[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Before there was bourbon
and before there was rye,
the spirit that built America was rum.
[Tim] Rum is rum.
But spiced rum, that's another animal.
[narrator] Three makers of America's original spirit compete
for a place in today's $6 billion spiced rum market.
[Digger] They all taste like this,
I'm a fan.
[narrator] But only one will be named Master Distiller.
You can make money out of that.
[tense music playing]
[Digger] All right, guys. Welcome to Master Distiller.
Spiced rum.
That's what you're here to make us.
What you got at stake
is the ultimate bragging rights
and a limited run of your spiced rum
at a major distillery.
That's a big deal.
Spiced rum has a market value of $6.2 billion
and it's growing, guys.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
Spiced rum has come a long way
from its origins
as the favorite drink of pirates
and colonists in the West Indies.
Molasses was a byproduct of sugar cultivation
in Caribbean plantations in the 1600s.
It wasn't long before someone figured out
you could ferment molasses into alcohol.
The spirit was nicknamed Kill-Devil and Rumbullion,
which was later shortened into rum.
Caribbean distillers began refining their drink,
adding local fruits and spices
to make it more flavorful.
Pretty soon, taverns and plantations
began serving their own special recipe spiced rums.
It's estimated that early American settlers
drink three and a half gallons a year.
Darn novices.
These days, cocktail culture
and artisanal liquor production
have led to a new resurgence in spiced rum,
with small batch Caribbean distilleries
leading the way in an old and popular category.
Now that's spicy.
[Mark] All right, guys.
I got a lot of memories of spiced rum.
Some good and some not so good.
But, you know, it's a real fine dance
to blend your botanicals and stuff
just the way you want them.
I can't wait to try
what you bring to the table.
It's time to build your mash for your spiced rum.
We're not gonna do it inside.
All right, guys. Come on.
[Digger] I'm gonna guard the copper.
[Mark] All right, guys.
You know, I guess you thought you was probably gonna get
to mash in inside where it's nice and cozy.
But you know, we like to do things
the way we do them in the backwoods.
[Tim] You're making your signature spiced rum.
[Mark] At the end of one hour when Tim calls it,
put your paddles down.
Your time starts now.
Get to work, guys.
[Donald] You need some help?
Um, yeah.
I'll take the help when you have a minute.
-[Donald] Yeah, sure. -Yeah.
You want the whole thing in there?
Yes. I'll take it all.
My name is Erica Unruh.
I live in State College, Pennsylvania.
Do it.
I'm a legal distiller, so I haven't
had the experience of doing moonshining.
This is a 3-year bourbon barrel that I'm gonna check.
I'm gonna take a sample of it, see how it's tasting.
Day to day, I manage all the mashes,
running the still, filling barrels,
and then coming up with some small batch
whiskey and bourbon releases as well.
It has the nice vanilla caramel notes to it.
Sweetness from the corn.
I have some family in Wyoming
who decided to open up a family distillery out there.
And my brother asked me
if I wanted to be a distiller,
so moved out to Wyoming to do that
and that's how I got into distilling.
If I were to win this contest,
I think that, you know,
having my own distillery one day would be amazing.
So that's something that could be on the horizon
and winning this would definitely help me get there.
-[Donald] You want the whole thing? -[Erica] Yes.
I wonder if that's blackstrap molasses.
[Tim] It looks like it.
All right. You're the best.
I'm modifying my 500 gallon recipe
back to a 25-gallon system.
The base mash for my spiced rum
is black pearl Caribbean molasses.
Black pearl molasses has really strong notes
of that sweetness that you really want
to come through in molasses and it's a little bit earthy
and it just has a really good flavor profile.
All right, guys, 30 minutes in.
You're halfway done.
[Erica] What you got there, Jeremy?
[Jeremy] This is just molasses.
[Erica] All right.
[Jeremy] I'm Jeremy Goble.
I'm from Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
I'm an army veteran that served two deployments,
received a Purple Heart,
spent 10 years in before I retired.
After I got out of the military,
I picked up distilling.
I run behind my house, no one messes with me.
I can do my thing.
It's on a 10-gallon still,
so it's nothing big but
it definitely puts in some work.
I started out with some vodka, some whiskeys.
I've done some bourbons.
I like my high proof rum.
My dream is to open a military-themed distillery.
Get a bunch of veterans that will work with me
and help build a community.
So winning Master Distiller
will be a big step in the right direction.
What you putting in there, Jeremy?
I got some cloves, cinnamon sticks,
brown sugar, sugar, black peppercorn.
-[Erica] Okay. Nice. -[Jeremy] Some licorice root.
And of course, some star anise.
Star anise, yeah. Don't go heavy on that.
[Jeremy] Added my spices in the beginning
to give them more time to pull flavors.
