[narrator] In September 2023,
the world lost moonshine legend,
Jim Tom Hedrick.
♪ Rye whiskey, rye whiskey Please don't let me down ♪
[narrator] Now, three backwoods liquor makers...
It's gonna taste just like Jim Tom's rye whiskey.
...honor the legacy...
It's a surprise on your palate.
...of a man known for his unusual
still designs...
Jim Tom said you gotta run rye liquor
backwards to what you run corn liquor.
-Yeah, you were. -[chuckling]
[narrator] And compete to put their own twist...
-Whoo! -That's rye whiskey, is what that is.
...on Jim Tom's legendary rye whiskey recipe.
♪ Rye whiskey, rye whiskey Don't let me down ♪
That's about the poorest representation
I've seen of it, but well done.
[rock music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[Digger] Guys, welcome back to Master Distiller.
Every one of you has been here in some form or fashion.
We're here to see what you can do again.
Today is really an extra special day.
We're here honoring Jim Tom Hedrick.
He was an old-school shiner,
a master still builder,
and a world-class storyteller.
Jim Tom was a master, for sure.
He was a legend.
He taught a lot of young shiners like myself
how to make stills,
how to make moonshine.
He was a big part of keeping the heritage,
the traditions alive, and I miss him.
-[makes sound] -What's that, Jim?
That gets my women for me.
[laughs]
[narrator] For over 60 years,
Marvin "Jim Tom" Hedrick...
Hello in there.
...made moonshine
as bold and punchy
as his personality.
[narrator] Born dirt poor
in Graham County, North Carolina
on Christmas Day in 1940,
Jim Tom first laid eyes on the backwoods still
of a local moonshiner at just 15 years old.
[Jim Tom] Well, the guy that had the still,
he said, "Jim Tom, what do you think
of the looks of this thing?"
I said, "That's the prettiest thing
I've ever seen in my life."
[narrator] Four years later,
he built his own still
and started running whiskey.
I'm pretty good on this rye whiskey.
Oh, I know. You're the best.
[narrator] He spent the next half of a century
perfecting his craft,
fabricating artisan copper stills
and mentoring the next generation of moonshiners...
How in the world do you keep from getting busted making moonshine
-all these years? -They hunted for me for 50 years.
[narrator] ...while entertaining them
with his renowned stories and songs.
Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, come on out.
I'mma craving whisky with my spout.
[narrator] As a charismatic steward
of the Appalachian moonshining tradition,
Jim Tom's legacy of knowledge lives on
in the liquor and laughter of his successors.
What do you think?
That's what ours was missing.
That's it.
You done it.
[Digger] Today, we're gonna do our best
to pay homage to Jim Tom
by making the best version
of Jim Tom's famous rye whiskey.
Rye is a very tricky drink.
You gotta grind it just right
so you can unlock the full flavor
but not bring so much of the peppery spice from it
that you can't enjoy it.
[Digger] Whoever makes us
the best rye whiskey that we judge,
that's your bragging rights
gonna get right there off the bat.
But beyond that, you're gonna get
a little Jim Tom-related prize.
We asked y'all to bring your own signature mash
that best represents Jim Tom's
unaged legacy rye whiskey.
Before you run your liquor,
you're gonna have to build your own condenser,
just like Jim Tom.
Behind you is a box of steel parts,
tubing, torch, solder,
whatever you need.
You have one hour to get us
that cooling tub built,
get your worm bent,
get it where it'll fit inside that can,
get it soldered up where it will not leak.
If you don't finish in time
or if you have an issue with your condenser,
when it comes time to run,
fellas, you're gonna be up the creek.
All right, guys. Let's do this one for Jim Tom.
One hour. Your time starts now.
-Good luck, guys, and get with it. -[Mark] Get on it.
Here we go.
We got a coil of copper.
[Joe] Yeah, coil. We gotta figure out...
