[jeremy schwartz] this time on master distiller...
It's the original american spirit,
first one ever made.
[jeremy] applejack.
The og alcohol that kicked off moonshining in america.
Secret recipe, it's salt, sugar, saw dust.
[jeremy] distilled in a backyard process called jacking...
-[jon] I've done jacking before. -Whoa.
This was always called the poor man's distillation.
...And made safer to drink in a second high-proof run.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Gives it a little extra...
I like a little extra eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
[jeremy] across the country,
a handful of amateur distillers are heirs to
a centuries-old tradition.
Some operate on the legal side,
others practice their craft beyond the reach of the law.
Now, they'll face off to earn their place in
america's liquor-making legacy.
[mark] that has got some alcohol in it with the proof.
Judged by three legendary moonshiners,
they'll go head-to-head in a series of challenges...
[tim] get your hammer, bust that ice up.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna do about that?
[digger] you better juice it up.
...To determine who has what it takes...
[tim] he's got more little packs than anybody I ever seen.
...To be named master distiller.
[tim] that'll be a 3.2 explosion.
[jon] whoa, whoa.
Oh, hell!
It just collapsed.
In the name of sense, that's 120 proof.
That means [beep] just got real.
[mark] oh, mother of pearl.
[digger] guys, welcome.
We're gonna find out which one you all is
the master distiller.
What you're gonna win is your bragging rights, of course,
but you're gonna get a limited run
of your particular liquor in a major distillery.
We're here to make some applejack.
Me and old mark,
we've had a jar or two of that in our time.
[mark] we damn sure have, bud.
They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
There is a good chance that a jar of applejack a day
will keep the undertaker away.
Applejack is an original american spirit.
First one ever made.
Now, tickle,
tell us about it.
Applejack was first made in 1698
by a scottish immigrant named william laird.
There is nothing more american than applejack.
As a matter of fact, george washington loved it so much,
he asked robert laird for the family recipe.
"hey, mind if I get that?"
applejack is traditionally about 86 proof.
The name applejack comes from the process of making it.
Jacking is when you freeze the fermented cider
and then you remove the ice.
That will concentrate, not only your alcohol,
but your flavor and now,
it's having a resurgence.
And the rest of the country
knows something we in the backwoods has always known.
This right here is one mighty fine liquor.
All right, guys, time to build your mash. You got one hour.
Your time starts...
Now.
Get busy.
This part right now, they're really nervous.
Hell, I'm nervous.
Tater looking pretty good already.
He's out the gate, everybody else trying to figure out where they at.
My name's benny mcclure,
from sevierville, tennessee.
My nickname's tater.
I'm just a old-fashion hillbilly.
I'm a third-generation moonshiner, bootlegger, hustler.
Now, here's my little still.
I've made pretty much any kind of brandy you can think of.
There's another barrel of it.
But, my applejack brandy, it's pretty daggone good.
My prized possession, got all the apple that you'll ever want.
I'll put this apple brandy up against anybody's.
[laughs]
I'd like to win because the old ways are dying out,
but the more traditional, original ways
of making moonshine are the best.
Uh-oh, tater's getting ready to blow his up.
Jon, I've been calling you jonny. Jon, do--
do you prefer one or the other?
-Jon works. -Jonny appleseed.
Jonny appleseed.
-I'll take it, new nick name. -How about that?
-[laughs] -yeah.
I'm jon paso and I'm from cleveland, ohio.
Many people have called me a renaissance man
and I guess that label does apply.
I'm a real estate investor,
an upcoming children's book author.
I'm a professional brewer.
I've got my own hot pepper cross
that I've been developing.
I am a reiki master. It's a form of energy medicine.
One would say that I'm an applejack of all trades.
I'm just centering myself.
I've been distilling since about 2007, and
I feel like I can win this competition 'cause I bring
this extra character of love and umami to the spirit.
-[mark] fire in the hole. -[tim] stand back.
Haircut coming up.
-[digger] now is that apples? -[ivy] apples.
-I'd say you brought your stuff already chopped up. -Yeah.
I only have an hour to go,
so, have to make it work as best as possible.
Yup.
My name is ivy williams, I'm from fort lauderdale, florida,
and I'm a baker.
Cookies, yum.
I actually taught myself to moonshine.
My baking background helps me in developing my recipes.
Sometimes I can incorporate ingredients
that people wouldn't normally use.
Molasses and corn.
I made this out of muscadine,
mango and hemp. And this one is rosemary.
Mmm.
Even though I'm self-taught,
and I've only been distilling for three years,
how I distill will bring a different element to this competition.
I think she's got something special up her sleeve.
Oh, I'll guarantee it.
What in the world is going on, tater?
I'm just trying to get my apples worked up.