This is nutmeg. Give it good flavor.
He's really putting emphasis on spice.
It's gonna be spiced.
How's it going over there, Donald?
[Donald] It's going.
My name is Donald Rely.
I'm from El Paso, Texas
and I'm an IT Specialist.
I work with computers.
I set up networks, I incorporate firewalls.
I'm a home distiller.
I wanted to see if I can make some good alcohol
and it just stuck.
This is my favorite recipe right here.
It's honey infused corn mash moonshine.
I'm a fifth generation Texan.
My family was...
Has been there since it was Mexico.
We have a tradition of tequila
and definitely rum.
And so I'm trying to incorporate
as much of the old tequila heritage
that comes from Mexico
with the white lightning heritage of Texas.
Mm.
For my base spirit, I'm gonna be using molasses
and pure cane sugar.
It's a very simple traditional rum base.
How are you infusing yours?
I'm gonna try and do it in the front keg
-in the beginning. -[Erica] Yeah.
Uh, I'm gonna use a fruit
-and spice type. -Yeah.
-How about you? -Yeah. Similar, yeah.
Just a matter of the... Of the spice profile
-you put together, you know what I mean? -[Erica] Right. Yeah.
-[Jeremy] Yeah. -[Erica] Yup.
My strategy is to build a base spirit for my rum
and do the spices in my second distillation.
You're down to two minutes.
Better get it in your barrel and get ready.
[intense music playing]
[Donald] I'm worried about enough alcohol content
with the time allotted but we'll see what happens.
[Tim] Five, four,
three, two, one.
Step away from your barrels.
If you haven't pitched your yeast,
we will take care of that for you.
-Just follow us. -[Mark] Follow us, guys.
[Digger] All right, guys. Welcome back.
Your first run, you're gonna build us your base spirit
that you're gonna build upon
throughout this whole competition
to bring us the best spiced rum we've ever tasted.
[Tim] Your mashes had time to ferment.
Hopefully it's ready to run.
All right, lady and gentlemen,
the winner of this challenge will receive
the right to go in the still house first
for the pick of still parts.
Now if you're gonna need a thumper or something
for your next run, you better hope you win.
[Digger] All right, guys.
It's time to start making us some rum.
Your three hours starts now.
Good luck and get with it, guys.
[intense music playing]
I open my barrel and it's looking amazing.
Not a whole lot of bubbles in there,
which tells me my mash completed.
Jeremy's the only one that put spices in his base mash.
[Jeremy] I'm putting spices in my base mash
which is not typical with a lot of spiced rums.
Most are done infused after distillation.
I have found if you put it in before,
you'll get a more flavorful note when you're done.
You don't need a lot of flavor
to infuse a spiced rum,
so it can be very easy to over-flavor it.
It has to have a good balance
between the sweetness of the molasses
and then whatever spices are being added.
So I think that my advantage will come
when I do the infusion in the second run.
My plan for the first run
is to just get a good tasting spirit
and to infuse some flavors into it.
Rum is rum.
But spiced rum is another animal.
[Digger] Yes, it is.
And you can sometimes over-spice.
Yup. That's gonna show where the skills are.
[Tim] Yeah.
[Mark] I think Jeremy's filled his pot
just a little too full.
Erica getting ready to get down with hers too.
Yeah, buddy.
[Tim] And they're all three done lit.
They mean business.
I'm hoping mine comes through
since I've already seasoned in my spices with it.
-Right. -I'm hoping I can get a little edge
so I can get in that still house first.
Yeah.
Because I want a thumper.
I'm hoping to get a thumper too.
That's my normal process.
We'll see how it goes.
Going first in the still pick is pretty important
in this competition if you wanna infuse.
And to do that, I need a thumper
in order to not strip away the sweetness
of the... Of the rum.
Where are you at temp-wise?
I'm at 151.
-Where you at, Erica? -[Erica] 148.
[Jeremy] I'm like close to like 110 right now.
Guys, you burn up one hour a time, you got two to go.
-[Donald] Uh-oh. Uh-oh. -You got it?
Yes, sir.
-Got drip? -[Donald] Here we go.
Got a little drip.
-A little drip. -[Erica] That's exciting.
-[Donald] Now you're running. -[Erica] Yeah.
[Jeremy] I'm really worried about getting plenty
to choose from out of the run
before the time's up.
142.
[Donald] Really?
[Jeremy] Yeah.
[Donald] My first official jar.
[Jeremy] Oh, why am I so slow?
Donald and Erica are already running liquor.
So I'm a little nervous.
[sighs deeply]
[Jeremy] Donald and Erica are running right now
and collecting jars.
I need to figure somethin' out.
I'm backin' it off,
um, I filled a little high
so it's gonna take longer to get where I need it.
