[jeremy schwartz] this time on master distiller...
Here we go.
Boy, she's clear.
[jeremy] hidden in the backwoods,
every great moonshiner has a trusted still hand.
They can be sittin' in the woods right now waiting on us.
...Who shares the risk, but seldom the glory.
[mark speaking]
[jeremy] now, three notorious still hands
emerge from the hills...
[howard] this ain't good.
-[jeremy] howard... -Come on, baby,
birth me some alcohol.
-Kelly... -They're gonna be twice as delicious,
just start sayin' it in your mind.
-...And huck... -If you keep your mouth shut and listen,
you get through life a whole lot easier.
...To see if they have what it takes...
This is where the party starts.
...To shine on their own.
If you win, he taught you everything you know.
If you lose, he says,
I taught you everything you know.
-[laughing] -I got your back, tim.
Damn tickle's fault.
[jeremy] across the country, a handful of expert 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.
I got a little somethin', boys,
a little sunshine in a jar.
[jeremy] judged by a jury of their peers,
they'll go head-to-head in a series of challenges...
[tim] I knew I smelled somethin' burning.
[coughing]
that's damn hard.
...To determine who has what it takes...
Looks like a cow pissed on a flat rock.
...To earn backwoods bragging rights
and a valuable roll of copper.
It'll go a long way in making your own stills.
[kelly] first ever. The world's first-ever
pineapple upside down cake moonshine coming to you.
[digger] tiny bit ambitious, ain't it?
[digger] all right, boys. I wanna welcome y'all
to the still hand challenge.
Now, normally, y'all just kinda pitched in
helping everybody else.
But, this time, you're like the cream. You're gonna rise to the top.
[mark] in lot of worlds,
people think of you as the still hands,
the second guy, the number two guy.
We don't feel that way at all.
I mean, huck,
I mean, you're mark rogers' right-hand man.
Howard, you're tim's guy.
And kelly's mine and digger's saving grace.
But in this competition, out of this run,
we will determine which one of you guys is number one.
You've got a couple of big deals at stake.
Number one is gonna be bragging rights.
Number two is gonna be a sheet of copper,
y'all can put to use.
[mark] it's a $1,000 worth of copper.
Holy smokes.
It'll go a long way in making your own still.
Yes.
As a still hand, you know the key element here
in being a great successful backwoods champ?
First, don't get caught.
And the other one is
make good high-proof smooth corn liquor.
[huck] I'm not worried about the challenge.
I'm just running straight corn liquor,
and that's probably one of my favorites.
[tim] so, your mash is ready to run,
all of you got the same stills.
And what's gonna separate you is how you run it.
Now to make this fair,
our tasting is gonna be a blind tasting.
We're not gonna know whose jar is whose,
and whoever wins this,
they're gonna get first pick out at the farm stand.
Guys, you heard everything we got to say,
make us jar liquor,
have it on this table
before four hours expires.
Your time starts now.
Equipment malfunction, I've been cheated.
Huck, did you steal my lighter?
Hey, looky there.
I mean, this a juggling act over here.
You're trying to balance your condenser,
watch the jar, check your heat.
You think about if you was back home,
somebody would be tryin' to arrest you.
Welcome to the moonshine world.
It's always a challenge.
That's why I'm the still hand,
I just do the heavy lifting.
And the tasting.
This is where the party starts.
My name is howard thompson. I'm from danville, virginia.
I've been a still hand, off and on, for 10 years now.
I've been running the woods with tickle and tim,
one way I'm learning the craft here and there.
This right up my ally right here, tim.
I feeling like I'm in sixth grade again, man.
I'm just trying to hone my skills,
so I can go full-time with distilling.
People take for granted how critical it is to be a still hand.
Moonshiner, he's the brains of the operation,
but we're the muscle.
I put a little flex on it. That was all me.
-That was all me. -I see. That's you.
We're the ones that hoof everything in.
We stay there before they get there,
we stay there till after they leave.
I got a little low vibe to me.
I don't want people to let off and know
that I'm, you know, I'm really competitive inside.
But once I seen that daggone prize,
it would mean more than
anything in this world for me to win this.
Tim and tickle have took their time
to teach me over years their craft,
and to let them down, it'd be heartbreaking.
I want to prove to them that I'm the man.
I don't want to be a still hand forever.
I want to be a distiller.
[kelly] so, here's my question,
how much can we cheat in this?
Let your conscience be your guide.
So, what you're saying is if we can live with it,
we can live without it.
I ain't saying that.
If huck wasn't so big,
I'd start cheating with him because he's closest to me, but. [laughs]
[huck] well, just...
Let your conscience be your guide.
-[kelly laughing] -come on.
Just bring us somethin' that you would drink.
Everything he drinks, he puts a little umbrella in it.
Umbrella and a little bit of fruit.
My name is kelly williamson.
I'm from cosby, tennessee.
And, allegedly,
I've been a still hand for mark and digger.