-Okay. -That way, they'll cook up better.
Get a better flavor in it.
I choose the mellow apples. Like the golden delicious
just about too ripe to eat.
It just makes a more smooth drink and more palatable.
And what do you got in the pot here?
A little bit of apple cider.
[tim] little bit, about 10 gallons.
You're gonna need a bigger pot in a minute.
Hey, ivy, I see you're puttin' some sugar in there.
Yeah, I have white cane sugar and brown sugar.
Oh!
The brown sugar with the molasses in it
gives it a little extra something.
And then you got the apple juice.
[ivy] apple juice and apples.
It looks pretty good already.
Thank you, thank you.
[tim] how you doing, jon?
Pretty good, tim.
Look like you got a lot of apple juice.
[jon] when I've done applejack before,
I've done just straight juice and cider
and I found that brings out the best flavors.
[mark] you're not actually gonna put any solids?
Not for fermentation.
I'll warm it up, so that it dissolves the sugar
that I'm gonna add to boost the alcohol content,
oxygenate everything,
throw it into the fermenter and that's my yeast.
Oh, you speaking some hard terms there.
-[laughs] -you're a well-educated distiller, it sounds like.
I know a thing or two.
[tim] oh, here we go look,
secret recipe there. Salt, sugar, saw dust.
No, it's just brown sugar and white sugar.
It's more of an old-fashioned flavor.
Older flavors has better taste to me.
All this new stuff, it seems to be just blah, blah, blah...
[digger] what you got going in there, jon?
Dark muscovado sugar,
high molasses content.
That's the new modern-- modern stuff.
[jon] that dark muscovado sugar
is gonna balance that bright crisp apple front-end.
[digger] ten minutes folks.
Looky here now.
Ivy, what is that?
Peach cider.
-Peach and applejack? -Yeah.
I'm not a traditionalist at all
with my applejack recipe.
You gonna make "pachlejack," ain't you?
It gives it a little extra...
-That's all right. -Yeah.
I like a little extra eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
peaches compliment apples, so
it smooths it out, uh, like a woman.
[digger] two minutes, guys.
What you got there, ivy, turbo yeast?
-Yes. -Mine's about ready for yeast.
He's got 45 pounds of apples and the sugar in there,
that's gonna be 150% proof.
[mark] you makin' me a starter, jon?
[tim] he's got more little packs
than anybody I ever seen.
[digger] what kinda yeast you using?
[jon] a blend, 116 and 118.
[tim] that'd be a 3.2 explosion.
My yeast blend is going to boost the alcohol.
He's got a measuring spoon.
[digger] five, four, three, two, one.
Step away, guys. Y'all are done.
Very interesting.
We're looking forward to tasting this.
Your mash is gonna sit here for five days. Ready or not,
it's gotta be put in the freezer and froze.
All right, guys, head on out.
[jeremy] once the yeast is active,
the apple mash ferments for five days
as the microbes convert the sugars
into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
By choosing the right yeast to sugar concentration,
a skilled distiller should be able to reach
10 to 12% alcohol by volume.
Welcome back, guys. Your mash, hopefully, it's worked out.
Early americans used to ferment their apple cider in the wintertime,
and they would freeze distill it.
[digger] you all got 30 minutes to strain your mash out,
and ready to freeze.
Your time starts...
Now.
Good luck.
[mark] it's gonna be good just to see the different flavors
from the three different mash.
[digger] different ciders, different apples, different sugar.
Different sugar amounts.
-[jon] it's pretty dry. -[tim] is it?
Yeah, got some tartness though.
We'll see how that comes through the still.
I felt completely happy with the fermentation.
I was trying to ferment it out
and really dry-- get a lot of alcohol.
[tater] mine's kinda sweet. Smells real good.
[jon] can I try yours, tater?
Yeah, I got plenty left.
[laughs]
-I probably got 15 more gallons. -You do.
[tater] kinda sweet.
-But it ain't got a lot of sticky left to it. -Just a little hint.
Yeah. What do you think your abv was?
Twelve? Ten?
Hell, I don't know.
I'll bet it'll make liquor.
-I know that much. -[laughing]
fifteen minutes, guys.
-You wanna taste it? -No.
I'm gonna smell it though.
I noticed most shiners taste their mash, but I never do.
I normally let my nose lead me
when I'm baking or making my spirits.
-Mind if I try yours. -No problem, feel free.
I'm curious with that peach in there.
-Mmm, oh, ivy that's good. -[laughs]
-what do you think? Yeah? -That's good.
Two minutes, guys.
They should get them tops on them.
Five,
four,
three,
two,
one. Step away, guys, y'all are done.
Ready or not, it's gotta be put in a freezer and froze.
