[narrator] On a special Master Distiller tournament,
it's a legal...
...versus outlaw showdown.
I ain't got no idea how this is gonna go.
[narrator] Six former contenders
from opposing sides of the liquor-making universe
go head to head.
While Tim coaches the legal distillers...
You're not gonna bring me nothing that's, say, 30-proof?
[narrator] ...Digger wrangles the outlaw shiners...
It's time for the outlaw side to win this rascal.
[narrator] ...pushing the boundaries of their craft.
[Digger Manes] Come on, you're not gonna let her beat you,
come on, get with it!
[narrator] Through a series of elimination challenges...
That's some outlaw technology there.
[narrator] ...only one side of the law will prevail.
[Frank Hicks] I got no fire.
Come on.
[narrator] And only one will redeem their previous loss...
[Tim Smith] Moonshine season is in.
[narrator] ...to earn the coveted title
of Tournament Master Distiller.
Don't know who to bet on at this point.
All right, guys, welcome back to each and every one of you.
You've all competed before, you know the deal.
You were here, you might not have won,
but you made a damn fine showing of yourselves.
Now's your ultimate chance for redemption.
You're all shining examples of the legal side of this business,
and the illegal side of this business.
But at the end of these challenges,
there will be two of you gone.
One on the legal side, one on the outlaw side.
[Mark Ramsey] For your first challenge,
you'll be running a corn mash that we made up for you.
This sets the baseline.
You have the same mash, the same stills,
the only difference in your run of liquor
will be the skills that you bring to the competition,
legal or outlaw.
We expect a smooth 95-proof throughout this competition.
On the legal side,
these guys have more experience at running house mash.
Consistent product all the way.
Yeah, you might be right, Tim, but you gotta remember.
There ain't no hydrometers over there in those boxes.
I'm gonna say team outlaws is gonna have a little bit of an advantage
over the legal distillers, unless they've been doing their homework.
The end of the day, we're gonna answer that age-old question.
Who makes the best liquor?
Is it the legal side, or is it the outlaw side?
I've been on both sides, and even I don't know the answer to that question.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
After the Revolutionary War,
one of the first sources of revenue
for the US government was,
you guessed it, the alcohol excise tax.
The first distilled spirit tax was enacted in 1791.
And as no coincidence,
in 1791, the very first outlaw moonshiners were born.
When Prohibition hit in 1920 and alcohol was made illegal,
everyone became an outlaw distiller.
In 1933, Prohibition was repealed.
And legal distillers went back to following federal,
state, and local laws.
But outlaws continued to make liquor illegally.
Because it really wasn't about the law for them.
It was about sticking it to the tax man.
[Mark] Whoever wins this run
will get a hydrometer.
Which is gonna be very important,
because in your next challenge,
will be to rapid-age your jar in only five hours.
And you will be asked to turn it in
at exactly 95 proof.
Since I'm the one with a legal distillery, I'm with the legal side.
It's a no-brainer, I'm with outlaws.
I'm neutral. I'm Switzerland.
I'll be going between the rooms.
Follow me.
[Digger] All right, guys.
It's time for the outlaw side to win this rascal.
The goal here is to make the best jar possible
and beat the outlaw guys.
You have three hours...
-Time starts now. -[Digger] ...start now.
[Digger] Good luck, guys, and get with it.
[Tim Smith] Get to work.
It's gonna be interesting seeing what they bring to this thing.
How's it taste?
I think I can do something proper with it.
They've all got the same exact identical mash,
so this is just skills.
[Digger] I think when it's all said and done,
guys, I believe the outlaws are gonna outrun
the legal side in here.
The skills are pretty much even across the board.
But, you guys are used to operating without
the assistance of high-dollar equipment.
Yep.
[muttering] Okay, Kelley, make sure
you're doing what you're doing right.
My name's Kelley Tennille, I'm 35 years old,
and I live in Clark County, Kentucky.
My interest in distilling basically came
from a distaste for any and all authority.
At the end of the day, being an outlaw distiller
allows me to be my own boss.
Last time I was here, um, I was in the Italian Grappa Challenge.
Grappa, through and through.
Proof right on, about 95.
No hydrometer, you did an excellent job.
Thank you, sir.
It feels really good to be back here
and I think it's cool that I get another chance to showcase my skills.
I will have my vengeance, [chuckles] and claim what is rightfully mine.
-[Curtis Wickliffe] You stuffing it? -Why not?