We've got liquor coming.
[mark] what's it look like?
[kelly] it looks like liquor.
I hope the statute of limitations
runs out on before I admit to anything.
[kelly laughing]
the flavors that I like to do is the things
that when people drink it, they're like,
it doesn't even taste like
it's got liquor in it, and it's dangerous.
Try that and see what you think.
-Boys, she's clear now. -[mark] she clears as a...
Good, isn't it?
[sniffing]
[kelly] as far as experience in making corn liquor,
I can bring something
that these guys will be impressed with.
And I don't care how many moonshine stills
you got or you've had,
a sheet of copper goes a long way to build a new one.
Somebody's got to lose,
and I want to not be that person more
to not let mark and digger down than for myself.
I'll be your hero.
-You are already. -Yes, you is.
[mark] let's keep it down to a low rumble, huck.
Yeah, these boys ain't got nothing to say because of you.
If you keep your mouth shut and listen,
you get through life a whole lot easier.
[whistles]
my name is terry stewart, but my nickname's huck.
I've had that nickname since I was three days old.
Mark rogers is my first cousin and we grew up together.
We've been through some wild times making liquor.
-Boy, that's something, ain't it? -It is.
That's high-proof liquor, too, right there now.
The difference between being here
and being in the mountains, uh,
you know, if the law showed up,
at least you have somewhere to run.
I'm usually pretty easygoing.
When certain things are going well,
you know, it's just best
don't poke the bear.
Might be trouble if you do that.
It did cross my mind
that the judges could be biased,
you know, towards their guys,
but I'm not gonna lose no sleep over it.
What I bring to the competition
would be experience.
You know, because I've done it for over 30 years.
-It's high-proof, ain't it? -[rogers] mmm.
That's around 170 proof, probably.
[huck] it's always good if you win,
no matter what you're doing.
And I-- I can always use copper.
Folks, y'all got three hours left.
Good old sweet mash right there.
We've got a couple of different strategies
going on here.
We've got kelly and huck,
they're running dry thumpers.
Howard, he's running some mash over in his thumper.
[huck] with corn liquor, I like to use cornmeal
and sugar and corn malt
and that just gives it a much better corn taste.
That's the way I like to do it.
[tickle] about to blow us up over here. This thing catching fire.
Our mash is catching fire in the bucket.
Well, that's good alcohol in that thing.
Yeah, yeah, must be some alcohol in there.
[tim] oh, yeah, she's on fire now.
That's that old filet mignon right there.
-Whoo! -[tim] see, that's the way to burn the heads off.
-And your eyebrows. -[mark] yeah.
You got alcohol coming out of that--
jesus, already, boys.
Put the can down there. Put the bottle under it.
Put something under there.
Tell you what, huck's got him a nice-looking stream
going on over here.
So does kelly.
Um, and this is fast
to be having some liquor come out.
If I didn't know no better,
I think some fellers that knew what they was doing
has been teaching these fellers what's going on.
[mark] I'm gonna tell you,
howard's got a stream coming out there as wide as a hacksaw blade.
Yeah, it looks like a cow pissing on a flat rock.
[tickle] you know, what they say,
-low and slow. -Let it go, baby.
Well, I didn't know what we was getting into,
-so I was like-- -I didn't either.
[kelly] I didn't expect they'd start damn producing alcohol that fast.
It's a lot different than what we run
in the woods, that's for certain.
I ain't never seen one this size
or run like this, so.
Is this too big for you?
Yeah, this is way, way too big
-for what I'm used to. -[all laughing]
do you got the easy bake oven still, too?
[kelly laughing] yeah.
Yeah, that jar number four,
I thought that was gonna be right around my heart saying she's hot.
Guys, two hours left in your run.
That might be the one.
That one, you can taste the corn in it.
-[huck] you can taste corn in it? -Yeah.
[kelly] my problem is I know what mark and digger like
and they won't like it, because it's got that corn
and it's a little sweet.
That's bad when you know your people so well,
you know what their flavor profile is.
What a dilemma to have.
Go with what you think is the best jar of liquor
or what you think
they're going to think is the best jar of liquor.
[howard] now, if I can get y'all drunk during the competition
and then y'all pass out, y'all won't know if y'all win or lose.
I'll just take this to the promised land.
You mess with huck, the promised land
might be coming up sooner than you know.
[all laughing]
[howard] might wind up with a jar across the head.
[kelly laughs]
[huck] they're making jokes back and forth
and I'm right in the middle of them.
It got a little aggravating,
but I'm more focused, you know, on what I'm doing,
because I don't want to mess up,
you know, if I can help it.
[howard] what are you blending them over there?
[kelly] yeah, I'm going to put my number five jar
and my number six jar together.
That's my jar.
And he's done.
I'm killing it, guys.
Damn, one down, two to go.
[kelly] look like you're right there at that 100 proof mark, ain't it?
I believe that's going to be mine right there.
[howard] come on, baby.
