still a little bit up there on the proof,
but I can taste it.
Right off the bat, I'm getting a really strong peach flavor.
[Amanda] But the bead is really throwing me off on this.
The liquor is still crystal clear,
and it tastes very high proof,
but I'm not getting a strong bead like I'm used to.
[Amanda] Um, how's your proof holding up?
I think I'm still a little hot. I'm probably around 110 or so.
Look, number four.
Ooh.
-[Kelly] That went below 90, didn't it? Right? -[Amanda] Yeah.
I would say it's below. Definitely below a hundred.
[Tim] The important thing is
that you're gettin' the taste profile that you was looking for.
Remember what I said, if you can't drink it, I can't drink it.
-Yeah. -[laughs]
That tastes perfectly fine for me.
[Amanda] Come on, perfect jar.
All right, you're two hours in.
You got one hour left. Sixty minutes left.
[Richard] That's gonna be it, right there.
Tater, how's it comin'?
[Tater] It tastes like butter.
I like the texture of it, the mouth feel.
I'm not really gettin' a lot of coconut,
but I'm gettin' a real good buttery note like I was shooting for
which will end up being a good, smooth corn liquor.
Well, how's yours, Richard? Did your oats come out yet?
I think the oats came out a little bit.
You're sowing your oats to it?
-I'm sowing my royal oats today. -[Tater] Okay.
[Richard] This condenser is working properly.
I can taste the corn. I can smell the corn.
I can smell the oats.
I mean, I know that this thing is running like it's supposed to be running,
and I think it should give me something really pleasant to turn in to the judges.
So six was too bad, five was not good,
four was all right, three was too hot.
The mixes between three and four,
we come up with this meister.
[digger] I think, at this point,
we've got a really, really big competition on our head.
[Digger] It's gonna be a tight race.
Oh, yeah. When you take five people that knows
what they're doing, is... to the level,
if these guys know what they're doing,
it ain't got no choice but to be a tiebreaker.
Thirty minutes left, gentlemen.
If you ain't got your sweet jar, you probably ain't going to.
[Mike shrieks] [bleep]
-[Richard] It's hot. -[Tater] I knowed you would.
-[Richard] It's hot? -Damn.
[Tater] How's things going over there?
[laughs]
Smell that wonderful salted caramel.
[Digger] With salted caramel, smelling good, Mike.
[Tater] Mike is tough competition.
He knows how to win these things.
He's got this whole room filled up with salted caramel.
It really smells good.
So it's makin' me a little nervous about Mike.
Well I'll tell you what, Mike, I smell that salted caramel way over here, man.
My alcohol has a fabulous taste.
That salted caramel is coming through really nice,
but my alcohol is a little bit fiery.
Still hot?
[chuckles] Hell yeah.
Bet this right here is still burnin'.
[Mike] That is just crazy.
Look at that.
-Still burning. -Look, you can even see the flame
on my fifth jar, man.
[groans loudly]
I got to get 'em that 100 proof jar liquor
without it being too fiery.
And that's gonna be my biggest challenge here today.
I'm kind of shocked we didn't have at least one leak.
[Mark] You know, just the law of average,
-one of those should've leaked. -[digger] Yeah.
[Mark chuckles]
Well, the thing about it is, usually,
-everybody's not a pro at everything, you know. -[Digger] Yes.
There are very few of them, start to finish,
can build a still, build a mash, and then run the liquor.
[Tater] I believe I'm gonna call it, boys.
I think I'm done. All I can do.
[Digger] Well, with five minutes left,
I'm gonna say pretty much all of you better be done.
[Tater] Yep.
Well, I didn't take a big risk with the coconut,
but the oils that's in it I think may be
taking the bite out the corn, so to speak,
making it have a smoother finish.
Jar number five, boss.
-[Digger] Okay, Tater, head on back to your station. -All right then, thank you.
[judges] Good luck.
All right, men, you got your two minute warning right now.
Well...
I'm gonna turn this in.
I'm so happy about this jar.
It has a real good backwoods corn flavor to it,
and I could taste the oats in it.
I think it's gonna be something the judges would like.
I like that right there.
-Looks good. -Good luck.
[Richard] Thank you all!
[Digger] Mikey...
I've got a jar sittin' here ready, guys.