After the 24 hours, is y'all are gonna come back,
do a little old-fashioned freeze distillation.
[jeremy] the process for freeze jacking,
or freeze distilling applejack,
begins by straining the fermented mash,
then placing it in frigid temperatures.
At 32 degrees, water freezes,
forming an ice cap on top of the mixture.
But since alcohol has a lower freezing point,
it concentrates at the bottom in a liquor that's been jacked.
The result is an apple brandy called applejack.
You guys head out. We'll get these in the freezer for you.
[ivy] thank you.
-[mark] we'll see you in some 24 hours. -24.
[jeremy] coming up, three mashes go into the deep freeze,
and one distiller gets iced out.
Somebody's got to go home.
Welcome back, lady and gentlemen.
You strained your own applejack mash,
and you froze your mash.
Now, it's time to do it like the old days.
Get your hammer, bust that ice up
and bring us a good jar. Applejack.
[mark] the winner today,
which has the best jar of applejack on the table
gets first choice of still parts.
And at the end of that, you gonna run it for us.
We're looking forward to tasting it.
You got 30 minutes
to chip the ice off, bring us a jar of that liquor.
Your 30 minute starts... Now.
You know, this was always called the poor man's distillation,
'cause it was for somebody who couldn't afford a still.
-That's cold cold, right there. -[tim] yes, it's cold.
[mark] that's bringing new arthritis out in the fingers.
[digger] looks to me like tater took that glass down in that bucket
just far enough to run over the rim.
[tim] yeah, you wanna get the alcohol up to the top.
[tater] I've always made apple brandies
and then freezed it and make it applejack.
I've pretty much got it down to science.
[mark] ivy put a peach in hers.
Yeah, she has peaches and apples.
[mark] that may be the reason hers is a little different color.
Yeah, it's a pretty honey color.
Different approach.
[mark] she's dipping her strainer down in the
bucket and getting it out.
This distillation process is completely different
from what I normally do at home.
They didn't ever no applejack made in florida.
-[ivy] no, it's hard to get down there, too. -Yeah.
Ooh-wee, that ice is moving.
At home, I produced an amazing applejack
'cause I researched it
and learned everything I could about it.
-I've done jacking, cleveland winters and... -Yeah.
-...And freeze it a couple times. -Yeah.
Ten minutes, guys.
[jon] halfway to the good stuff.
Hmm.
Well, here you go, fellas.
Right, wrong or indifferent.
All right, buddy, we'll be to get you all in a little bit.
[tim] bring it in here, ivy.
Here you go.
Ah! Looks good.
-Good luck. -[tim] all right.
All right, gentlemen.
-Here we go, enjoy. -[mark] all right, boss.
-Thank you. -[digger] good luck.
Thank you.
Let's get busy before they get hot.
This is jonny appleseed.
Jon didn't use any solids.
Cider and juice.
Oh! Yeah.
I smell little alcohol in there.
Mine was pretty frozen solid.
So, what I was straining off was exactly what I needed.
[digger laughs]
it's a tiny bit dry.
It's dry. Finished real good.
But, there's absolutely no apple flavor in here.
-No, it's finished. -It's all alcohol.
I think if he'd have called his fermentation two days ago,
where I've got alcohol plus I got flavor,
we'd be looking at a whole lot better drink.
How about you, tater, are you a little nervous?
Yeah, a little bit.
All the liquid was on top. So I figured just go with that.
Let's try tater out here.
That's got a real nice nose on it.
That's appley appley.
On our account.
Just a mash ready to distill.
I'm just wanting to put it in the still
and make some liquor out of it is what I--
-you're itching to run. -Yeah.
Let's see what ivy's tastes like.
She put a peach or two in her mash.
[tim] it looks a little peachy, don't it?
I never try mine until the end.
Really?
I just use my nose and
how it looks and shakes.
That taste more the way I think it should.
Yeah, it's got a little sweet taste to it.
You can pull that peach out of it, too.
It's right there at the back end.
Well, in taste profile, I think ivy has got it.
I don't know if that will hurt her
during her distillation or not.
May not have the alcohol content.
I think jon and tater is went
farther into their fermentation because
theirs is nowhere near as sweet as ivy's.
We're judging this on the way it tastes right now.
I'm in the boat with you fellas.
All right, guys, welcome back.
[tim] jon appleseed.
A lot of alcohol there. I think you're gonna make
a nice distilling when you get done with it.
Thank you.
But it is light on the apple flavor,
simply because I think you didn't use any apples.
But if you get your hands on a thumper
you may transfer over some apple flavor
during the distillation.
[tim] ivy, because you put the peaches in it,
it has a phenomenal taste profile.
What did you think about the taste profile?
I haven't tasted it.
What do you mean you haven't taste it?
I never taste it until the end.