-[Curtis] Well, I mean-- -You should do it, too.
I don't know, I want a little flavor left in mine.
-Ouch. -[both laugh]
Shots fired, shots fired.
My name is Curtis Wickliffe, I'm 50 years old, from Louisville, Kentucky.
I've been distilling 12 years now.
Mainly doing bourbon styles and grains.
My first time around, I presented the judges whiskey.
[Tim Smith] Curtis is spot on with his proof with that Kentucky-style whiskey.
Curtis knows what he's doing.
He just suffered an unfortunate accident
where he scorched that mash.
Winning Master Distiller would be a severe achievement.
I would be able to take the title home to Kentucky.
Be a perfect piece to put over my door
and saying, "Hey, this is what I've done."
[Curtis] How you feeling, Frank?
I ain't run nothing this small in over a year.
[chuckles]
I'm Frank Hicks.
I'm 59.
And I'm from Huntington, East Texas.
I've been around moonshine my entire life.
I'm a fifth-generation shiner.
When I was here last time...
-Damn, that's good. -Never tasted nothing like that before.
[Digger] That is good.
This time, coming back,
having these guys judge my liquor again,
I mean, they already know what kind of shiner I am.
I didn't bring my A-game for this.
I brought my triple-A-plus game for this.
I will have that title.
Come on, baby, get hot.
[Gian "GP" Nelson] What do we have here?
Little sour?
Nice little corn wash. All right. Let's get to work.
[Trent Tilton] Whoo!
I hope y'all made us a good wash.
My name is Trent, I'm 42,
and I'm from San Diego, California.
I am a legal distiller and I own a distillery in San Diego.
I'm also a psychiatric registered nurse,
and I play guitar and a symphonic,
and an '80s metal cover band.
Last time I was on this competition...
We're gonna make a little medicinal liquor.
...I made something fairly complicated.
[Mark] Trent, man, you're a mad scientist.
I've never seen anything quite like that.
I wanna win this competition.
There's some really killer
legal and outlaw competitors.
The bar, right off the bat, it's gonna be nine out of ten.
And I've gotta hit 11 out of 10, I think,
in order to win this challenge.
-[GP] Tastes pretty good. -[Trent] I should've tried some.
[GP] It's got, like, a fruity floral note to it, so.
See where that's gonna come up in the still.
I'm GP, I'm 32 years old
and I live in Napa, California.
I'm a legal distiller, and I've been distilling now for about six years.
Originally came from wine making, but before that I was in the Marine Corps.
The last time I was at the competition for mountain brandy...
[Mark] Oh, GP's making another gin back,
-but with different... -Different spices.
[Mark] ...different spices.
-This is a pretty complex drink. -Thank you.
Being here for the legal and outlaw competition,
I mean, to be honest, I'm just so happy to be back.
Um, I felt like last time was a once in a lifetime opportunity,
and I get to do it twice.
-You got a little needle valve down there. -[Mykala Stinson] Oh, yep.
[Trent] Come on, little guy.
-Mykala. -[Mykala] Yes, sir?
How about that mash that you had there?
Super tangy, uh, I'm really excited to see
how it comes out.
I'm Mykala Stinson,
I'm 34 years old and I'm from Portland, Oregon.
I'm the head distiller at Shine Distillery & Grill.
The first time that I was here, I made absinthe.
-[Tim Smith] Beets? -[Mark] She did.
I mean, no one else has brought beets in here.
[Mark] I found your spirit
to be really interesting. Very floral.
It was harder than it should be.
Winning Master Distiller, for me,
would be about redemption.
I really want to come into this one
and try and nail it every time.
You know, guys, you might be out of your element running these stills,
but I know back at your legal distillery,
you run other people's mash, and this may be an advantage for you.
Two and a half hours left.
-[Kelley] Are you [bleep] me right now? -[Curtis] What's wrong?
[Kelley] I'm leaking.
There's a tiny little leak.
I checked it.
I'll dump it again. [bleep].
I guess that just all of the mash,
uh, pressurized it a little bit.
[Curtis] A couple of cranks on it, if it doesn't, then, then we'll...
[Kelley] All right. Let's give it a minute and see if it's...
-[Frank] Shining 101. -[Curtis] That's it.
[Kelley] [bleep].
-[Kelley] Are you [bleep] me right now? -[Curtis] What's wrong?
[Kelley] I'm leaking.
This whole competition, it's a huge deal.
I can't have a leak.