[Mike] The taste of my jar's comin' through really nice.
The salted caramel flavor was there,
but the backend is a little bit fiery.
[Mike] I'm taking a risk turning this jar in.
But that's all I have to offer.
-[Mike] There you go. -Well,
we've got three good, clear jars of liquor.
That's good. What jar is that?
Number seven.
Very smooth.
[Tim] All right, guys, you got one minute.
Better start figuring out what jar you want to turn in.
Man, it don't get any clearer than that.
[Kelly] Amanda, I think I'm ready to turn this one in then.
I taste this corn liquor and...
even though, I took a risk here not putting any flavor in,
and it's given me the true, good corn flavor that I really, really like,
I'm hopin' that's somethin' the judges really love.
A jar of good, clear corn liquor.
It looks good.
I hope you guys enjoy.
[Kelly] Just comin' round the bead.
Amanda, you got about 30 seconds left.
You got plenty of time.
I'm just gonna stop obsessing about the bead,
'cause it's not getting me anywhere.
It's all about taste, right?
I was really happy with the outcome of the entire run,
and I got to that perfect jar of corn with peach.
[Amanda] And I just hope the judges agree.
There you go.
[Tim] Oi, Amanda, that looks good.
I love peach brandy.
I may or may not have known that.
-[laughs] You do now. -Mm-hm.
Amanda and Kelly, we'll take these two jars here,
catch up with Mark and Digger.
-Good deal. -Y'all comin' with me.
-Let's all get out of here. -Sounds good.
-Thank you. -After you, ma'am.
-Master of the Backwoods. -Master of the Backwoods.
You guys, here we are with no less than what I expected.
Five gem clear jars of liquor.
Look what a challenge they had today, they came in this morning,
run a run on a brand new condenser that they made.
That's the backwoods in 'em.
Well, you know, we wasn't gonna get nothing less.
We got the five best Backwoods moonshiners.
We ain't gonna know unless we get started, Timmy.
-[Mark] Let's start right there on the end, then. -Start right there on the end,
that suits me.
I've decided to give a try to somethin' new
since I had done a different rig that I never run before.
That's always the time to try something.
Oh, heck. Yeah, I figured I'd
just stick my neck out and get it cut off.
[laughter]
-Tater. -Tater.
Looks like a jar of crystal clear glacier water.
All right, let's see what the bead looks like.
[Digger] Right nice.
I'll know more when it hits my palate.
[Digger] He put a little bit of coconut in there.
[Tim] Coconut, uh-oh.
[Digger] I get a little on my nose.
[Tim] I can smell that coconut.
[Tim] Nice and smooth.
It's a little bit different than straight corn now.
I guess, because of the coconut milk.
I know it's got a little weird finish on it.
-[Tim] True. -I'm telling you.
[Digger] He ain't supposed to swallow it whole.
Well, I'm pretty partial to it, though. It's good.
Well, I say we've moved on to number two.
All right, next jar Richard corn liquor.
It's definitely a clear jar.
That's as clear as you can get a jar liquor.
-See what he's working with. -Yeah.
[Mark] It's holding that bead nice.
[Digger] Mm-hmm.
-[Digger] That corn liquor. -[Mark] That's corn liquor on the nose.
[Digger] I mean, I'm pretty certain
that's gonna be in the hundred,
but it's hitting the palate like a 90 proof liquor.
[Richard] I just did some oats,
threw some oats in with some corn
and keep it in the grain family.
[Richard] It came out pretty good.
I think Richard did an outstanding job.
[Mark] Richard's done a great job.
Nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with it.
But, you know, he wasted his time putting them oaks
-in then. -I don't think it brought anything else to the party.
Could have just used them for breakfast.
-Yep. -[laughs]
[Tim] Let's go to Mike.
And another pretty jar.
I'm telling you.
I think that's the clearest jar on the table.
If it gets in the clear, I ain't gonna be able to tell
if there's anything in it.
He might be a little north of a hundred.
I'm telling you, they ain't five points difference
in these three jars proofs so far.
-[Mark] Are they smelling good? -Hmm.
I'm getting a little of that caramel on the nose.
You know, about the 100 proof jar that I turned in.