-Really? -Yeah.
That's either a big gamble
or a lot of confidence.
[digger] or a powerful nostril.
Nonetheless, you have the sweetest drink,
so your fermentation may not be completely done.
And that may come back to haunt you in the still.
Yeah.
Tater, you put a lot of apples in there.
I mean, it comes right through the taste.
But, you went deep into your fermentation
and we got a lot of alcohol in there.
All right, guys, the upside here is nobody's going home.
[digger] there's just a pecking order of the still house
to pick your parts.
Ivy, you're going first.
[jon] ah.
Tater,
you're number two
and, jon, number three.
You ain't out the race, but you're just bringing up behind them.
Make sure you got everything you need.
We got a tour guide for you.
Tickle!
How's it going, fellers?
[tim] well, we got three contestants, tickle,
and all three of them need a still.
All right, y'all come on.
We'll see if we can't rustle up some still parts.
Y'all are here to pick your still parts.
What's important is to make sure all your fittings fit
and take extra parts if you need to.
And, ivy, you're up first, ma'am.
You got five minutes, starting now.
How's it coming in there?
[ivy] uh... Tryin' to work around.
This still house is like body parts laying everywhere.
And I have to put this body back together.
It's like, oh, where's the head, where's the neck,
where's the arms?
-Two minutes, ivy. -Two minutes?
-[tickle] yes, ma'am. Two minutes left! -Aah!
If I had maybe a minute or two more,
I could have definitely made sure
that fittings are gonna fit,
'cause you never really know
until it's time to tie it all together.
All righty.
[grunts]
ivy has not only a still,
ivy has a kitchen sink.
All right, tater,
you got five minutes starting now!
[tater] there was plenty of stuff in there,
some that I didn't know
what in the world I'd do with it.
But I'm kinda stuck
in the way I do things at my own place.
I'm not hearing any sound.
I'm wondering if tater didn't fall asleep in there.
Time to wake up and put a still together!
I'm tryin', I'm tryin'.
Got my pot, my gas, my arm,
got my doubler, the worm.
Got all the components, I think, that I'll need.
[tickle] you got five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
All right.
Jon, you got five minutes
to see what you can't frankenstein together.
Starting now.
[tickle] he's kicking around in there right out.
There's the gaskets.
Going third to pick still parts,
I am worried that
there's not gonna be everything there for me.
-One minute, jon. -All right.
Anybody got an extra small gasket?
I'm missing that in here.
Yeah, I got it.
[tickle] tater says he's got it.
All right, open her up.
Here we go.
Shotgun condenser.
All right, y'all.
Let's get all these still parts back
and run out some high octane applejack.
I completely forgot something.
I realized I forgot something.
I didn't have the thumpers,
and I was planning on having that apple flavor
come back out
once I run it through the thumper.
That's okay. I'll deal with it.
[digger] all right, guys, it's time for y'all
to show them still building skills.
We want it complete, ready or run.
You got one hour, starting now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] I see y'all got a lot of parts over here.
I hope you can figure out how to put it together.
[tater] it's kinda nerve-racking
'cause it ain't the same stuff as I'm used to using.
[tim] jon, I'm concerned about you.
You only have two items over there.
You don't have a thumper.
It's gonna be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.
You know, you got a still and a shotgun condenser,
I hope you know what you doing.
[jon] I hope so, too. We'll find out.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna do about that?
It's still a little short.
The equipment here is completely different
from what I normally use.
So, it's gonna be a challenge,
but it's not anything that I'm afraid of.
Hopefully, you won't need your cutting board.
[ivy chuckles]
I think I'm good.
I'm complete.
I'm done all I can do.
[mark] y'all ready to make a little liquor?
-Yes. -Hot damn!
All right, guys.
Four-hour run time.
We need a jar of your best
clear liquor on this table.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[mark] sadly, at the end of this round,
one of you will be going home.
When they're ready to distill this,
we'll get an all together different flavor
and we're gonna have a clear jar.
Fire in the hole.
[tim] I smell fried tater.
[ivy] whoo! Be careful.
Start getting it heated up.
Jon's over there cutting apples still.
[digger] getting ready to put them down
the sack, I'd say.
Getting that apple flavor without a thumper,
my backup plan is to hang the fruit
in the still itself.
I want that vapor touching
every possible molecule of that apple.
Now, as that distillate comes up,
it's gonna hit that bag
and drag flavors right out of those apples.
It's a good theory if he can make it work.
I'm not quite used to that particular still setup,
so this is a very big learning experience for me.
It's got water in it, but it's not running. I'll run it.
-[mark] whoa! -[digger] whoa!
-Oh, hell! -[ivy] be careful.
[digger] whoa, it just collapsed.