[Curtis] Don't overthink it. Wipe the ground around it.
So that way, you know, you'll see fresh drops.
[Kelley] If I lose any alcohol vapor,
then that's just alcohol
that's not actually gonna come out in my distillate.
-[Digger] There we go. -Thanks, big dog.
Yeah, I burned off my arm hair last time.
-[Curtis] Save your eyebrows. -Thank you.
[Frank] You know, the thing about outlawing is,
the less fun it is when it happens,
the funnier it is when you tell the story.
-Exactly. -[Kelley laughs]
-[GP] There we go, there's some drips. -[Mykala] Hey!
[GP] It's flowing.
[Mykala] Oh, look at you.
Little charcoal filtering on the fly.
My man, Trent, now. You're a legal distiller.
What about your bead-reading skills
that you don't have a hydrometer?
Oh, I think I can nail that.
[Tim Smith] Can you? Yeah?
You're not gonna bring me nothing that's, say, 30-proof?
No, I'm gonna bring you 175.
-[Tim Smith] 175? -Yeah.
-[Tim Smith] Out of that still? -No.
[laughs]
At the distillery, we have a touch screen,
you know, so I can manipulate the steam with a button.
It's fun to come out here and, like,
-have to work a turkey burner. -[Mykala laughs]
Oh, there she comes.
All right, guys. You got two hours left.
[Trent] That's a pretty good spot right there.
-[Mykala] Yay, I got drippies. -[GP] Yeah, you're going.
[GP] Oh, there she goes.
All right, I'm in the fight.
Mark.
Timmy, what's going on over here on the legal side?
[Tim Smith] One thing I've noticed,
a lot of these legal guys is bringing out
that distilled water to temper it down,
not looking at putting the tails in.
-Well... -Were you not the outlaw guy, more than likely
they're gonna use the tails to get that flavor.
[Trent] Which way is it, if the bubbles go away faster, it's higher proof?
[GP] I don't know, I mean, that's why I have a hydrometer every day, so.
[laughs]
Tim, I'm gonna get back over and check on my outlaw gang.
Okay. You keep them straight over there.
[Mark] I'm doing the best I can, but...
She's climbing.
[Curtis] Uh-oh, here we go. Party time. You got liquor.
This competition is gonna be really good, because the outlaw side
is very knowledgeable and has a number of years
doing exactly what we're doing now.
This is the home field advantage.
A pleasant shine is so divine.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
I got a liquor to the worm.
I am very confident in my abilities
a superb top-shelf liquor.
It's cooking one on one, it ain't no big deal.
take your time, do what you know how to do,
and watch the magic happen.
Running yet?
[Kelley] And I'm live. Boom.
I'm happy with the liquor that's coming off the still.
Here she comes.
Feel like an outlaw stiller like me is gonna win the competition,
because we're versatile and we're tough as nails.
Now it's tasting like liquor.
I got one hour left in your run.
[Frank] Still not right yet.
Still got some cloud to it.
Jar there looks a little cloudy.
[Frank] I can't get this stuff to really clean.
Come on, now.
God, that smells good.
-Trent. -Tim, what's going on?
Are you smelling or drinking?
-Both. -Both?
-Yeah. -You... [laughs]
[Tim Smith] You just about got your jar ready.
[Trent] I'm drinking this jar. I'm actually tasting these
last couple three or four, trying to think about my blend.
And I'm thinking about what I'm gonna do for the rapid aging as well.
-Well, I'll be waiting on that for you to turn it in. -I know you will.
Honestly, I think the legals
might have a little bit of an advantage,
just because every day we're running our stills.
And we're running different types of mashes in different washes.
[GP] Pretty hazy. Wow.
I think my jar is definitely a little hazier than I expected.
Think that my proof is just a little too low.
All right guys, you got five minutes.
[Curtis] That funk is starting to come off.
That's still not clean liquor.
-Is that with or without water? -With a little water.
I'd find my dead center heart jar and that's where I'd come.
The very first run, what I'm happy with now.
[Kelley] I think it's just, it's my one good jar,
it's clear enough, it smells all right,
so I'm just gonna work with it.
[Curtis] I'm officially putting a plug in my jug.
[Kelley] That's your jar?
That's it.
[Curtis] That's your buzz jar or your 95 jar?
[Frank] That's my only jar.
-Here comes old Frank. -[Mark] Bring it in here, Frank.
-[Mark] Good luck, buddy. -[Frank] Thank you, sir.