Yeah, you can taste the salty caramel on the back side,
but truly, the corn was, you know, the ballplayer.
It's got a real floral something in there on it.
[Mark] It's a little harsh on the back, ain't it?
-It is. -That's a little different, again.
[stuttering] It goes back into the category of Tater.
[stuttering] You know it's corn liquor,
and it's got a little twist to it, in between.
It's not a good twist like it was with Tater's.
I like the flavor of it. I don't like the harshness.
Would that caramel would...
Would that cause that harshness on the back end?
That's the only thing I could blame it on.
Sad, because the taste is delicious.
[Digger] And it's time for Kelly.
[Tim grunts] All right.
That is a clear jar.
-[Digger] All right. -Yeah, it's really nice.
-[Mark] Oh. -[Digger] Hmm.
That's telling me it's a little high.
I actually just stuck with straight up corn liquor mash
and didn't try to put any kind of flavor in it.
Here's why. I done Master Distiller.
And the more I messed with it, the worse it got.
-[all laugh] -You might have learned something, Kelly.
[Digger] Kelly didn't add anything to his corn liquor.
-[Mark] No. -[Tim] No, he run straight corn.
And he's, he's brought us a 90 proof jar.
I think you's right on that.
[Tim] Mmm.
That's a good taste.
[Mark] Really good.
I like it a lot.
[Digger] Yeah, I wouldn't tell him this
because he'd get calluses all over his hand
and back patting himself.
[smacks lips] That's probably as good a jar of corn liquor we've had in a while.
-All right. -Professor.
Professor Amanda. Peach and corn liquor.
[Mark] This one could be a game changer.
You just like the fact there is peach on that lid.
[Mark] Well, I like it too. Look at that jar.
-How clear it is. -[Digger] Mm-hmm.
All right.
Well, I'm saying she's right around 100.
-[Tim] Yeah? -[Digger] Yeah.
-[Mark] 105. -We'll know here in a minute.
It has got a little octane in there on the nose.
[Digger] And I get a little peach in there.
[Mark] She put white peach puree in it.
You know that goes a long way for flavor.
Did your peach carry through?
-Did it? -Way more than I thought it would.
And that right there is totally different than anything on the table.
Wow!
I know one thing. That is a good drink. [laughs]
It's got a little tiny bit of fire,
but it's not unpleasant and it's not on the end.
It's right there in the middle.
It's not a peach brandy.
But it's been kissed with a little peach fuzz.
Just enough to really set it above the rest.
And it's so smooth.
There's almost nothing to say bad about that.
I mean, hell, on the end,
it's like you just took a little drink of water, honestly.
Damn it! What we say about her?
We say nothing, but thank you for coming to the competition.
-[Digger] Yeah. -And this ain't went the way I thought it I would.
No, absolutely not.
Guys, what did we do to deserve a job like this?
We got five really great jars of liquor here.
But one that just lacked a little something on that back end.
I'm just glad you get to tell them and not me.
[beep] You ain't never cared.
-[Tim laughs] -[Digger] Let's go do it.
Now, what I wanna know is
what them judges are thinking right now.
They're thinking they're gonna cut one up.
One of the five of us.
[stutters] I'm the one that's actually from back in the hills.
And this is a Backwoods challenge.
So I wouldn't mind losing that to all y'all.
-Y'all... -So you want to drop out, then, Richard?
-Is that what you're saying? -No, I won't do that.
Richard said he wants to drop out.
-[all laughing] -[Richard] No, I won't do that.
It only seems fair
that since there was two in that room and three in this room,
next time, there should only be two of you guys left.
I don't know which one of you guys they're gonna cut.
-It's probably gonna be me. -[all laughing]
[Digger] All right, guys, come up and get your jars.
[jars hit on table]
Thank you, sir.
[Digger] All right, guys, I hope y'all had an easy rest
because we damn sure didn't have no easy test.
I'm telling you, y'all brought your A game,
and unfortunately, somebody's got to go home.
Now I guess we just need to cut to the chase
and go down the line. Mikey.
Fine liquor. You got that salted caramel in there,
got it on the nose and got a little of it on the pallet.
It wasn't overpowering. It wasn't too weak.
It had a little bit of a harsh aftertaste on it.