Birth me some alcohol.
You know, it's like the domino effect.
First, kelly is done with his jar.
Then huck's done with his run.
And I'm over here looking
at the little drip, drip, drip, drip on number six.
I didn't want number six.
I really wanted to hit number seven.
These guys are done, putting the stress on me.
They're killing their stills.
I don't want to lose this competition,
it means everything in the world to me.
I need this.
That clock starts winding down, man,
you're looking at you jar, you don't feel comfortable.
But what you got, you want to make one more jar,
then you gonna shut down over there.
I'm over here freaking out.
All right, boys, I've done my best effort.
Well, head on out down to that shade tree.
Good luck! Fellas.
15 minutes left in y'all's run.
Come on, baby.
Well, I just fixed it like I normally would.
Around 100 or a little bit above.
-[mark] proof's in the pudding, howard. -Proof-- that's right.
-Proof's in the pudding. -I'm trying to shine up this turd right here.
I'm gonna get the glass jar looking just as pretty.
Maybe it'll make the taste a little bit better.
Well, fellas, this is the best I can do with
the time that was given to me.
I hope y'all like it because I loved making it for y'all.
-All right. -Good deal.
[digger] chase on after them other boys.
I'm heading to the promised land.
You know that them boys right there was
taught by some of the best.
In... In my opinion,
I don't believe we're gonna get a bad jar from
any one of these guys.
I think all of them's gonna be good.
What about you catching your bucket on fire there
right off the bat, big guy?
That's the first time in my life
that's ever happened, old buddy.
But, I mean, I have flames burning up my arm, man.
I mean, I got a good sun tan in there, that's for certain.
And go straight from master distiller
to ufc fighting
if they hold you down a little bit,
because you already shaved up.
Oh, I'm-- I'm slicker than a baby butt, that's for certain.
To make sure this is a true blind taste test.
We ain't got no clue whose is whose now.
All right. Well, let's see. We'll just get the closest one.
Crystal clear.
[tim] nice and clear.
[mark] looks a little high.
[tim] well, I would say that's pretty high proof.
As long as they don't talk bad about us.
At least that they like the liquor.
If they say, "you know what,
all three of you turned in a good shine."
I don't wanna hear one's burnt, scorched, something like that,
or just tastes like tarnish.
It ain't real nosey,
it's not funky or nothing.
-[mark] it don't smell real strong, does it, tickle? -Mmm-mmm.
-It'll perk you up, won't it? -Yes, sir, it will.
Oh, that flash across your tongue like a wildfire.
Yeah, I would say it's up about 115, anyway.
It's pretty high, yeah.
She's high proof,
but she's definitely smooth.
It's definitely smooth.
Almost like a brandy smell.
If he breaks this down to about 100 proof,
that's gonna be good.
Jar number two.
Now, that's about as clear as it comes.
That's pretty high, too, ain't it?
-[tim] hmm. -It looks like it's north of 120 for sure.
-Yes, sir. -She's definitely hot.
She's definitely hot.
It goes real quick. That's real high proof.
I'm smelling a little bit more corn in this one.
That little bit of follow,
stays on the back of your tongue longer.
[tim] yeah, that high proof makes it a short on the nose.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It's just too high proof
-to drink like this. -Yeah.
-For me. -If you're gonna try and drink that straight,
it might sunder you up,
you best man up.
[mark] you're gonna be riled somewhere.
-Yes, sir. -[tim] all right.
Here's another clear jar.
[tickle] they all look perfect.
-Yeah. -[mark] that looks a little more
tolerable, maybe.
Still high.
[mark] yeah, they're all high.
[tim] all of 'em, way over 100.
[mark] I mean, they was through runnin', they still had time left.
-They could run-- -they had plenty of time.
[mark] it is light on the nose than it looks.
And it's a little more pleasant.
[tickle] yes, it is.
That's smooth, even though it's high proof.
Yeah, it ain't as high proof
-as those other two-- -[digger] no, it's not as high.
But, this don't hit the back of my throat near as hard.
They've all got their good qualities.
Overall taste,
for myself, I like number three is the best.
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna settle on that one
being the best one.
Well, you... You know who made that?
I don't know who made that.
Our boy pulled it off, didn't he?
You know what I'm wondering?
-Yeah. -I'm wondering.
I was wondering that, when I took a sip,
but we won't-- we don't know.
But we taught him everything he knows.
[tickle] yeah, we'll see.
-Yeah. -Well, what would you think,
digger, you're settling on jar three?
-I'm with y'all. -All right.
All right. Here we go.
Oh, that's huck.
-Ah! It was huck. -It's huck.
-Huck! -You taught him everything he knew.
Hey, well, at least he learned something.
Number two jar.
It's gonna be howard.
Well, the second place is just the first loser.
-That's howard. -All right. All right.
Well, at least we got second place.
I wonder whose this is?
[tickle] that would be kelly.
It must be kelly.