[Mark] Bring it in here, girl.
Good luck.
Come on in here, big man.
Looks good.
[Trent] How are y'all doing over there? Y'all wanna turn in together?
-Yeah. I'm set and ready. -Let's do it together.
All right, three of us.
-Good luck. -Thank you, thank you.
I'm gonna take these with me.
Do a little tasting,
You should go check on your outlaw guys and see what they doing.
-So let's get started. -All right.
Well, we only got 18 shots to go through.
[Mark chuckles]
[Digger] We're looking for corn liquor,
with the best clarity, flavor,
and closest to that benchmark
at 95 proof, and makes a fine sipping liquor.
Hey, y'all, we're back. How'd you guys do?
-[Frank] Don't know yet. -[Curtis] Pretty good, pretty good.
-[all laughing] -[Trent] Aw, yeah.
[Tim Smith] They all started with the same mash.
This is gonna separate them on their distilling skills.
-Let's get started. This is Kelley. -Kelley.
She's outlaw.
-Looks good. -Yes, it does.
I'm gonna say she's right in the neighborhood of 95 to 100 right there.
Good-looking jar of liquor.
[Kelley] It was definitely difficult to clean up.
Tails were pretty gnarly, so I didn't touch them.
[Digger] That's liquor.
-Pretty tasty liquor. -Fruity, fruity notes.
Well, you know what's funny?
I get a spearmint note in there
before it goes back into a little bit of caramel
and then finishes off just with a sugar sweetness.
-That's a good drink. Kelley's done a good job. -It tastes good.
I'd put her in first right now.
[chuckles]
Well, let's move on, get another one.
This would be Curtis.
-Big Curtis. He's the man. -Curtis is the man.
That is a real clear jar.
Mine ran surprisingly smooth. I was happy with it.
The first three jars were hot.
Other than that, by the time I got to four,
uh, I was in my heavy place.
-[Digger] Around 110, I'd say, at least. -[Tim Smith] Yeah.
Little bit fiery.
I accept a little fire up on the front end,
-as long as it don't finish hot. -[Digger] Yup.
I would call it kind of, um,
cinnamon and nutmeg sugary finish.
It's a good drink.
-Move on. -[Tim Smith] Yup. Frank.
Slim Shady. I like it.
It took me forever to get a clean jar.
-That damn fine bead. -[Tim Smith] Yeah.
[Digger] I think he's 90, 95.
-[Mark] Oh, that's good. -[Digger] Really, really smooth.
On the back end, it's really nice.
-Yeah, yeah. I like that. -[Digger] Yup.
We've tasted all the outlaw side.
-Let's try the legal distillers. -[Tim Smith] Okay.
-Well, this is Trent. -[Mark laughs]
[Digger] How do you know?
[Mark] He wrote his personality all over his jar.
That looks pretty clear.
I feel pretty good. I feel like I put out a good jar.
All my liquor ran off a piece of wood char.
[Tim Smith] He says 100, but I don't think, I don't see 100.
He oughta have really tremendous flavor,
-but no proof. -[Tim Smith] Yeah.
Right. You know, Trent's a legal distiller.
You know, he never works,
I'm sure, without a hydrometer.
-Sweet water. -[Tim Smith] He's got flavor.
He made a good 70, 75 proof jar.
He knows what he's doing.
Moving on. All right.
-Mykala. That is, [chuckling] a clear jar. -[Mark] Wow.
-Yeah, boy.
I ended up doing three
half jars and then a full jar,
before I was really happy with the hearts,
and my final jar ended up being a pretty good mix
of the, like, six half-jars in the middle.
She's 90-proof.
Getting good flavor.
Finish is way smooth.
You know, look at those legs crawling down that jar.
We got a nice bootleg jar right there that a legal distiller just made.
Yeah.
Let's go into the last testing here. That is GP?
Mine still took forever to heat up.
Once I got there, I got some good flavor out of it.
[Tim] Well, the flavor's there.
That's good sweet water.
Yeah, the flavor's there, but it fell short on the proof.
All of these guys had the same mash,
same type still, they all ran it the same way.
But one of them stands above the rest.
[Digger] All right, guys, welcome back.
How odd it is that we can have six people with the exact same mash,
and each one of them come up
with a different flavor note
somewhere in the mix
and on the nose as well.
What this shows us is each and every one of you
brought your individual skills,
whether you're outlaw or a legal distiller.
Trent, you brought plenty of flavor.