So if I back it off some, it'll heat up a little faster.
Three hours isn't a lot of time
when you're doin' a run, it goes by really fast.
Two hours burnt, one more to go.
[Erica] Hey, Donald. How's it goin' over there?
[Donald] Jar number four.
I'm worried about alcohol content
because the mash wasn't completely finished fermenting.
Spiced rum has to be appropriately spiced,
good flavor to it, and of course,
it has some alcohol in it.
But it's a good proof to start with.
Yeah, there's some alcohol now.
[dramatic music playing]
-[Jeremy] Perfect time. -[Erica] I know.
-There you go. -You couldn't have timed that any better.
There you go.
[Jeremy] So nerve-wracking when
you're sitting here and just watching it.
I'm on the clock here, let's go.
-[Donald] How about you? -[Erica] I just swapped over
to jar number three, so, um...
[Donald] Okay. Nice.
Looks good and clear.
[Erica] I really like the molasses
is really comin' through.
It's got that sweet flavor,
a little bit of heat to it.
I'm a little nervous about proof
because my mash didn't finish 100%,
and for a spiced rum,
it's really important that I get a solid rum base
and then to have the right spices to add in later.
[dramatic music playing]
[Jeremy] I think the peppercorn
came out a little stronger.
I could feel the burn on my tongue.
I'm noticing my peppercorn's a little bit harsh in there,
so I'm gonna have to find a way
to back this out later on.
[Digger] All right, guys.
You got 30 minutes.
I'm tasting my jars, I'm checking my proof,
and I feel good about this jar.
I like the beads on it, the flavor's there,
I hope the judges agree with me.
[Jeremy] As I'm blending and tasting,
that peppercorn is still comin' through really strong,
so I'm really gonna have to adjust on this
in my next run.
A little scary right now.
[Erica] Yeah.
Guys, one minute left.
Better be puttin' them buttons on all them fasteners.
Gentlemen, this is the jar right here.
Best I could do in that first run.
Beautiful, clear jar.
-That it? -This is it.
Good, clear jar as well.
[Mark] Bring it in here, boss man.
You wanted some spiced rum.
I brought you some spice.
Spiced rum.
[Digger] All right.
We're gonna slip out of here,
taste and deliberate,
come back with the verdict,
and then send you all to the still house.
-Good luck to you. -[Donald] Okay.
[Erica] Okay. Thank you.
[dramatic music playing]
Boys, what do you say we drink a little bit of rum?
We're gonna pick a winner, we ain't got no choice.
Erica is a legal distiller.
Very, very clear.
Uh-huh.
[Tim] I think there's some alcohol in there.
[Digger] That's in the neighborhood
of 115 proof.
I think it came out well, so I'm happy with it,
I think the molasses really came through,
and I think my proof was up there,
so I think I've got a solid base for it.
Yeah.
Pretty darn good.
[Digger] It's rum.
[Mark] Now it's warming up
a little bit as time goes on.
A little harsh on the back end but it's got a great taste.
But it's kind of funky.
I mean, that may be the black pearl molasses
that she was usin'.
The nose on it makes you not sure
if you really wanna taste it or not.
-Yeah. -[Mark] But then when you taste it,
it's pleasant.
If the proof was down 10 or 15 points,
we'd be tastin' a different spirit here.
-Yeah. -I think she's in a good place
to move forward in this challenge.
Yeah.
Okay.
-Mr. Donald. -Donald.
Texas.
[Tim] Nice, pretty clean jar.
-[Mark] Uh-huh. -Yeah.
It got some proof.
[Digger] I'd say we're in the neighborhood
-of 120 there. -[Tim laughs] Yeah.
I'm happy with the base that I have,
but I'm still worried about my proofing.
I did give them one of my hotter jars.
Boy, now that's got a different nose.
That's a caramel nose.
Yeah. It sure is.
That's got the smell that makes you wanna taste it.
Got a little bite towards the back.
It's gonna have the backend fire at this proof.
For the proof it's got, it's really pleasant.
And it's sweet.
-I like it. -I like it too, Tim.
I think some of the sweetness
is due to the fact that his mash
didn't completely ferment.
That is a good base right there.
It's sellable, where it's standing right now.
You can make money out of that.
All right.
Jeremy.
Now this is one that's already spiced.
[Tim] Mmm-hmm.
118 or above.
Since I was able to mash in with my spices,
a lot of my flavor is already there.
So it's just fine-tuning that last little bit,
but it's all in the judges' taste.
It's a tiny bit spicy.
Boy, it's spicy.
Ooh. I smell it, I smell it, I smell it.
[Mark] It's got a lot of that pepper...
-[Tim] And see he put that in his mash... -...on the back end. Yeah.
...so he distilled it, so he's gonna get
as much flavor as he can out of it.