That kind of concerned me, he--
he was through way too soon.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
[tim] you're getting your money's worth out of them jars,
they're all good.
Well, boys, if we're solid on the decision,
-I'ma go and fetch them boys. -[tickle] go get them, bud.
Feel like the walk of shame here.
Except your underwear ain't in your hip pocket.
Not yet.
[digger] welcome back, boys.
We've deliberated
that we've come to the decision.
So, whoever's the winner,
they go first trip to the fruit stand.
You're gonna flavor your corn liquor
with what you catch.
So, you're not going home
but it's gonna give you a little edge.
Tim, tell 'em whose throat we're going to cut.
I believe if you mix them all together, they all taste the same.
They're all good jars of liquor.
But, none of you took your entire allotted time.
Maybe had you run another jar or two,
had a little somethin' to blend
a little better with,
you know, that'll be to your benefit
-in the redistilling process. -Huck.
You're the man.
-You had the best jar on the table. -Good job.
[mark] now, let's keep it down to a low rumble, huck.
-Yeah. -[howard] don't get too excited.
Don't get too excited there, huck.
I don't get excited much.
[mark] I know.
I guess the best man wins.
Howard, you're number two.
Cha-ching!
And, kelly, I guess you came in third,
not last, but you come in third.
We'll call it last. Hell, that's-- [laughs]
boys, it's time for tickle to take y'all to the fruit stand.
Huck, you're first, howard, you're second,
kelly, you're dead last. Tickle,
take 'em to their destination.
I tell you what, fellas, it was honestly
like trying to herd toddlers and chickens at the same time.
-Really? -Yeah, one of the
-roughest days of my life. -Oh, yeah.
All right, fellas, brought you all out here to the farm stand
and y'all have got two goals to accomplish out here.
You're going to find something to put into your thumper
as you run this liquor again.
And the second thing you need to do,
you also need to find something to flavor
your drinks with afterwards.
Huck, you're up first, you got three minutes,
starting now, boss. Don't forget your basket.
There's taters right there.
You got sweet and unsweet potatoes over yonder.
Uh-huh.
[huck] if there's any apple left there,
or either apple cider or anything to do with apple,
that's probably what I wanna get.
[tickle] what is that stuff?
-Cinnamon sticks. -Cinnamon sticks.
Oh, okay, well, I tell you what,
that would be something good.
All right. You got two minutes now, huck.
All right, do you have enough apples?
-I'm done. -All right.
Howard, three minutes, startin' now.
[howard] I was just keep playing in my mind
what can be at this fruit stand?
I'm hoping some apples, some oranges,
something I can infuse good flavor to this.
Anything except tomatoes and cheese,
you know, I gotta get something that's going to pop.
I got me a baguette for later while it's cooking off.
[tickle] you got some apples, all right.
Be careful, our judges ain't gonna wanna
chew their drinks up.
[howard] I'm a train wreck right now.
This next round is very important to me
and I could overstep something,
miss something and then I lose this whole run.
[tickle] what are doing?
Leave some for kelly.
I got everything but the kitchen sink, boys.
All right, kelly,
I hope they left you something.
Do you even know what's in that bag?
-No, and I don't care. -[tickle] I ain't sure, either.
It is but that might work.
-Uh-oh. -All right, look,
you're tearing my fruit stand up.
All right, but now look,
kelly's got a good approach here,
he just snatching one of everything.
A whole pineapple, what do you do with that?
[kelly] everybody was doing apple pie, somehow or the other,
so a lot of the ingredients were there,
and I spotted pineapples, and I've never really
tried to make pineapple moonshine,
so I thought why the heck not? Let's give it a shot.
A pie? You just done got hungry now.
I feel a little underwhelmed here with my basket.
-I'll share with you. -You got plenty, I gotta baguette.
He literally got an apple pie.
[tickle] yes, sir, I told you.
Damn, that's good.
-Anybody want lick my fingers. -Oh.
Y'all have all got all y'all's ingredients.
And if you don't, you can borrow some from kelly.
Let's get this stuff on inside
and see we can't do about some drinks.
[jeremy] coming up with still hands in the conductor's seat...
...Pineapple upside down cake moonshine.
Some recipes go off the rails.
[coughing] it's damn hard.
[digger] welcome back, boys.
Flavor run day. Get to see them skills
that you may or may not have acquired.
We're ready for it though, don't whether y'all are or not.
[tim] so a lot of different things you can do,
but I would say be careful some of these flavors,
depending on what you put in, it can contradict at the end.
[digger] you got four hours,
we want them on the table ready to go.
Your four hours starts now.
I got way too much crap.
I got blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
[tim] how do you like that two-bucket exchange there.
Well, you know.
It just kind of gets the oxygen
going in the water breaks it up.
So when you pour over in here--
you're supposed to [bleep].
There goes that. You got your answer again.
I bet you learned that I was a highly-educated redneck.
He will answer any question you ask him in a timely manner.