I don't know if you noticed it when you were drinking it,
but it did finish a little fiery,
little harsh, which surprised me.
I mean, you ran that still the way you're supposed to run
with these little bitty rascals. It was a trick.
-Yep. -[Mark] Mikey.
Salted caramel that mash man's off the chain.
I love salted caramel.
Uh, the flavor in it's killer.
Probably the clearest jar on the table.
But it was a little bit harsh.
But good job.
I love to watch you run a still.
-Appreciate it. -Richard.
You had your corn mash. You threw a little extra oats.
And it didn't help you, but it didn't hurt you.
You had a fine jar of corn liquor front to back.
Thank you.
Tater.
Where in the world does somebody from Podunk, Tennessee,
come up with putting coconut in corn liquor mash?
You gotta think outside the box.
But, uh, honestly, I still get corn liquor flavor.
I think that coconut may have made it a little sweeter.
I wouldn't have thought of it myself.
Good job, Tater.
Tater, Backwoods Moonshiner.
You brought it to the table.
That coconut...
right on spot.
It's a twist, totally different.
I'm not expecting it from a Tennessee guy.
Maybe Richard, but not you.
Amanda. One that we never, ever underestimate.
Do you know how many of them chunks of white peach puree
did you put in there?
-Not a whole lot. -[Digger] I'm telling you,
that right there was something else.
It was pretty close to being a split brandy,
which would have been the peaches being fermented with the grain.
I couldn't come up with a negative,
except there's not a tanker truck load of it up there waiting on me to sample.
Thank you.
So that, that right there is fine jar. Don't drop that.
Man, you had to go and add peaches to your mash.
[Tim] I think you knew that I liked peaches.
I mean, that's almost on the edge of cheating
because you knew there's a judge sitting up there that loves peach brandy.
You did a good job at it, too.
-Thank you. -[Tim] Kelly.
You know, even though you didn't follow suit
and add some mix to your mash,
you ran a straight corn liquor,
just like any Tennessee moonshiner should.
-Outstanding job. -Thank you.
All five of you really represent the Backwoods Moonshiner.
Great job.
-[Kelly] Thank you. -[Richard] Appreciate it.
After all that, maybe I ought to just kill all of you
and so you can go home to heaven.
[Mark] You know, I don't know.
[Digger] Guys, he is right.
Because there were five fantastic jars of liquor
and we can't name a Master of the Backwoods
if we don't eliminate some folks.
[Digger] So you know, that being said...
Mikey, that jar right there didn't make the cut, brother.
I'm awfully sorry.
Sounds good to me. I'm going home anyway.
[Digger] But it's a damn fine job.
[Mark] Let me ask you a question.
-What's that? -I know you tasted it.
-You drank it. -Mm-hmm.
And I know you know how good the flavor is.
-But did you get a little of a harsh? -Hey, it's fire.
[Mark] You know what we're talking about?
Yeah, that's fine.
And that we never expected it in a million years.
[Mike] I thought I had this competition in the bag.
And it's disappointing to me that I don't have a second chance
to prove myself in the Backwoods
because I know I am a Master of the Backwoods.
But at the end of the day, I could only blame myself
because I knew adding the salted caramel is a pretty big risk.
But I've done it, and now I've got to pay for it.
-Thank you, Mike. -[Mike] Good luck.
-[Digger] See you, Mike. -[Amanda] Bye-bye.
-[Digger] Thank you, Mike. -[Mike] Yes, sir.
All right, guys. Now, don't y'all get swole up with yourselves
because it could have very easily went any other direction.
You guys keep this in mind. Look to your left and right.
After the next challenge, there'll be two of you gone.
So good luck.
We're bringing it.
We've got another challenge coming up. It's gonna be a dandy.
So y'all set your jars down.
Head on out, guys.
[Richard] Oh, good Lord.
[Mark] Well, I'll tell you what, guys.
We just thought this one was hard.
This next round is really gonna get real.
Welcome to the most difficult challenge
we've ever issued.
[narrator] Next time on Master Distiller.
[Kelly] Forty pounds on a backpack
with good straps is one thing, killer.
[Digger] If you want to compete,
you've got to compete with the best.
Son of a [beep] sprung a leak.
Tastes just like pure damn water.
[Mark] Nobody said it was gonna be easy.