-[Mark] Yes. -And then he can run it again
and clean some of that out there.
-I sure hope so. -[Mark] You know,
-if it'll cut that licorice... -Yeah.
[Mark] ...and pepper and star anise
by about two-thirds,
we may be talking a different ballgame.
Yeah.
Well, that pretty much sets me up to know where I'm at.
I know exactly where I'm at.
We're ready to go deliver the news?
[Mark] Yes, sir.
[dramatic music playing]
[Digger] Come up and get your jars.
We'll start over here with Jeremy.
Jeremy, you brought the spices and a bunch of 'em.
Sure you got licorice root, star anise,
and probably some cloves.
You started out with a really good finish.
The first drink, you knew you had a good drink
of liquor right there.
Then the spices took over.
I'm not a huge licorice fan,
but it still pulled through as a good drink.
Thank you.
[Tim] I know Jeremy was kind of a fish out of water.
You said, "Well, I know what I'mma do.
I'mma throw all them spices all in the still.
And it came through, no doubt about it.
But a little bit too much at one time.
All you gotta do is clean it up,
but I think you got a good, solid base.
[Digger] Erica, your drink was really, really good.
I had never tasted black pearl molasses in my life,
and it came through really well.
[Mark] It had a little smell on the nose for us,
but after you taste it,
man, all that null and void.
Flavor on it, spot on, proof is great.
Just a little somethin' on the nose.
[Digger] Now Donald,
you started out with blackstrap molasses.
And sugar.
But now did you use raw sugar?
I did use raw sugar.
[Digger] It complemented the blackstrap
really, really well.
Your proof was up there good,
but it had a really, really sweet taste front to back
and then that liquor bite
brought all the way to the aftertaste
which finished really, really well.
-Thank you. Thank you. -[Digger] Very good job on your part.
You already got a lot of proof right now.
So if you do get a thumper,
you're gonna have to proof it down a little bit,
so don't mess up the proof,
don't mess up the nose,
don't mess up the spices.
But you're all good distillers.
-Thank you. -Thank you very much.
Now comes the time
we gotta send everybody to the still house
and give you the order that that's gonna happen.
[dramatic music playing]
The way it stands right now,
as we're goin' in to the still house is
Donald, you're number one,
Erica, you're number two,
and Jeremy, you're number three.
Tickle!
Good help's hard to find.
Yeah.
What do we get goin' on today?
Well, we got some rum distillers here.
-Rum? Oh, yeah. -Mmm-hmm.
I like some rum.
Tickle's never made a rum he didn't like.
-[laughs] -That's for sure.
He's never had to have an alcohol he didn't like.
[Tickle] All right.
If y'all drop your jars off
and y'all follow me.
[rock music playing]
We are here at the still house
to pick still parts for your spiced rum.
You're gonna have three minutes
to get all your still parts,
and Donald, I believe you are up first.
And your time starts now.
There's all kinds of still parts in there,
let's see what you can't come up with.
My strategy for the still pick...
[Tickle] We don't got time for just looking around.
[Donald] ...to gather the parts I need
to incorporate a thump keg with infusion
to make a good spiced rum product.
If it was me in there, I'd already be makin' liquor.
[Donald] And I do use a thumper at home,
so I need it to win this portion of this competition
in order to make sure I can incorporate exactly
what I do at home.
-I think I'm good. -You're good?
-I think so. -All right.
Very quick run, Donald.
Erica, you have got three minutes
and your time starts now.
All right. There's plenty of still parts in there,
let's see what you can't do to get us a still put together.
My strategy for the still pick
is to get a thumper
and then just get all the pieces and parts
that I need to run that
because I want to add the spices
and some citrus into the thumper
so that they're balanced with that sweetness
that comes through in the molasses.
If you're find anything in there
you don't know what is,
I suggest using it right now.
Erica? Are you good?
-Do you need anything else? -[Erica] I'm good.
-You're good? All right. -No. I'm good.
Jeremy, your time starts now.
You know what a still looks like.
You can put this thing together
with your eyes closed, I'm sure you can.
[Jeremy] Both of my competitors
got the two thumpers that were in there,
I'm left with just this plain pot still
like we had in the beginning.
Jeremy's got a pot. All right.
So I'm gonna change my strategy up
and, hopefully, I can calm down that peppercorn.
[Tickle] All right. We have got a condenser.
All right. Now we gotta connect all that together.
All right, Jeremy.
Have you got what you need?
Uh, I think you got what you need
and what they need, too.
[Jeremy] I hope so.
[Tickle] Let's get our still parts
and we'll get you all some spiced rum made up.
[dramatic music playing]
[tense music playing]
[Mark] All right, guys.
I hope you got everything you needed in the still house.