Yeah, yeah, I've trained him like that.
He's the one that the cop hates to pull over.
Yeah, they think they've done something wrong.
Yeah. By the time they get done,
they'll be like, "oh, god, I hope I never pull him over again."
[tim] kelly, is that an apple pie you got sitting on the table there?
It is.
[tickle] you gonna throw that in your thumper.
I may use it as a filter.
Well, that's a new twist on apple pie moonshine,
I'll have to give that to you.
But he ain't making apple pie moonshine.
Well.
Pineapple upside down cake moonshine.
Tiny bit ambitious, ain't it?
First ever, world's first-ever pineapple upside down cake
moonshine coming to you shortly.
Well, now, I've learned something from doing this.
Competition settings, it's good to go with what you know.
-[tim] what was that? -[tickle] loaf of bread.
[laughs] way to pull it out back there.
[mark] look at all of these square apples howard's made over here.
[tim] oh, he's, he's, he's a shell.
[howard] you know, I know when I was turning in the jar,
there are four different palates and four different judges.
I wanted to hit middle of the road with these guys.
But I figured if I could get a smooth 100 proof,
I could make everybody happy.
I'll put that over in here, a little pizzazz.
Need a little more brown sugar to tone it down a little bit.
I don't want it too sweet, but I can add water.
You know, I went with the apple pie mix
because those are really hard to mess up.
You know, a little brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon,
apple cider, apple juice.
Unfortunately, on this run, I didn't have apple cider.
I did have a cherry flavored apple cider.
And I think that set the tone a little bit different
than the direction I was trying to go.
I don't want to overdo it, but I need a little cider.
That poor pineapple.
[kelly] you know, I've soaked pineapple chunks in moonshine plenty,
and they really soak it up really good.
So I thought, why not give this a shot while I had a opportunity?
[tim] kelly's putting raspberries in this thumper.
-We'll have pineapple raspberry. -But I don't know about
no raspberry and pineapple.
They're going to be twice as delicious.
Just start saying it in your mind.
You say it in yours, uh,
long enough and we'll believe you.
[kelly laughing]
[huck whistling]
you never know what huck's thinking about.
No.
[tickle] so now, huck, you, you appear to have a whole different strategy
from what kelly and howard's got going on.
Well, I'm just going to cook these apples
down real good, and I wanna put them in my thumper.
[mark] you ain't going for a whole lot of flavor,
just a little subtle flavor.
Just a little bit, I wanna put a little bit of cinnamon in it.
I'll took me some apples and I cut them up,
put them in a bucket,
put a little water in there,
and put a little bit of apple juice,
put a little bit of cinnamon in there,
some brown sugar, and I cook them down
and poured 'em in my thumper.
-[mark] my man, howard. -Yes, sir.
So, you're basically makin' a little bit of
-real lightly flavored apple pie? -[howard] yep.
Can't go wrong with something
-that's tried and true. -Exactly.
Then I kick back and watch my competition.
[mark] well,
they may not need watchin', they may need looked after.
Well, I think the one on the end does. Old ninja huck here.
He kind of slow and stealth, he just does his own thing on the quiet tip.
-[mark] ninja huck? -[howard] yeah.
You don't hear him coming, but you see him pass in the best jar every time,
you know what I mean, he's slick.
They wanna call me a ninja, that's fine.
They're sneaky and they get the job done.
I got a little something, boys. A little sunshine in a jar.
[mark] hey, you're at the wrong end of the spectrum.
We're looking for moonshine in a jar.
[howard] well, moonshine in a jar.
All right, boys, you burnt one hour or so far.
Got three to go.
Battling with the thumper again today, son.
I'ma figure this son of a gun out by...
By the time the competition is over.
[huck] you're running, ain't you, kelly?
-Oh, you got your straw and everything. -[kelly laughing]
well, I will say one thing, that's unique.
[kelly laughing]
[huck] he got a pineapple.
I've never seen anything like it anywhere.
Much less the backwoods.
That's pretty damn clever.
[kelly coughing]
that's damn hard.
[all laughing]
I knew that I was behind the eight ball and mark and digger,
they were expecting a lot more
out of me and I always do good for 'em
and so I thought, man,
a chance to butter up the judges a little bit might not hurt.
[howard] he's bribing the damn judge.
Well, thank you, chef.
We don't stand a chance, somebody like this?
Tickle's done pigged in.
I'm your boy, remember?
It's a good apple pie, though.
Oh, that bribe pie. Oh, kelly.
[kelly] so let's make this real clear,
I'm not bribing a judge.
[all laughing]
but what I'm wanting to show you is how good apple pie really
-could be. -Oh!
I don't think the judges
can be bribed with pie, either.
They liked it, but...
So, it gave them an appetite for my apple moonshine.
30 minutes, y'all.
Here comes old huck to the table.
[tickle] oh, yeah. First jar up.
Good luck, brother.
-Well, fellas. -[mark] bringing it down, howard?