Think it's just a little bit weak on alcohol.
Very good job. I'm proud of you.
All right, Mykala,
there's not a lot I can say except for wow.
I mean, you nailed the proof,
right where I want my drinking liquor,
I think you're 90-95 right now,
I feel pretty positive.
Yeah, I was shooting for, like, 95-100.
You knocked it out of the park.
-Thank you. -[Digger] Flavor, great.
So fine job.
GP,
-Yes, sir. -[Tim Smith] Great job distilling.
It shows.
You brought us a good, clear, full jar.
I hate to tell you though,
but you fell real short on your alcohol.
I think between us, we guessed about 50 proof.
But has outstanding flavor.
-Okay. -[Tim Smith] Great job distilling though.
Thank you.
Now let's move on to team outlaw.
[Mark] Kelley...
...it's a great flavor,
you've done a really good job, and I'm really proud of you.
Thank you.
-Curtis. -Yes, sir.
You did a fine job.
Flavor's very complex.
I think maybe you were a little bit high on your proof,
but your flavor was there,
damn fine job.
-Thank you. -[Digger] Yes, sir.
Frank, my man from Texas.
-Yes, sir. -[Tim Smith] Hey, outstanding job.
I mean, we can tell you're outlaw
'cause you proofed it right on the money.
It tastes good, it looks good,
but it's got a little bit of bite to it.
You did an outstanding job.
-[Frank] Thank you. -You got a good jar there to be proud of.
[Frank] Thank you.
All right, guys, one person's
gonna get a hydrometer to help them through this.
The person that's gonna get this
perfectly good Proof and Tralle hydrometer...
...is Mykala.
-Thank you. -Step up, now you cannot
let anybody borrow this.
[Mykala] Aw.
-You are the only one. -[laughs] Aw.
I wanted to be everybody's friend.
The hydrometer definitely gives me a leg up
in the next step of the competition.
The true test is gonna be the rapid aging.
We're gonna find out who brings the best.
[Tim Smith] Consumers want barrel-aged products out there
on the legal side and the illegal side.
We want to make that buck quick.
All right, guys, coming in to this competition,
we asked you to bring your own tools and equipment
to best rapid age your liquor.
We're anxious to see what you brought to the table in order to do that.
I think the legal distillers, they have an edge in this
because, you know, they're doing more rapid aging these days.
[Digger] You know, Timmy, at the end of the day,
I think these outlaw distillers
gonna have the edge because that's what
outlaw distillers been doing for years.
At the end of this challenge,
one legal and one outlaw distiller
will be going home.
This will be the end of the line
for two of you.
Bring us your best.
All right, your five hours starts
now.
[Trent] I'm a legal distiller,
so I'm used to taking a, like, a corn liquor
and putting it into barrels, and I tuck it away
for two, three, four
five years at a time, right?
However, we were tasked in five hours.
I've got all these jars laid out in front of me.
I've got my American, my French,
I've got the Japanese, and I've got the mahogany.
[Digger] It's a beautiful color,
but the flavors left behind from mahogany are quite harsh.
Kinda pulled out whatever tricks I had.
I took my liquor and washed it over my charred wood there.
They said rapid age.
No doubt about that.
Brother got color over there already and everything.
We got a lot of science.
[Tim Smith] We got a lot of technology going on here.
This was passed down to me from my grandfather.
I used to watch him take fresh white liquor
that wasn't 12 hours off the still,
going to sell it as 12 or 20-year old bourbon.
Frank, what are you doing with that battery charger over there?
[Frank] Uh, it's electrolysis on it.
I put the charge through the...
Through the liquor there, it makes it
go through the wood real well.
What I'm gonna do is add toasted spirals
rather than add in char
because I feel like it won't cloud my jar up.
For rapid aging, I'm bringing
a super small sonic cleaner.
It's a jewelry cleaner.
All it's doing is
a whole lot of agitating
with a little bit of effort.
I know I'm gonna want a 10, 15-year-old bourbon,
and unfortunately, five hours is gonna make it tough.
I need to eat my spinach for this one
'cause five hours of shaking...
But I think with the ultrasonic cleaner
and some heavy agitation,
I might be able to take it home.
There we go, no we're playing with fire.
[Mark] Well, you know, Mykala,
she's got her cement mixer going.
That's a first, but you know, honestly,
I think it's a good idea.
I think my secret weapon
this go around is the cement mixer.
It's gonna provide gentle agitation.