What we're gonna be watching now
in the next few minutes
is for you to assemble your still,
it must be able to function safely.
[Digger] All right, guys.
Thirty minutes.
Your time starts now.
Good luck and get with it.
[dramatic music playing]
[Jeremy] Building my still is pretty easy,
it's just a simple setup, pot and condenser.
Hopefully, this is gonna work out great.
All right.
[tense music playing]
We ain't never saw this before.
Built from left to right.
Donald.
This is the first time
we've had a still runnin' in that direction.
[Donald] This is the way I feel comfortable.
How you doing, Erica?
Uh...
-Not doing too good. -[still parts clattering]
Can you help me? What am I doing wrong?
This. You need this lower.
It's too high, that's why,
'cause, you know, it's at an angle.
You gotta have a shorter arm.
Yeah, that should drop it.
[Digger] It's still going to put her
condenser arm at the wrong length.
One, I don't use, you know, propane gas to light my still
and then it's a lot smaller, there's different parts to it.
I'm used to a 500-gallon system,
so this one's just a little bit tinier.
-All right. -We're good to go there.
[Digger] All right, guys.
I mean, y'all got any adjustments you wanna make?
Everybody's good?
[Mark] All right, guys.
This is an elimination round.
[Digger] We brought y'all in a guest judge.
Award-winning rum guru,
Paul Menta from Key West, Florida.
Hey, guys, how's it going?
Paul, welcome my friend.
Thanks for inviting me down.
Couldn't find anybody knew any more about rum
than you, so here we are.
Rum's like the Wild West.
There's no rules...
-[Mark] Right. -...in rum.
They were running boats and rum.
We use mangroves instead of the woods.
Say it's a lot like the moonshine world.
-[Paul] Yeah, it really is. -Yeah.
So I have a legal rum distillery down
in, uh, Key West, Florida.
I make about 11 different kinds of rum
and we do different flavored rums
and we do a spiced rum as well.
I'm looking forward to what you guys got going on here.
Paul is a rum expert.
Definitely it's intimidating
to have someone who knows nothing else
but rum to come in and judge us.
Guys, you got four hours.
Bring us your best jar of spiced rum
before that time passes.
Your time starts now.
Good luck and get with it, guys.
Rum is about in the finish.
You gotta have a really solid base going on.
But as you start to finish it off
and everything and especially with the spice,
it's not always what you see in the beginning,
it's what you get at the end.
[Tim] That's right.
[Digger] Everybody's lit.
Coming into this, my jar's pretty hot.
I wasn't able to get a thumper
so I need to incorporate
some softer flavors to pull from the peppercorn.
So after adding my higher proof jars back into my still,
I'm adding some shredded coconut
and vanilla beans in my still
to help cool down the peppercorn flavor.
Are we looking for a certain proof here?
I'd say 80 to 100.
A high proof spiced rum
isn't generally what the market wants.
I do my spiced rum at 80 proof 40%.
[Erica] Spiced rum can be made a lot of different ways
but I like to add a fresh vanilla beans.
I'm also gonna add a little bit of citrus to it.
With the citrus, I don't want the bitterness
to come through too much.
I want that citrusy flavor
balanced out with that vanilla.
I also put in the thumper
cloves, allspice, cinnamon sticks,
and a little bit of star anise.
Is that cinnamon?
I hope it ain't that much.
[Tim] I guess cinnamon.
Oh, my God.
So Erica, how many cinnamon sticks you put in?
Uh, I put in eight.
With thumpers, it really carries over.
[Erica] Yeah.
[Jeremy] And if you're able to snag like three,
I'd snag three.
It was a challenge scaling back for me.
I'm used to working with, you know,
a lot more ingredients and putting in a ton more.
[Donald] Banana.
I like the tropical.
I'm using a banana, raspberry puree.
I put some brown sugar, allspice, cloves,
cinnamon, vanilla, and bay leaves.
You gotta taste that spice but it cannot be overpowering.
Is it how much, you know, cinnamon, and clove,
and star anise that we need to look for?
Because a lot of times, you know,
we get too much alcohol, we lose the flavor.
Or we get too much flavor, we lose the alcohol.
It's gonna work the same way
-on this, so... -Yeah.
...I mean, they're gonna have to balance it.
You know, you really gotta be careful
with your temperatures
and you better know what you're heating up.
Lady and gentlemen, y'all have officially burned up one hour.
[Jeremy] I was not expecting that,
-it's already coming through. -Oh, nice.
You're there.
You're running just your spirit, right?
[Jeremy] It's, uh, water.
The other day's run,
a little bit of my mash I had left over...
[Donald] Okay.
...and then the added ingredients.
[Donald] Man, they're already running.
There you go.
I really need to reduce that peppercorn flavor,
so I'm praying this coconut will reduce it.