I did the best what I could with what I had.
I hope you enjoy. I got my name on it.
-All right. -All right, boys.
She ain't much. She is much.
She is whatever she is, but there she is.
-All right. -Good luck to you in here, brother.
-All right. -I'll start with the closest one, kelly.
[mark] all right. Nice clean pretty jar.
[mark] kind of proof's it carrying?
I would say very high probably.
Well, the proof will be in the pudding, won't it?
Kelly was a pineapple flavor.
Get a little fruity floral in there.
Yeah, I can't distinguish any pineapple per se.
Old bribe pie.
-Old bribe pie. -Old bribe pie.
Yes, all I had done was I got the pie that was offered.
And brought some ice cream.
I wonder if he didn't put his socks in there to filter through.
[mark] it's just what I would call just a little bit bland.
Let's see what mr. Huck, and that's a mighty clear jar there.
Mmm, that's appley.
I got a little cinnamon on the nose.
You can't taste that cinnamon in it, though.
Can't say it upsets me none.
That's nice right there.
If it is as high proof as we thought it is,
it's a very smooth high proof.
You didn't have any cloudy at all, did you, huck?
-Not in mine. -His jar came out
clearer than daggone pure dripping snow,
I mean, my mind. It just blew my mind.
And I would have guessed that it's 120.
You know, this is a good drink of liquor, just like she sits.
You go to flavorin' this,
and if you're not careful, you could ruin this good liquor flavor.
Then again, if you are careful,
you could make us a mighty fine jar.
That's a good jar of liquor.
-Howard the duck. -[tim] uh, it's a little cloudy.
Now, howard, he did an apple too.
And I think he put some apple in it already.
[digger] I don't know, I see something in there floating around.
According to tickle, you're judging of alcohol
is kind of like
you drank turpentine.
Well, have you tasted tickle's liquor before?
Well, yeah.
Ooh, that's pretty hard.
-[digger] yeah. -[tickle] yeah.
It's a tiny bit fierce.
I don't know, but it goes right away and you want some more of it.
I can't disagree with that either.
I mean, I'm not taking the taste away from howard,
but if we're judging it all,
it ain't the clearest
and it's got the floaties in it.
That's gotta be some points away.
All right, fellas. Well, it looks like we're
unanimous in our decision here.
[mark] you know, when you're at the top,
the only place you got to go is down.
Rag's on fire. Burner's on fire.
All right, fellas, um, let me start off with saying,
you all turned in
great jars of liquor.
But, um, we're here to judge.
So, let's start off with what we got.
Kelly, I like the proof of your liquor.
There was a touch of a note in there
that I'm not sure exactly what it was.
But that may come through in your finished product
and turn us in something we will really like.
Kelly, I'm ashamed
that I ain't taught you no better than that.
Oh, lord, son. I don't know what you did, but you made--
I thought that you took somebody to word when they told you
to strain your liquor through a sock.
Now, huck, your liquor, that apple, boy,
it came right through.
And not only in smell, but in taste.
But, your jar was a touch hot for me,
but there again, in this final flavored drink,
that may come into your favor.
Howard, I liked the flavor of yours,
but there was a touch of spice on the back.
I'm wondering if it wasn't the vanilla
that you used
that had a touch of an off-putting taste.
[digger] when it comes to your straining,
and I'm gonna tell you one important word, "fail".
Don't ever use cheesecloth.
You liquor loaded up a little floaties in there
and that I think it came from that cheesecloth.
Yeah.
So, what's going to happen? To move to the next challenge,
you got 30 minutes to take this jar
infuse it with what you want.
But the winner can pick one person.
You can take 15 minutes off of their time.
We, we're not gonna judge you on proof,
we're not gonna judge you on clarity.
The best tasting jar on the table wins.
Huck, you are the winner.
So, right now, you got 30 minutes.
You do what you want to do with the other 15.
If you want to knock 15 off one of these guys,
-that's, it's up to you. -What if I don't want to?
That's up to you.
I'm gonna let them have the 30 minutes.
-Damn right, huck! Thank you, huck. -God...
Dang, I need all the help... Can you add 15 to mine?
No, no, no.
[huck] wouldn't sit right with me to take time away from them.
Kelly, he was having fun.
Old howard, you know, he was trying his best
to make some real good and to win it,
you know, so I just... I didn't have a heart
to take it away from him.
All right, boys, your final challenge.
You got 30 minutes.
Polish up your flavored corn liquor,
make it into something
that any master moonshiner would want to sell.
Thirty minutes, your time starts now.
Good luck, boys.
[howard] here you go, huck, got you, old buddy.
Least I can do for helping me out.
[mark] this is going interesting, ain't it?
[tim] what you think they're going to do?
Well, honestly,
two of them ain't got much to build on,
but you can mask a lot of horrible liquor
with a lot of fruit.
The other two can't do nothing but go up.
But, unfortunately, huck's up there at the top, he could stumble.