[narrator] To make Jim Tom's signature condenser,
moonshiners will bend the copper pipe
into a coil with a downward slope
to create the worm
and solder together a water-tight vessel
for it to sit in called the flake stand.
The alcohol vapor must flow freely
from the still through the worm
where it condenses into high-proof liquor,
as any leaks will cause the moonshiners
to lose alcohol
and impact the flavor of their whiskey.
I got a suggestion.
Let's work together bending our coil.
We gotta find something in here
that we can bend it around besides JJ's leg.
-[laughter] -It would be the perfect size.
It won't go down in the can if we use it.
My personal experience of building a condenser
is almost zero.
I have seen it, I have helped with it,
but I have never been in charge of it.
I like the fact that they're helping
-each other. -[Digger] Yeah, they are.
You know, it'd be really hard to do by yourself.
[Digger] Jim Tom would be proud to watch
what's going on.
We're reversing.
[Big Chuk] Yeah, I want it to run backwards.
[laughter]
Jim Tom said you gotta run rye liquor backwards
-to what you run corn liquor. -Yeah.
You're right. Yeah.
I'm Kelly Williamson, 57 years old
from Cosby, Tennessee.
[country music playing]
We've got liquor comin'.
I've been moonshining pretty much my adult life.
Where I'm from, everybody has a family history
in moonshining. It's just there.
It's what happened. It's what went on.
All these little rings they've got,
I bet these things will make really good spacers.
You know, my moonshining style
is old-school and I think that's what
I incorporate into it,
and Jim Tom was one of the forefathers
that taught us that.
I spent quite a bit of time with Jim Tom
over a few years and Jim Tom talked a lot to me.
You know, he had so much experience in life.
He'd been everywhere and done everything.
I wanna win it for Jim Tom and to pay respect to him.
All right. I'm comfortable with that.
I've built several pot stills.
So I've got a knack for building things,
so, hopefully, that'll show up today
when I really need it.
I smell hair.
I think you've got the most to lose here, so...
[laughter]
I'm Joe Jackson.
I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and I'm 38 years old.
I was in the 82nd Airborne Division.
I was an infantryman.
I did several deployments to Afghanistan.
I've been through hell and high water
at this point in my life,
so making liquor
is kinda like a therapy session for me.
Oh, smell that.
Holy jiminy.
Now, I run liquor for a living.
I've competed on Master Distiller before.
I did not win.
Joe, I now understand a little more
why that label says high and angry.
[laughs] Instantly, it'll get you high.
[Joe] So coming back, I'm here to prove myself,
but, also, I'm here to really honor a legend.
I think these are all gonna be interestingly different.
In the moonshine world, Jim Tom is a legend.
The tradition and the heritage
behind what he did and accomplished
is to be respected.
I am a master distiller
and I want the judges to see it in their eyes.
I have really put a lot of time and effort into this,
into the science behind it,
and, hopefully, that shines through in my final jar.
It ain't pretty, but it'll do.
To come in here and have to build a condenser
is something I normally don't do.
I just make the liquor and sell the liquor.
But if a condenser needs to be built,
I gotta build it.
I ain't got mine fitting like y'all.
My name is Big Chuk. I'm from Gurdon, Arkansas.
[country music playing]
Voila. Cap done fell.
Bitter.
I've been making liquor now
about seven, eight years.
Started off as a means to make an income.
Then I kinda grew into loving the craft
and learning more about it.
Mmm. We out in the woods.
We ain't gotta worry about making a mess.
I've been on Master Distiller one other time.
Some more mudbugs there, crawfish.
And I really shocked and awed everybody
'cause I brought dead crawfish up here
and made liquor out of it.
Big Chuk, that jar bought you a ticket home.
I'm awful sorry, old buddy.
[Big Chuk] But not winning the previous time,
I'm on a mission here.
Not only am I here to pay tribute to Jim Tom,
I'm also here for redemption.
So, victory, here we come.