-[tim] cut the pump valve. -Oh, hell!
[jon] it formed a vacuum.
-You have to pull it out. -[tim] better cut the pump valve.
He got his water cut off?
Shotgun condensers are the greatest thing,
except once water goes the opposite direction...
-Yeah. -...It starts pulling it back down the hill.
Okay.
Created us a vacuum.
But, as soon as you put air on it,
and blow it back out,
-that's when it's gonna work. -Yup.
-There it goes. -[tim] there it goes, there it goes.
It's popping out.
There you go.
We're just gonna have to start this ball game over again.
We can get thrown curve balls left and right
but I got my eye on that prize.
[digger] guys, you got three hours.
Now, it's time to get serious.
-[jon] the run has begun. -[ivy] yes, it has.
-[mark] tater's runnin' liquor. -It's looking good, tater.
You got stuff coming out.
[tim] he's filling that jar up fast.
[tater] what was the proof they said
they was wanting us to try to hit on this?
-[ivy] 80. -86 or higher.
-86 or higher? -Or higher.
[tater] to have mark, digger and tim say
positive things about my applejack
makes me feel confident,
but I'm gonna try to get the proofage that they's looking for.
[digger] tater knows what he's doing
and I'm assuming jon does, too.
But I'ma believe old ivy's done taken notes.
Well, she won the cold challenge.
I'm happy about the feedback from the prior round,
but the judges felt mine
was gonna be on a little weaker side.
[digger] you better juice it up.
It's getting.
My next step is just to correct my proof.
Ivy put copper mesh in her thump arm.
-[mark] that'll up the proof a little bit. -But it strips flavor.
[tim] yeah, I'm not too fond of that.
Guys, two hours left.
[tim] how's yours dong over there, jon?
-Are you trickling? -Coming out.
-You got her coming out, ivy? -[ivy] there she goes.
[jon] all right!
Damn, that's still hot.
[beep]
-you got a second? -Yeah.
-Smells pretty. -Good.
Have a little swig.
[tater] well, it smells pungent.
God damn.
[jon laughs]
-[tater coughing] -that's good proof.
[grunts]
[beep]
[jon] yeah, that's got alcohol in it.
You daggone right that's got alcohol in it.
You can always make the proof lower.
Sometimes, it's really difficult
to make it higher.
Ivy, you've been doing the spoon test
-on a spoon? -Yes.
Check my alcohol content in it.
Proof up there?
-A little bit higher than 80. -Okay.
-But you know, it's... -Okay.
-...Between that range. -Well,
you gotta play with the taste profile.
Yeah, we'll see what happens.
[digger] have you tasted it yet?
No, not yet.
[mark] I can't get over
she don't never taste nothing till it's done.
This right here works real good,
you don't need to taste it.
You don't need to, but you just want to.
Oh, hell yeah.
I'd say about a half a jar and I'll be done.
All right, tater, talk to me, man.
What you doing over there?
I'm about ready to shut her down.
You gonna shut her down?
You gonna do some blending?
I think it's gonna be a mixture
of number four and number three.
I'm pretty stoked about the flavor and the proofage.
Hmm, I gonna say that there's around 90.
Whoo!
Okay, that's bity.
[ivy chuckles]
[coughing]
-how you doing, jon? -[slurring] I think I'm getting drunk.
-Yeah? Okay. -[ivy laughs]
did the taste enhance?
Yes, it did.
And hanging those apples in there did it?
Yup. Just, uh, trying to do some blending here to
get you guys the best of the best.
One of the things I was concerned a little bit about
was that there was a little cloudiness.
So, I just did a water test
and if it luges where it's still cloudy,
that means we still have some of those heads in there.
All right, guys, you got 45 minutes left.
I'm going with that.
Oh, yeah, got some good bubbles.
Just a tinge cloudier than I would have liked.
You tempering?
If I temper it more, I'm gonna lose that apple.
I believe I'm gonna quit right there.
You're satisfied with that?
[tater] it is what it is.
But there y'alls goes.
You head on out there to that little bar.
All right, then. Thank youse.
[jon] well, I think that's it.
As happy as I can be.
I hope you guys enjoy.
-All right. -We certainly will.
-Good luck. -Thank you, jon.
Thank you.
This here's the one.
[tim] that must have been good,
it's a half jar.
-Wow. -I mean, it's not a full jar,
but it's a good jar.
-[diggers] that's all that matters. -Yeah.
We'll be to get you soon as we reach a decision.
Thank you.
Good luck, ivy.
You guys are putting up some good competition,
all right, that was some good shine.
-Mr. Potato head. -That'll be tater.
They said first to try to hit around at least 86
on the proof.
I think I'm gonna come in a little lower.
[digger] one of the best beads we've seen on a jar.