Here we go.
I'm running.
This could be a challenge
because you brought such high alcohol
-on the first run. -Right.
[Tim] Now you got a thumper in there.
You may come out with that 151.
But it'll be good tasting 151.
[laughs]
You have to be careful because this is a run
where you will get eliminated
if you don't provide the good quality spiced rum.
Ooh.
[Erica] How was it?
I am not liking that peppercorn burn
in the background.
Peppercorn, black peppercorn especially,
that's one of 'em that you add at the end of the cook.
Because that black pepper becomes bitter.
You gotta watch out on your finishing
to clear that up.
[Jeremy] Damn, this sucks.
That coconut's just not there.
God, this one's so horribly wrong.
[sighs]
All right.
[tense music playing]
But I'm not liking where it's at.
My biggest challenge right now
is to cool down that peppercorn
and my coconut's not really pulling through.
Yup, I know what I gotta do now.
I'm gonna have to filter through some coconut
to pull some more flavor to cool it down.
It's a slippery slope, you know,
you really gotta be careful
with what you got going in there...
-[Tim] Yeah. -[Paul] because at the end,
you might get a whole other animal out of that.
Halfway home, guys.
Two hours gone, two left.
[Donald] How about you?
[Erica] Vanilla's coming through.
Good?
[Erica] Yeah.
[Donald] You mind if I taste it?
[Erica] I'm in my head a little bit about the orange peel.
-Mind if I? -Yeah, go for it.
[Paul] You know, that pulp might bring out
something really nice because citrus likes to blend.
[Erica] Let me know if you get an off flavor from that peel.
It's good.
Like the orange in it for sure.
So, it's good.
[Erica] It was a challenge scaling back for me,
so all I can do is just set myself up
to have the best jars at the end.
[Donald] Yeah, it's high, high up there.
My first jars were really hot, around 150,
but I want it down to around 110.
High proof is good as long as it tastes good.
Mine will taste good.
All right, guys, you got three hours burnt.
You got one more to go.
[Jeremy] It ain't helping.
What if you threw some of the coconut in it
and let it infuse for an hour?
[Jeremy] Possibly.
So I put the shredded coconut in my jar,
with the cloudiness I'm getting,
it's getting pretty hard to read the jars.
Sucks.
Coconut's really sweet,
but that sugar's I think working in his advantage.
But you're not gonna have a clear spiced rum
if that's what you're looking for,
but I don't necessarily think that's a really big deal.
Oh, yeah, it's getting there now.
As I've gone through my run, my last jars,
they're coming in around 90 to 110
and that's exactly the proof I was looking for.
[Erica] My proof is right where I want it to be.
It's a high proof spirit. Uh, I want it up there.
That way I have some flexibility to bring it down
if I'm going on to the next round.
[Digger] Here comes our first contestant...
[Tim] Ladies first.
-[Digger] ...bringing one to the table... -This is it.
...and it's a beautiful clear jar.
-[Tim] Full. -I did listen.
[Jeremy] Come on, soak up that flavor.
I'm using vanilla beans and cheesecloth.
I'm using charcoal, everything.
Think positive.
Don't underestimate anything, brother.
[Erica] Not done yet.
It's what I got.
Bring it in here, boss man.
There we go.
Look like a jar of lemonade.
This is the best I think I can do.
[Digger] All right.
We're going to go taste and deliberate.
We'll be back as soon as we can.
Good luck, guys.
[Mark] This is an elimination run.
You got some interesting looking jars there.
Erica.
-Yeah, it looks pretty clean. -[Tim] Very clean.
Mmm-hmm. Yeah, this could be.
I'm gonna say she's right in the neighborhood of 100.
I was a little worried about that orange peel...
-Okay. -...and getting some bitterness,
but I actually think it balanced out
and I'm glad that I took out some of those cinnamon sticks.
There's a lot of nose there, guys.
That cinnamon's on the sides of my tongue real heavy.
[Tim] Well, I'm glad she pulled it out.
That citrus just came up now.
Lot of citrus and cinnamon.
-It's balanced. -Yeah.
-The word in my mouth is creamsicle. -Yeah.
[Paul] And that's that orange...
-Yeah. -[Paul] ...and that...
-Yeah. -[Paul] ...vanilla.
-It's very tasty, isn't it? -Yeah.
Moving on.
We'll go with Donald.
Full, pretty clean jar.
I was afraid that the heat from the volume of alcohol
could be confused with the heat from the spices.
Right.
Very light nose.
What do you say that proof was, Tim?
[Tim] 115.
Yeah.
-[Digger] About what he was before? -Yeah.
This is more close to a Caribbean rum.
And I think for that proof,
it's pleasurable.
Yeah. It's got that spice.
It's almost like a spice raspberry,
a hot raspberry.