-[metal clanking] -Holy crap.
Fell apart. [chuckles]
Means it wasn't soldered right.
Hey, it might be a crooked road home,
but we'll get there.
As long as it don't leak.
Gentlemen, 20 minutes left to finish those rascals.
All righty.
All right.
[Big Chuk] How do you put a...
Are you supposed to put tube on it?
I did.
So then I can run it out towards the middle
so then it's not just pulling on the side.
[Big Chuk] Man, mine can't do that.
Is your pipe right in the way?
Yeah. Hmm, that's gonna be tough here.
Doing all these little things, seal everything really good,
put all the right places in the right parts,
making sure that worm's good and even and level,
it's important because if it ain't set up right,
you ain't gonna run good liquor.
And I ain't no coppersmith
so this ain't going so good for me right now.
[Joe] You're looking a little crooked over there.
Yeah.
Get in there, you son of a B.
Men, you got five minutes left.
Looky.
[Mark] Attaboy.
[Joe] Oh, looky there.
[Digger] Now you're using that head
for more than just a place to put that cap.
I've got this thing together.
It's not beautiful, by no means.
Jim Tom might be like, "You did the best you can
and it looks like it might work."
Oops.
Here. Turn it up and look down in.
[laughter]
I understand how copper works and how to put it together,
so I think I'm good to make liquor.
All right. I'm good.
Let's see if I'm gonna leak.
Oh, my gosh. [chuckles]
It's all leaking.
Wow.
[Digger] Congratulations, Chuk.
You have invented the sifter.
Talk about embarrassing,
if I get on here and this thing
ain't gonna run right
and it's gonna be springing leaks,
then I can't even run liquor.
It ain't looking good.
2 [Big Chuk chuckles] Oh, my gosh.
It's all leaking.
Even though I don't really know
what I'm doin' in solderin' and all that,
it's leakin' and you gotta deal with it.
So I'mma solder everywhere
and seal everything really good.
I mean, Chuk's like a dog pissin' in the snow.
He is just hittin' here and there.
[Joe] Hold the torch in one spot.
You don't have to move it.
Men, you got one minute.
If you've got a leak,
you ain't gonna get to do your run.
No leak in the worm.
Five, four,
three, two,
one.
You're done, guys. Step away from them cans.
[exhales]
Y'all chase on outta here.
We've gotta do a little inspection on the work.
Whew.
[Digger] That's what I'm sayin'.
[laughter]
Let's go over here and see what kinda gum
they've caused.
It looks pretty dang good from here.
It don't look horrible bad at all
even if Kelly did do it.
[Mark] Let's check and see
if the worm has got a leak in it.
[Josh] Rock and roll.
[Mark] Oh, not yet.
Yeah, it'll make it spurt.
[Digger] Yeah, he'll lose liquor.
You know, that's why you gotta do this.
This ain't gonna work for him like it is.
So now we gotta fill the can completely up.
Here we go.
[Josh] The seal looks good around the edges.
[Mark] Kelly is not leakin' around the base or his...
-[Digger] Or around the spout. -[Mark]...hand spout.
We ready to move on to number two?
Joe-Joe.
Joe's worm looks the way it's supposed to look.
-[Josh] It looks good, don't it? -[Mark] Yeah.
[Digger] Yeah.
I'm concerned about the bottom.
[Digger] No, we're good. I just splashed.
I'm gonna pass Joe. He's good to go.
[Digger] Movin' on down the line.
The man that struggled the most.
[Mark] Big Chuk.
That soldering kind of looks like I did it.
[Mark] The worm looks okay.
-See if it leaks. -[Digger] Here we go.
[Mark] Whoop. Nope.
-No, sir. Absolutely not. -We got a leak.
[Digger] That's got a major leak here.
[Mark] Ain't no need to lookin' at that.
That does pose a little problem for this young man.
But on the upside,
I really don't think his bottom leaked at all.