[tim] that is a good bead.
[digger] he's right in the neighborhood of 100.
Let's hope it tastes like something.
It's got a good apple nose on it.
-[digger] that's very good. -Not fiery.
Got just a little bit of that bite to the apple
to give you on the back end then it goes away.
[tim] the taste throws me a little flip there.
-It's the difference in the apples maybe. -[mark] well...
...It's not cheesecake.
Pretty tasty drink of liquor.
-Jon. -Jonny appleseed.
Mine still had a couple of issues.
But, you know, I overcame,
and I'm happy with the end result.
That's a little cloudy
[digger] little tinge to it.
[tim] a little bit light on proof.
That may equate up
-to better flavor. -It might.
I put jon on 90.
I've proofed mine down just a little bit.
It's got a bite to it though.
-Whoa! -Well, that's...
Smells a little bit like rubbing alcohol.
That's what I was gonna say. It's got a metal smell to it.
[mark] smells a little like heads, don't it?
Yeah.
I believe he smeared his heads in there
when he was tempering.
Little fierce.
He might have got his jaws mixed up.
-I don't know what it is. -Maybe.
Bless his heart.
But jon did hang some apples in his cap.
-He did. -He did.
To get on good flavor.
I wanted that flavor, and that bite, I'm okay with.
What about you, ivy?
How do you think your proof did?
I think my proof is between the 80s and the 90s.
[tim exhales] whoo, now, that's high.
That's high
in the name of sense, that's 120 proof.
-[digger] or a little lower. -[tim] yeah, we're looking at...
...90, 105 and 120.
Oh, mother of pearl.
-118. -Okay.
Fair enough.
It's gonna be hot.
But will it taste good?
-Maybe, maybe not. -Uh, well...
I mean, you can't hardly even smell it.
No, that's not harsh for high-proof liquor.
Yeah.
-[mark] damn. -It's fiery on the tongue.
Little fiery on the back there
-but it's-- -it goes away.
It goes away.
It's pretty daggone smooth
for being 118 proof.
I think them peaches is in there.
[digger] absolutely love the flavor.
But, she didn't get her proof right.
If that was proofed down to about 90,
that would be really good.
It's gonna be something for them to judge it.
I mean, to pick one or two out of the three.
Personally, myself, I wish they'd hurry up
and kill the dog and get it over with, so to speak.
Then, we're all in agreement, right?
I think we're all rock-solid at this point.
All right. Go get them, digger.
Y'all gave us a hard job.
But, unfortunately, somebody is going home.
[tim] ivy, good clear jar.
Even though I know we calling it an applejack,
I still taste those peaches.
But, your proof is very high.
I think if you proofed it down a little better,
your flavors would have come to the front a little better.
Okay.
[tim] tater, when you open that lid,
you smell apple, and you taste it.
Proof is really spot-on.
All in all, job well done.
Jon, good proof.
Great job recovering from your condenser.
When you hanged the basket of apples in still itself,
and I think that did transfer over some apple flavor.
You did have a little bit of cloudiness.
I believe you got a little parts of heads in it
-when you were tempering. -Okay.
They all had a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
They all had a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
That would be jon.
Inexperience will let you
smear your heads when you're tempering if you ain't careful.
That bought you a ticket home, brother. I'm sorry.
It's all right, thank you very much.
No, thank you, jon.
[jon] it's a bummer to be going home first,
but even just to be here,
god, what an honor.
-That ain't no fun. -It's awful.
But, cream rises to the top.
Here you all are.
Your next step's a little different.
You going to take that liquor there
and age that up real pretty on some chips.
[tim] blending the alcohol is one thing
but when you start to putting this wood in it,
you can change that taste profile tremendous.
I use chips all the time.
[jeremy] rapid aging applejack
involves steeping with charred oak chips.
As the chips sit in the jack,
the caramelized sugars in the wood
impart sweetness
and enhance the apple flavors.
And the carbon in the charred wood
filters out tannins and sulphites.
The effect is similar to barrel ageing,
except the greater surface area of the oak chips
speeds up the process.
Resulting in a richer, deeper flavored applejack
in a fraction of the time.
[tim] you can mess it up really easy.
You can put the wrong amount of chips
or wrong type chips,
in 24 hours,
it won't be the same good jar that you started with.
So, be careful.
[digger] you got one hour. Get your liquor on chips.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] we want it to look good and taste good.
[mark] what are you going for in yours, ivy?
I don't know.
[digger] can you tell by smelling those chips
how deep they're charred?
-Yes. -That's really and truly
all you need to know.
[ivy] in ageing with the oak chips,
I used a combination,
dark toasted and mid toasted.
Hopefully, my nose is gonna lead me in the right direction.