That's a very, very nice drink.
-[Tim] Moving on. -Yeah, moving right along to Jeremy.
[Mark] Now I tell you, I watched Jeremy filter,
filter, filter, filter.
He filtered and filtered some more.
If he managed to cut
his spice profile in half,
he'll be in a good place.
I gave them the best jar I possibly could.
If I kept pushing that proof...
Right. Right.
...that peppercorn's gonna come back.
[Paul] I don't really get the coconut.
I just get little bit of that licorice.
Yeah. If it's 40 proof, I'm gonna be shocked.
He pulled the tails in there pretty strong.
He done a good job
taking away some of those really main spices
but he lost a lot of his alcohol.
[Paul] He definitely put the work in,
but there's a lot of tails.
-Yeah. -Well, let's go get with it.
[tense music playing]
[Digger] Come up and get your jars.
We've got three squared away distillers
standing here in front of us.
I'm gonna start with Jeremy.
You took that hot fiery liquor
and you mettled it right back down.
I really thought we were gonna get
a really, really heavy coconut presence
but it took the peppercorn out.
You were a little light on the proof
but, uh, you did a fine job, son.
[Paul] In distilling,
you make a zillion mistakes.
I've made 10 zillion.
It's a great idea with the coconut
and the sugar balancing out.
You did a great job.
[Tim] And Erica,
that made me pass out
when you go and broke out a brick of cinnamon,
like, I was still getting a little hint of it.
I'm glad that you reached in and pulled it back out,
but you did good.
Your other spices in there,
kind of made it come alive.
Uh, the citrus,
you caught on a good balance
on that because I almost got a creamsicle
when I started tasting it
which was really pleasurable.
And my friend, Donald.
Your drink front to back was really well-balanced.
So, congratulations, it's a fine jar.
I think maybe, uh, it's allspice.
-Putting all the allspice or something in it. -A little allspice, yes.
Yeah, it's getting me confused
between the spice and the proof
but, uh, good job.
Thank you.
I'd be happy to work with any one of you, guys.
So, you should be proud of what you did here today.
Well, the tough job always falls to this guy.
We have to let someone go
or we cannot have a new Master Distiller.
That being said...
Jeremy, that jar brought you a ticket home, my friend.
I'm awful sorry.
I wish I could've gone further in this competition
but for me, it's not the end.
I got some really high praise.
I'm proud of that.
I'm leaving with my head held high.
[Digger] Alright, guys.
Rapid aging.
Remember, when you're mixing your wood
that's already been dried,
it's gonna be a lot more acidic.
Don't go overboard.
[Mark] I'm pulling for both of you,
but in the end, only one can be the Master Distiller.
You got 30 minutes to get that spiced rum on smoke.
Your time starts now.
[tense music playing]
[Donald] For the final aging round,
I like to seep my botanicals.
I don't want any of the debris
that's within the seepage bag to come out.
[Paul] Donald, you made up a little sachet.
What you got going on?
[Donald] This is gonna be
just a tiny bit of cinnamon,
pure vanilla extract and some raspberry.
And, uh, the raspberry is to tame the cinnamon.
A couple of these have oak chips in them,
I'm gonna give it the illusion of rapid aging.
[Eric] So, my strategy is to use,
uh, white American oak woodchips.
I'm also gonna add a little bit of vanilla bean
and maybe some cinnamon into a couple of the jars.
[Paul] Erica, you have a really nice balance
with the citrus.
Where are you going from here?
What are you... What are you building on now?
Uh, just have toasted American oak chips.
So, I wanna pick up some of the vanilla caramel notes
from the barrel. So, that's what I'm going for.
Five minutes left on the time, guys.
[dramatic music playing]
How you feel?
[Erica] I'm feeling good.
I'm definitely nervous 'cause I know
that I have a good competitor in Donald.
So, all I can do at this point
is just set myself up to have
the best jars at the end.
That's the best I can do right there in this time.
Going against Erica is pretty intimidating.
She's a professional distiller,
I'm a home brewer.
I'm hoping that my jar
will just meet the standard
and give her a run for her money.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Rest it on your table. We'll lock this place down.
These jars will be safe and they will be here
when we come back tomorrow.
[Paul] Spiced rum, you know, it's a mix.
You know, they used to bring all these sailboats
through all the trade winds, spice trade,
things just kind of went around the world.
There was a pharmacy down in Jamaica
that was making basically spiced rum
-and giving out prescription. -For medicinal?
Yeah. And it was for all sorts of ailments
and stuff like that.
Eventually, somebody got smart enough and said,
"Hey, I wanna buy that recipe off you because it's working."
Well, you know, I've always said that, uh,
alcohol won't really hurt you.
There's a lot more old drunks than there are old doctors.