I don't have to worry about the chips degrading
or getting a lot of particulate in there.
And I think that it'll allow me to age it
to the point that I want,
to the flavor profile that I want
without worrying as much about over-oaking it.
Well, I'm not the one that brought the cement mixer,
-but... -[Mykala laughs]
...I'll catch up, don't you worry.
Yeah, can you imagine what that was like
-getting on the plane? -[GP laughing] Oh, yeah.
[Kelley] What all have you got over there?
Oh, I got a bunch of,
um, like, French oak staves that have been charred.
I'm gonna be doing two things.
First I'm gonna try to correct my proof.
because it was so low.
[Digger] He's cutting a whole in that thing.
And the second part will be trying to age
the, uh, spirit in five hours.
-Ta-da! -That'd be a new flavored toothpaste,
wouldn't it? Bourbon flavor.
Maybe you ought to get on that.
[Mark] You know, honestly...
...there's a whole potpourri of things going on here.
[GP] Everyone's got all these big machines...
...and we've got caveman, the general contractor,
the jeweler...
[Kelley] The humble toothbrush,
the I don't know what that is,
but I'm very into it.
Boys and girls, we're halfway there.
Two and a half hours in, two and a half hours left.
[Tim Smith] I don't know if they're gonna need five hours or not.
Hell, most of them brown already.
[Digger] I can see a lot of over-oaked liquor in our future.
But maybe they know something we don't.
[Mark] Well, I'm gonna tell you,
I ain't got no idea
how this is gonna go.
One hour, guys.
I'm seeing GP over there.
He's pulling some of his high shots
to blend in to raise up his proof.
You know, as a legal distiller,
I'm for sure he's got the blending skills to do it.
Outlaw Curtis over here,
he's got just exactly the opposite problem.
He came in too hot,
so he's gonna have to bring his proof down
by blending in some of his tails.
[Digger] You know, at the end of the day,
that's what outlaws do.
We know how to proof our liquor down.
-[Tim Smith] Mykala. -[Mykala] Yes?
Was that a can of O2
that you just infused in the jar
and shut it up in there?
-Yep. -[Mark] Okay.
I'm hoping that the oxygen
will take some of the edge off the new wood flavor and smell
that can sometimes come from
quick contact with wood.
-Look who's coming here. -[Tim Smith] Mmm-hmm.
[Digger] Ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna to introduce you
to Tim Jones.
Hey, I'm Tim.
I'm an international spirits judge.
Aged spirits, of course, are, um, trending way up.
and it's tough because it takes time.
Everybody here's got different methods.
I'm hoping that somebody cracks the code.
Times are getting slight there, guys,
30 minutes.
Trent, are you happy with the color and the clarity
and what you got so far?
I used four different types of wood,
um, all blended together.
And I think it's a pretty reasonable proof,
I think it's right around 95, where it's gotta be.
Yeah, from here, it's really interesting.
-I like it. -[Tim Jones] Yeah?
[both laugh]
Well, we have to have some too,
-so you might want to slow down a little bit. -[laughs]
Mykala, are you happy so far?
I think with the gentle but constant agitation,
I think I had a lot less sediment fall off.
Mmm, I look forward to trying it.
And, uh, GP,
did you notice the toothbrush idea,
has it... Did it do much for you?
I don't think it was as agitating as maybe something else.
-[Tim Jones] Hmm. -So I think it was a really nice balance
between not doing anything
and then going over the top and...
-Yeah. -...yeah.
Great.
And Kelley?
I've been wildly oscillating back and forth
between loving it and hating it.
-Really? -[Kelley] Yeah.
But, you know,
Mark told me that he liked the first round's.
Curtis, what about you?
I'm liking the flavor,
it doesn't have as long legs as I would like.
Okay.
Frank?
I really wish that I could've done,
you know, some different stuff,
-but, you know, it is what it is. -Right.
Somewhere along the line, I had some wood
that wasn't... I didn't get cleaned completely right.
So I had some kind of contaminate in my liquor,
and when I added the juice to it,
it turned cloudy on me.
The challenge then was
try to take this liquor and get the cloud out of it.
15 minutes, guys.
Better put that polish on there.
[Mykala] Trying to check my proof
every time I check that.
That way I can see, like, what room temperature is.
[Tim Jones] Yeah.
Winning the hydrometer provided a useful tool,
but without a thermometer,
it does not give you a true proof.
So I used my initial submission as a baseline,
and then based my next submission off of that.