[huck] going into the final round,
you know, my liquor to me was perfect.
It was a little bit high proof but I knew I had the taste
and I knew that all I was gonna do
was just tweak it down, just a little bit.
[mark] howard over there, I don't know what in the world he's doing.
He got a coffee filter.
He's getting them sea monkeys out.
[tim] so, he's gonna try to clear it up instead of dirty it up.
[digger] well, unfortunately, it won't take
-that little bit of tinge out of it. -It might.
[digger] it'll get them floaties out of there.
Bye, bye, sea monkeys.
[tim] rag's on fire.
-Burner's on fire. -[digger] throw some of that [bleep] liquor on it.
Oh, yeah.
[tim] but I think kelly's concentrating on pineapple,
'cause he's putting more pineapple.
He's got cans of pineapple over here.
[kelly] I kind of see this as a challenge
to myself to see what I can do with pineapple.
I don't know if it's even something
that can be distilled into something good.
Well, maybe it'll drown out them raspberries
-or whatever it was. -Or the damn...
Scorched tennis shoe, or whatever it was in that.
That's about enough out of you, digger.
Well, kelly, we can only come up
from here, old buddy, like they said.
We're already down below dirt.
Well, looky here.
Huck may not made it but 15 minutes.
I like the taste of it,
so I just proofed it down a little bit up.
[mark] you just tempered it down a little bit.
It's all done.
Let it ride.
Howard, me and tim's done come to a conclusion,
at least tim says he's come to a conclusion.
If you win, he taught you everything you know.
If you lose, he says I taught you everything you know.
-I'm gonna go with that storyline. -Don't you worry, old buddy.
I've got your back, tim.
Damn tickle's fault.
[digger] I ain't never seen nobody
like pineapple upside down cake
moonshine with lemons and limes.
[huck] really wanna taste the other guys' liquor.
Especially, kelly after looking at his.
I don't know if he put ice cream in it or what he did.
It... Looked like butter. I don't know what it was.
Ain't no telling on kelly.
You're like a little rabbit on the dade, ain't ya there, huck?
All right, boys, you got 15 minutes left.
[tim] he's mixing up the whole lot of jars over there.
Well, maybe he's got so much faith in it, tim,
he just wants everybody to have one.
You ain't never made a pineapple upside down cake
and just cut one piece off of it, have you?
How many has he got over here?
Uh, he's got, uh, 19 and a half
jars over there, it looks like.
You can take my jar and give it to charity.
Hey, I'm, I'm, reserving judgment till I taste.
Down to seven minutes, guys.
[howard] I'm not disappointed in this.
-Is it getting cold, howard? -Yeah.
[mark] thing about it is, howard,
even if you do have a sea monkey anymore,
we can't see 'em anymore.
No, I, I, put the shades up.
Threw the tint on the windows.
[digger] that is a beautiful color.
Well, fellas, I've done about as much damage as I can do.
I'ma turn this on in
and get out y'all's hair.
You got three minutes to spare, brother.
Well, with that three minutes, you mind if I give
ice to kelly to help him out
a little bit, get him chilled jar.
That's up to you, buddy.
[tickle] he's got elaborate cheesecloth system
all going on over here, I'ma tell you what.
It's kinda like a conveyor line.
I always thought it looked a little better.
I mean, at least he drank it.
One minute, you better be figuring it out.
That's like-- that's like a champagne bucket at this point.
It was so hot, it melted the ice.
[digger] just in the nick of time.
Whoo-hoo.
Damn, five seconds to spare.
Chase on out after huck.
[tim] I'm not even sure what that is,
but there's three different jars on the table.
I'm gonna just to make it official,
who's gonna take that big roll of copper home?
You know the difference between a dab and a smidgen and the pinch.
All about that much.
-Yeah. -That's the difference.
A pinch is obvious,
a-- a skosh is about that much.
Now, a right smart.
-Yeah, yeah. -That'll get you
way down here.
-A dob? -A dob is two dabs.
-[mark] yes, maybe. -Yeah.
[digger] how much is a god's plenty?
A god's plenty is a bunch.
That's a truckload, baby.
Now, a bunch is a whole nother ball game.
Now you got a heapin'.
-You gotta heapin'. -You gotta heapin' there.
Well, it ain't gonna let you.
I have learned that an ass-load is about six pints.
[all laughing]
[digger] timmy, we ain't go gettin' over-serious
if we don't get some liquor in our bellies.
It's gotta be howard.
[tickle] I see a little debris in here,
looks like might be some apple.
That's okay.
-Almost like licorice. -[mark] yeah.
I ain't mad at your flavor.
He got some liquor in there.
That heat on it,
I think it's that vanilla.
Ain't it funny how vanilla if you add it after the fact,
will smooth something,
but if you throw it in that thumper,
she'll spice her right on up.
Better shake that one up good, tim.
That pineapple or whatever it is on the top of it.