Time for that final filter and blend.
It's gonna come down to how you blend.
And just remember, at the end of this challenge,
one of you is gonna be named Master Distiller.
You got 30 minutes to do that final tweaking.
Your time starts now.
[tense music playing]
[Paul] You can see on Erica's
and you can see the progression of the colors.
And that's some of the different
spice that's coming out of it.
What exactly are you looking
to complement their flavors?
It's just gonna be a matter of that spice to come up.
We're not looking for oak with some spice, you know,
we're looking for spice with just a little bit
of hint of that oak.
[Donald] They're exactly where I wanna be.
I wanna just do a little blend,
keep that sweetness but keep that little spice right there.
I ended up infusing six jars on my spiced rum.
My first jar had the most woodchips in it
and then my last jar had the least amount in them.
This will give me some options, I'll be able to blend.
[Paul] If you noticed, Donald's came together
with that color.
Hey, Donald.
How you making out of there with those?
[Donald] I can still taste the sweet coming across,
still have the little bit of spice,
the proof is still there.
Gotta put something together that's really, really special.
Five minutes left on your time, guys.
Erica, how are you?
[Erica] I'm tasting and blending.
Woodchips definitely gave it some nice colors
picking up those barrel aromas.
It's bringing out those vanilla and caramel notes
but it's got the right balance that I'm looking for
and I am hoping the judges are gonna like it.
-You ready? -I'm ready.
Let's turn in our jars together.
All right. Sounds good.
Good luck to both of you all.
-[Donald] Thank you. -[Erica] Thank you.
[tense music playing]
Well, let's get with it, Timmy.
Yeah, we're gonna start out with Erica.
Hmm. Let's shake it up, now.
She's got a fine bead right there.
I'm hoping that the judges pick up
on the toasted notes from the woodchips.
I really want some caramel vanilla flavors
to come through, so I'm hoping
that's what was added by...
-[Donald] Right. -...uh, infusing it.
[Tim] Oh, that's...
I'm picking up the citrus.
-Yeah. That was really nice. -Some citrus.
I love the nose on this.
It's spiced rum.
I'm getting a big hit of the cinnamon.
And it's making it a little bit hot.
She initially put a lot of cinnamon in her thump keg
and she pulled a lot of it out.
It may have taken it this amount of time
for that cinnamon to come into its own.
[Paul] Where I'm from, what would cure that
-is an ice cube. -Yeah, yeah.
[Paul] Uh, I'm not sure if this would be a sipper.
Now as a mixer, this would be really nice.
-Yeah. -[Mark] 'Cause she has the proof
and the backbone to stand up
-to a good cocktail. Yeah. -[Tim] Got a lot of proof.
And we have Donald.
[Mark] That's really about the color
of a nice bourbon.
Pretty nice proof.
[Digger] I'd say it's closer to 100
-than our friend Erica is. -[Mark] Yeah.
I typically don't blend too much.
I try to go with the jars that I think are the best
and then I try to infuse the flavors there.
I don't know what a spiced rum is supposed to taste like
but if they all taste like this,
I'm a fan.
That raspberry is really
bringing that together nice.
Now, this could be a sipper.
It's not hot anywhere special.
[Digger] Not harsh.
I am getting a slight thing
-in the nose now of tea. -Tea?
I think he just used a little bit
of that pekoe tea to add color.
These are both really good spiced rums.
-[Digger] Mmm-hmm. -[Paul] But I gotta tell you,
one of these stands out.
-Me too. -I agree.
I think we're all about on the same page,
I think, on that.
[Tim] Let's wind it up.
[tense music playing]
[Digger] All right, guys, come up and get your jars.
You know, the rum market is $6.2 billion a year.
I think that both of those jars
have a place in it.
Erica, the nose on yours
is amazing where you were able to get those profiles
to kind of blend up.
A little touch on that cinnamon,
you feel it right here but with that citrus,
you did an incredible job.
You do have all those complex flavors in there
in your blend and your higher proof.
Your distilling skills show, you know what you're doing.
You should be proud of that jar.
Donald, the raspberry is what stood out to me
and the way you blended it
but really had a nice relaxing flavor.
It goes down really clean.
I congratulate you both.
Thank you.
I like the smoothness of it.
Your proof is spot on.
Congratulations to both of you.
Thank you.
But at the end of the day, there can only be one.
And...
[tense music playing]
Donald, you, my friend,
are the next Master Distiller.
Congratulations.
[Donald] I'm in heaven right now.
It's unbelievable.
It's given me enough confidence
to go forward and continue to do distilling.
Congratulations to both of you all.
-Thank you. -[Digger] Now, you all get on out of here
before you have us all squashed.
-[laughter] -[Donald] Thank you.
[judges] Congratulations, guys.