[Digger] Hell, I'd hope not.
He's got a pound of solder on it.
Well, Big Chuk's got a big leak to fix.
He's gonna have to conclude the fix,
the repair of this condenser
in his four-hour timeframe.
Youins okay with that?
I mean, it could take him one minute
or take him ten minutes. That his fault.
First time he's ever done it, though. I think he
-done a good job. -Yeah.
For a man never done any soldering before.
[country music playing]
[Digger] Welcome back, guys.
We put the mash that you built
to best represent Jim Tom's famous rye whiskey.
And we got these stills and the condensers you built.
There are still some issues and Mark's gonna address them.
Kelly, you've got a low spot
on the very top of your worm
that will cause it to spurt.
[imitates liquid spurting]
Joe? You're good to go, boss.
No problems at all with your condenser.
Chuk? You've got a pretty bad leak
on your inlet water valve.
It's an easy fix, it's just a big leak.
The good news is, it's just one leak.
Bad news is, it's a pretty bad leak.
If I can't get this all together,
I won't be able to make this run happen.
You don't get any additional time.
You have to rectify the problems during your run.
All right, boys. We're looking for a clear jar
of a hundred proof
that brings out that spicy rye.
Y'all better get it right.
[Digger] Three hours.
Bring us that jar that best represents
Jim Tom Hedrick's Mountain Rye Whiskey.
That starts now.
Get with it, guys.
[narrator] For the first run,
moonshiners brought their own
backwoods rye whiskey mash.
Producing a winning jar will come down
to its spicy rye flavor
and the capability of their handmade condensers
to yield a high-proof shine
that holds up to Jim Tom's famous whiskey.
[Joe] Chuk, you're making a mess.
[Big Chuk] Yeah, baby. We came here to...
-[laughter] -...make some mash.
I went with about 40 pounds of rye,
then I went with about 20 pounds of caramel malt,
and about ten pounds of malted barley,
and then I put a couple gallons
of sorghum molasses in there
just to add another flavor dynamic.
I ain't ever seen no mash like that my whole life.
[Big Chuk] Well, wait till you try it, Josh.
It's a... It's a surprise on your palate.
Jim Tom, he's a pretty traditional guy.
I mean, all his liquor recipes
seem to be pretty cut and dry.
Just a couple grains, a little sugar.
And I thought I'd add my own little twist to it, man,
put some flavors in there that maybe they're not used
to seeing put together.
Look at yours, looking like yellow milk.
What you got in yours?
So I got Danko rye,
it's grown in Pennsylvania.
I've got Argentine orange corn,
a little bit of light crystal malt,
some triticale, and some oats.
-I ain't heard of none of 'em. -[Joe laughs]
-A myriad of things, I guess. -[Big Chuk] Yeah.
[Joe] Rye has a storied past.
Before Prohibition,
the majority of the spirits in the United States
were rye whiskeys.
So I wanted to pay homage to Jim Tom
by using that Danko rye as a base.
I went so far as even throw a tequila yeast at this.
I'm sure that was abundant
in Robbinsville, North Carolina in 1990
when Jim Tom was at his heyday.
Jim Tom's favorite jar of liquor was the last one he did drunk
and his next favorite was the next thing he's gonna drink.
I'm going back to stories with Jim Tom
and what I feel like he would've had access to.
But he loved fiery, spicy rye whiskey.
And I used a simple ground Carolina rye.
Out of the three competitors,
I'm the only one that actually knew Jim Tom
and I feel like that being from this area
and knowing him and just understanding
the way he did things,
it should have given me a little bit of an edge.
Damn here.
All right, gentlemen.
You have officially burned 30 minutes.
[dramatic music playing]
So where's the leak at?
It looks like it's right in here.
[Joe] Oh, yeah.
[Big Chuk] This leak is on a joint there,
so I think if I throw the worm on the side
and got it fixed, got it connected,
now we're rollin'.