Got all the tools now.
[Mykala] I know.
If I come in last, it's gonna be...
-[laughing] -...embarrassing.
No, no, no.
Hail Mary time.
Not sure.
Nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
Put your jars down, guys. You're done.
Whenever you're ready, bring them up.
-[Trent] Y'all ready? Let's roll. -Let's do it.
[GP] Oh, yeah. Let's do it.
-[Trent] Boom. -[Tim Jones] Looking good, guys.
Yeah.
It's been just an honor and a privilege for me to watch you all work.
Now comes our time we've got to do our work.
See you all shortly.
When I'm tasting or judging anything,
I always look at it, look at the color, the clarity.
Does it have a good nose?
You know, and taste is the most important.
In proof, Team Outlaw is gonna have a little bit of an advantage
to see if their eye can read the ...
Yeah, and I think it's gonna be important
if you're a distiller and you can't hit a proof.
We definitely have to take some points off of that, too.
Yeah. All right, guys, we got a lot of drinking to do in a short period of time.
Yeah, it looks like the front is the outlaw side,
and Curtis is the first one in line, so...
Curtis.
You know, I mean, Curtis has pretty nice color,
but the clarity's, I think it's a little cloudy.
Started off with three jars in so I could get different levels.
One was heavily oaked, and then one was just a really light oak,
and then one I was hand agitating.
So that way I could get three different profiles,
and then mix with the neutral.
Got a decent nose.
There's a lot of caramel in there
on my palate.
Well, I think with the ultrasonic
it's obviously adding flavor.
So, Curtis' proof is 78.67
-of the 75 degree temperature. -Okay.
Moving right along, Texas Frank.
Color's a little lighter than Curtis',
and it's a little cloudy, too.
The white ... is fabulous for filtering.
Used it one time there, and my jar went from like this
-to like that. -It started sucking up
-your liquor. -Right.
Got a good nose.
Using a battery charger to age some liquor,
I mean, that's some outlaw technology there.
Frank is at 101.5.
Kelley.
The color on this is outstanding.
Clarity looks great.
Towards the end, I proofed down
and I'm wondering if I didn't, like, proof down too much.
Yeah, light on the nose.
[Mark] Taste good.
Think it just falls flat in the middle
and then opens back up again.
[sighs] It's probably in that 100 range,
-I would think. -Yeah.
-So far, I'm not disappointed. -Yeah.
Well, it looks good and tastes good.
[Mark] What we got on there?
We have a 99.15.
Washes it up through all the Outlaw side.
Now it's on to the legal side,
and I'm gonna say
we're gonna see high and low proofs on this.
Yeah, let's start with GP.
-It's got a little cloudiness -Yeah.
-but not bad. -Yeah, he struggled.
[Digger] He was really cloudy at one point.
I had to start from scratch.
I already had one jar that I thought tasted good
but my proof was nothing,
so I had to make sure
that I basically started with a new blend, a new age,
and I tried to proof as much as I could
because, I mean, what other choice did I have this coming round?
Bit flat on the end.
I'm still not that excited about the flavor.
GP is at 95.70.
Knowing he's a legal distiller,
being able to hit that with no hydrometer,
-that's impressive. -Yeah, that's impressive.
-That's impressive. -Yeah.
Now moving on to the next to the last.
-Mykala. -[Digger] Mmm. Mykala.
[Tim Jones] That's almost like an apple juice
or a cider or something.
[Mykala] I know mine definitely wasn't
the darkest jar on the table,
but my favorite thing is scotch,
and not all scotch is charcoal dark.
So I was just going for good flavor,
trying to hit the proof.
[Tim Jones] I think it almost taste like it looks.
It's got a weird green apple.
-Some tartness in there. -Yeah.
She had the hydrometer and she's a legal distiller,
so hopefully she's got the 95 proof.
-Right at 98. -Wow.
Moving on.
[Mark] Last and certainly unique,
Trent.
The clarity's good, the color is really unique.
You can tell he's definitely used
different types of wood.
I think my jar was very wooded.
There was definitely some astringency.
There was definitely a lot of tannens that came out.
So I'm a little nervous about it, that I went too much.
It's interesting.
The nose is super clean.
It's not nearly as caramel heavy.
[Digger] Mmm-mmm.
I think so far, right now,
it reminds me, like, I want a cigar
so bad right now.
-It's got a smoky finish. -And you can taste that.
That looks like aged bourbon. It's a perfect color.