She wouldn't be so happy to be blessed with that nose
if she had spent much time around you.
[digger] I don't know why I'm friends with him.
Tater, I see you got a little tub of chips
you brought from home.
[tater] yeah.
It's a white oak. Grows everywhere around here.
I char it to my specs.
I do a lot of ageing.
So, I'm pretty confident
in that order of the business.
Did you notice the chips he was using?
-Dark, dark, dark. -Yeah.
[tim] ivy, are you gonna go back and use
some of your other product there to blend?
'cause your proof was real high.
Yeah, I'm gonna fix that.
To correct my proof,
I'm gonna bring it down a little bit
using the tails.
Looky here.
Here we go.
Tater's has done startin' to turn a little color,
and that's how fast they work.
[digger] oh, yeah.
Well, fellers, I believe I've mashed it up all I can.
All in and all done.
-There it is. -All right.
-We'll let the experienced settle it. -That's all we ask for.
You can head on out.
-See you shortly. -Good luck, ivy.
[ivy] same to you, tater.
So, here is the jar.
Enjoy.
All righty.
Well, you head on out there with tater,
you won't see these jars again for 24 hours.
-Good luck. -Have a good one.
Thank you.
[digger] welcome back, guys.
You see three familiar faces,
we've got new face down here at the end.
Pleasure to meet you. I'm lisa laird.
Ninth generation of the laird family
and we are the oldest distillers in the united states.
We've been distilling applejack for 241 years,
and I'm really excited to see
what both of your applejacks taste like
after you've aged it.
Lisa, she's the leading authority
in applejack in the world.
It meant a lot for me for her to be here and judge.
[mark] at the end of this round,
one of you would be master distiller.
All right, guys, make any adjustments you need to.
And I suggest
you do a good job filtering.
You can let a little wood slip through
if you're not careful.
You got 30 minutes
to get us a good jar on the table,
the pick of your litter.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
Oh, yeah.
[digger] pretty amber color.
Honey color.
Ivy's is definitely closer to probably about our 3-year-old.
[digger] damn, tater's is clear. You can't even see it.
[tater] does that look better?
I just have a little deeper, richer color, yeah.
Tater's over there, his is a little bit darker.
So, it'd be, you know, higher, probably about five, six,
you know, my higher aged statement brandies.
So, how's yours look to you, ivy?
[ivy] it looks very pretty.
[tater] oh, it is. Ain't it?
[ivy] what about yourself?
[tater] mine's just a little dark.
To me I had a little too much color in it.
More than I like to have in it.
So, you really did some rapid aging there
with the-- at least with the color.
I don't know, I may have overdone it.
Just looking at it.
Yeah, you can definitely over oak, for sure.
Too much of the wood characteristics
and you start to lose the apple.
Now, ivy, yours is a little bit lighter in color.
I didn't use that much. Just a little.
[lisa] just a little bit. Yeah.
[ivy] I was happy with the rapid aging.
It was very light.
I didn't really wanna overpower it with the oak.
Can we use some of our clear spirits
to cut into this?
Absolutely.
To maybe back the wood out of it.
I think that is a safer option.
I've been at it for 15 years.
Ivy is really catching up.
So I better step my game up.
[mark] uh-oh. Ivy is actually tasting.
She is to that point.
That's the first time I've seen ivy
taste anything during this competition.
That means [beep] just got real. Tater,
you better buckle up.
[tim] buckle up, tater chip.
[ivy] I feel really good about my jar.
I'm happy with this nice caramel apple flavor
also with the little hint of peach.
She had a happy face, digger.
-Yeah. -I'm pretty happy.
[lisa] that's a confident woman.
Here you go, enjoy.
[digger] all righty.
We'll come get y'all when we reach a decision.
Thank you.
-Good luck. -[mark] good luck, ivy
thank you so much.
[tater] ivy's new to the craft
but she's got a good nose for it.
And she's a good distiller.
So, you know, it may be me that goes home.
Who would ever know?
It is what it is,
that's all I can do with it.
Well, it looks mighty fine.
Right, wrong or indifferent,
that's all I can do with it.
I'll come get you when we get that decision made.
All right, then, thank y'all for letting me do it.
-Yes, sir, good luck. -[lisa] good luck.
[jeremy] coming up...
But, unfortunately, we can't have two master distillers.
If y'all don't mind, I'd like to interrupt
-just one minute. -[ivy] what?
I think that applejack was stumbled upon in this neck of the woods
when somebody made hard cider
and they left it outside.
And they came out they said, "damn,
my cider froze."
-so they just scooped the ice out of it. -Absolutely.
I'm certain that's probably the way that came about.
Well, back in the colonial days,
there was a lot of freeze distillation.