Well, if you go that way, it goes to-- to that end,
if you go this way, it goes to that end.
Well, that's 'cause it floats.
I think kelly was trying so hard,
grasping its many straws,
it just, it just went south on him.
And far as flavor, I can taste some pineapple
but I don't taste no darn liquor.
Now, as I get closer to bottom of that jar,
like this little sipper,
it's like the liquor staying at the bottom,
it's not mixing quite right.
Well, it's hiding.
-Yeah. -It don't wanna be...
It don't want to be in there.
It's almost like an ice-cream topping.
-Yeah. -You know, you get a good sundae,
and you just pour it on top.
It is an improvement.
[tickle] it is most definitely an improvement.
[mark] we might need that to rinse the taste
out of our mouth of them other two.
He just gave us another clear jar.
[mark] he tempered it down with backends, with tails.
-All right. -So, that's even more flavor.
[mark] thing about it is,
howard and kelly only had
one way to go, up. But when you're already good,
you can go down.
Ooh! That just have a nice nose on it.
-Oh, that's nice. -All right.
I had high hopes but huck,
I think, might've moved up a notch.
Before that bit of fire that was in, it's gone.
And that's good liquor.
But you could build a nice cocktail out of-- out of that.
Just had a nice few. That hit me right in the three.
Well, that one's good.
Well, boys, it looks to me like we're in agreement.
All right, go get 'em.
All right, fellas, uh.
Let me start off with saying,
there was definitely improvements made
when y'all flavored y'all's liquors up.
Start out with you, kelly.
Kelly, your jar seems to be changing
as time goes on.
I'm not for sure what you put in that jar,
but as long as it sits there, the more it changes.
It's still cooking.
You know, you did improve somewhat
on what you had. You did change the profile.
-And the color. -Ah, and the color,
and, and, I don't know where you was going,
but you was going. And it's still going.
The taste profile is way better,
but the appearance of it sucks.
What is this slime in this jar?
Well, let's see. There was sugar
and, and may have been a jar of mayonnaise
and some butter and...
That it? Okay. Enough said. Huck.
[tickle] you did the least amount to yours
but you took what we told you
was a little bit wrong with it
and, well, you improved upon it.
You just brought it down to the perfect temperature.
You can pull it right out of a cooler ice and drink it.
That's all it needs, or pour it over an ice cube.
Great job.
[tim] howard, tremendous improvement.
I mean, it's got a few floaters
but it's more like solids.
Before, we had little fishes,
like moving around in there.
I filtered them out the best I could
-[tim] yeah. -With a coffee filter.
I mean, you did a great job.
It almost looks like a-- a cocktail
or punch. And I think, put it on ice,
you could just drink it straight out of the jar.
Proud of you.
Tickle said he taught you everything you know.
[tickle] oh, hell, I know where this is going.
You came from behind better than anybody in this block.
It's still a little bit fierce in there in a place or two.
Got a little bit too much cinnamon
and some other spice, I don't know what that is.
I think it's that vanilla.
-I really think, I think -[digger] maybe you're putting
-a little too... -Vanilla extract.
If you think you're not using enough,
you're probably using too much.
-Exactly. -That's the kind
-of deal it is. -Yeah.
[digger] so, that being said, you improved tremendously.
Thank you for that.
This is one of the finest challenges
that we've been part of. Hell, kudos to you.
Well, thanks for having us.
All the three of y'all are great guys.
All three of you is great together.
I want this to make it official.
Who's going to take that big roll of copper home?
[intense music]
huck, you're the man.
Congratulations, big guy.
We knew you had it all the time.
I tried to help yous.
I mowed these, these boys down
all three rounds, you know,
I kicked their butt.
There's a new master distiller in town.
Here you go, huck.
[tim] don't spend all that copper in one place.
That's right. Bust it up into pennies.
Yeah, now that's a hell of a trophy, ain't it?
Let me just touch it, since I'll never own it.
Lord almighty.
-I'll tell you what. -Uh-oh.
I've got two rolls at home.
You was wanting this. Here.
[bleep]! You ain't gotta give that to me, old buddy!
There you go.
There you go, howard.
Hot damn!
[huck] howard walked in there,
you know, he'd reach over and touch
that roll of copper, his heart was set on winning that,
you know, and it was mine.
I could do what I wanted to do with it.
So, I just give it to howard.
He probably ain't got no copper at home
but he got a roll now.
That don't mean you won.
[howard] no, no, no, no. I know, he won.
But I met a great friend in here,
this man will give you the shirt off his back.
-I'll tell you that. -[digger] that's what it's all about.
Look at that.
You know, this whole experience has been great for me.
Huck giving me that copper meant the world to me.
I would like to continue on being a still hand.
I don't know necessarily if
tickle or tim is going to have me at this point
because I let them down.
So, I've got to do a whole lot
of butt kissing at this point.
Hey, being as tim said that I taught you
everything you know, you can drop that at my house.
[all laughing]