-[Digger] It is. -Perfect color.
-You're at 92. -So he's right there.
Gentlemen, right now comes the point
that we have to eliminate one outlaw and one legal distiller.
I was at my brother's place, down on the bayou there.
There was a gator on the porch.
We're on the porch trying to get him off the porch and everything.
I got careless, I wasn't watching his tail.
-[gasps] -And he knocked my feet out from underneath me.
There's his eyeballs right there.
Bam.
First time, he hit my arm, knocked it up against the post.
The second time he come around
-he got my thumb. -[Kelley] Oh, okay.
-Did he eat your thumb or was the thumb, like, found? -No, no, it was on the porch.
-Isn't that rude? -[all chuckling]
[Digger] We know the quality of distillers you are.
Becomes our job to cut one
from each side of this competition,
being the legal and the outlaw side.
What we judged you all on was your taste, first and foremost,
clarity, and how close you came to that 95 proof.
We're gonna start with Team Legal.
Trent, I noticed you didn't use
any electricity or turning things.
You just used the wood.
You did a great job.
The taste and the flavor of your blending skills were off the charts.
The other criteria was we're asking you to hit 95 proof,
and you came really damn close.
-92. -[Trent whispering] Oh, yeah!
[Tim Jones] Outstanding.
Mykala.
I came in and I saw this machine in the back.
I didn't know what was going on,
but I'll tell you what, it absolutely changed the liquor.
This liquid that I was tasting was really clean, it stood out.
It wasn't covered up or masked.
You had a hydrometer.
So we're thinking about, "She can't miss this, right?"
You were at 98, so really close,
-so outstanding jar. -Thank you.
GP.
From where you started with, with your proof,
I mean, you did a steep 180.
Color was good.
Wasn't so pleasant on the back end,
but your proof was 95.7.
-[laughing] No way. -You nailed it, Doc.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Now let's move on to Team Outlaw.
Frank, you operate like Mark and I do,
you know, redneck ingenuity.
And putting that spark in your wood,
that's exactly what that is.
Your flavors were complex. They were deep.
We gave you a hallmark of 95,
and you went to almost 102.
-But all in all, fine drink. -Thank you, sir.
-Curtis. -Yes, sir.
[Digger] Deep, rich flavor.
I mean, you brought it.
A good finish start to end.
You dropped it a little bit with your clarity.
There again, the hallmark we've set of 95 proof,
you fell a little short again.
You were at 79 proof which is just under that threshold.
But, all in all, fine job. Congratulations.
Kelley.
Tastes good, it looks good, it smells good.
You were a little bit off on the proof, though.
I got in my own head.
You proof came out at 99.2.
-Outstanding job. -Thank you, sir.
Outlaws.
Legal kicked your hind end on proofing.
So it goes to show
that legal side can work without instruments, so kudos, guys.
You know, we tasted a lot of great liquor today,
and as an added challenge, we asked you to bring us a jar at 95 proof.
In our world, you know, at the end of the day,
flavor is what brings customers back for the next jar.
So we had to use flavor as the top indicator for the jar that we chose,
and I'll tell you, it was a very, very tough decision.
Unfortunately, it involves the task
that one has to go away from each side.
But unfortunately...
GP, Curtis, y'all didn't make the cut,
and we're gonna have to ask you to step out.
Gentlemen, thank you so much.
-It's been an honor. -[Digger] It's been an honor and a privilege
to judge both of you all again.
I came in here wanting to do my absolute best,
and the competition has been incredibly stiff.
And so I walk amongst giants, and I'm so honored to be here.
-We'll be here again. -Oh, yeah, definitely.
I just feel a whirlwind of emotions.
I'm upset because I didn't win,
but I met a lot of great people,
I learned a ton of stuff in the couple of days.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't my day. It wasn't my day to shine.
-It's been an honor. Thank you guys so much. -[Tim Jones] Thank you.
-It's been all ours, I promise you. -Thank you, thank you.
All right, guys, you've made it to the next level.
Next time in here it's gonna be a whole lot tougher.
We're fixing to ask you to bring us lighting in a jar.
I'm scared of you.
[narrator] Next time on Master Distiller,
Legal Versus Outlaw Tournament.
Two of you are going home after this.
[Digger] One on the legal side and one on the outlaw side.
Outlaws, we expect nothing more than a mason jar.
Legal side, we want it in a sealed can.
This is the make or break.
Outlaw guys may have a little bit of advantage,
but we'll see.