Not everybody had stills so they were--
if you were of the good baptist faith,
and you happen to wanna make you a drink,
as long as nobody saw you at the liquor store
or had you with it,
it was no harm, no foul.
Legal. Legal.
Didn't get caught.
Those jars look really good.
It's gonna be a tough decision.
[tim] ivy is the closest to me.
Look at the clarity on that thing.
[digger] I've experimented with chips for years,
and I'm really surprised she got that good of color
out of that little, tiny bit of chips.
-[tim] proof is up. -Good bead.
Yeah.
-So you happy? -I think I did pretty good,
but I tempered it down a little bit.
-I didn't wanna go too much. -No.
It's got a very nice fresh nose.
You can smell, smell that oak.
You get a little bit of the oak, not too much.
But you definitely get you still get that apple.
Very smooth for the proof that it is.
Really nice. I think ivy does have
more of a green apple taste.
Mmm-mmm.
Ivy, she actually added some peaches.
Well, it's not technically applejack then if she put peaches in it.
It's a fruit brandy.
Applejack has to be 100% apples.
[tim] bit of trickery going on.
This is backwoods applejack.
So, we're not gonna hold them to
the same government standards.
That's true, you're the moonshiners,
so you don't really follow all the regulations.
-So... [laughs]. -[laughing]
all in all, I think I did...
I did my best. How do you think you did?
Ah, I'm picky about mine. It wasn't
really up to par the best I've ever done,
I don't think.
[lisa] tater's just by the color,
it looks for five even up to six years,
but if it's in a barrel...
Uh, versus ivy's closer to a two, three-year aging.
[mark] that may be a problem for tater's,
it may be too oaky.
That's a great bead. What are we at, 100, tim?
Pretty close to 100, nice color.
-I'm ready to taste it. -[lisa] I'm ready.
Come on!
Kinda scares me that lisa is judging
what I've been doing, you know.
'cause she's seen the best there is.
That's a different nose, total different nose.
You're definitely getting the wood notes.
[tim] now, after I've tasted it, my notes change,
[lisa] you just get a nice balance.
It improves after you taste it.
-I'm picking up... -[digger] very good drink.
...The baking spices now.
Yeah, it's a different apple.
More like a pie flavor.
Yep, that will definitely happen. The longer you age,
you're gonna get more of a caramelized baked apple type flavor
and you're gonna get some of that spice from the wood.
I tried to add a little more of my clear to
flatten it up.
It's was a little too oaky for me.
I wanna tell you, they're both excellent.
Lisa, now, you're the expert here.
One has a little bit more of the aging characteristics
and the other one's a little bit younger, fresher.
So, comparing apples to apples. [laughs]
yeah, it's not apples to apples.
We came here to compete but
I just wanted to meet other moonshiners.
I'm real glad that I got to meet you.
Cheers!
Are we all rock-solid?
Yes.
[digger] welcome back.
Y'all probably gave us one of the hardest deliberations
that we've had in the history of this show.
One was just a wee bit better.
[lisa] so, ivy, beautiful applejack that you created.
Little fresher apple on the nose,
had beautiful flavors and aromas all through the finish.
Color's a little bit lighter,
the taste profile is right on the money.
And I think the peach actually gives that little sweetness in there.
And, tater, you was very concerned
that you had got way too oaky.
It was spot on. A lot of apples.
Tater, yours was aged a little bit more,
so we had more of that baked apple flavor.
Had a beautiful nose as well, nice finish.
And I have to say,
I would be honored to serve either one of your applejacks at my home.
[digger] all right, guys.
We wish we could make two master distillers,
but, unfortunately, we can't.
Tater, you're the next master distiller.
-Well, thank y'all. -Congratulation, old buddy.
You also win a limited run of your applejack
at sugarlands distilling company.
[tater] getting my liquor on the shelf's
gonna be exciting.
My family will be proud of me for it.
[ivy] I'm so happy for tater.
Fifteen years of working on your craft like that
and you finally get your validation
is unbelievable.
All right, guys.
If y'all don't mind, I would like to interrupt just one minute.
Ivy, I wanna welcome you into the moonshiner family.
Oh, man, what?
[mark] how about that?
[ivy laughs]
you got a coon pecker now.
-How about that? -Man. Thank you, tater.
I always wondered how I was gonna get one of these.
-Oh, man! -That's pretty awesome right there, tater.
[tater] she deserves it.
People's gonna think I've got a damn heart.
You just got a thumping gizzard.
[ivy] coon peckers, they're a symbol of being an official moonshiner.
I'm official now.
Now, ivy, you've got talent.
I can see that there's big things in your future.
Thank you.
And thank you most of all,
because it meant more from you than it did these three.
It was my pleasure.
[digger] damn, that was tiny bit hurtful.
Congratulations, tater.