Hour and a half in,
hour and a half left, guys.
So far so good.
[Digger] If it ain't leaking now,
I'm gonna say you're home free.
Take me home.
Yeah. This is gonna run soon.
[Kelly] I've got liquor.
All right. Here we go.
[Big Chuk] We're running, baby.
Sorghum's comin' through.
[Kelly] I can smell that sorghum.
[Big Chuk] I'm getting the sorghum on the nose
and it's kinda presentin' a funky nose.
I am worried about that.
And, yeah, molasses is an acquired taste.
I mean, a lot of people like it or you don't.
How's all 'em fancy ingredients
working out for you, boys?
I want notes on notes and flavor bridges
on flavor bridges.
That's what I'm aimin' at.
[Kelly] Well, I understand that flavors
and all these infusions is the way of the future,
but without some heritage to it,
that doesn't hold on very long and very strong.
Just remember this part,
♪ Rye whiskey, rye whiskey Don't let me down ♪
That's about the poorest representation
I've seen of it, but well done.
[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[Kelly] I played this thing pretty close
on what I felt like Jim Tom would do.
We've got the spice of the rye
and I've got the proof good.
I think I'm ready for you to have one.
Bring it on, big dog.
[Josh] Nice and clear.
[Digger] That's one sample.
Chill out a little bit.
One minute, gentlemen.
Not meanin' to ensue any panic or anything,
but you're about to run out of time.
[Big Chuk] It's a hundred proof on the head.
It ain't got the nose I like,
but it's got the smoothness and it's got the sweetness.
Fifteen seconds, gentlemen.
I think I got it.
I know we've got some sweetness
and that spicy characteristic of rye
that is beloved by Jim Tom.
Five, four,
three, two, one, you're done.
[Josh laughs]
We got pretty clear jars right here.
Hopefully, old Jim Tom will be smilin' from up above
-at these jars, so... -I promise you he is.
I'mma go ahead and say that this is a proud day of my life,
getting to be here and be part of this.
We're gonna go do a little tastin' and deliberating.
Phew.
Here we go.
2 [country music playing]
[Digger] Gentlemen?
It's time to start tastin'
a little of this liquor
and see who is best representative
of our very dear old friend, Jim Tom Hedrick.
We set a criteria of a minimum of a hundred proof
and the majority of the grain
and the mash build had to be rye.
All right, y'all start with Kelly?
Yeah.
[Josh] That right there is a clear jar, my friend.
[Mark] That's a nice bead.
[Josh] She's high in proof.
[Digger] Yeah. I'm gonna say he's a buck ten.
I just played mine pretty close
and tried to do traditional as much as I could.
[tense music playing]
[coughs] Whoo.
It's definitely spicy.
It's abso-damn-lutely rye whiskey.
-Nice, sweet flavor up front. -And very sweet.
Oh, it is. It's got a good nose on it for a rye.
It finishes off on the back end
with that hot, spicy pepper.
That's what rye whiskey is supposed to be.
[Mark] Let's see what Joe Jackson's working with.
Danko rye is his primary ingredient
and he's got Argentina orange corn.
[Digger] I'm gonna say he's neighborhood of 80.
I wanted to find in the mash
a way to unlock those little bridges
between the flavors.
It's like drinking...
water with alcohol in it or something.
It's very, very light on the nose,
but it don't have any of the spicy pepper
on the back end like rye is noted for.
Well, I think that's what Danko's known for
is a smoother finish.
It's definitely low proof.
[Digger] The flavor profile is kind of reminiscent
of a non-aged bourbon,
corn liquor with some barley in it.
How about Big Chuk's? You wanna check it out?
[Mark] Man, Chuk's jar is clear.
[tense music playing]
[Digger] That's a nice-looking bead.
[Josh] That's right on the money there, ain't it?
[Digger] He's probably closer to 100.
All the flavors didn't come together like that
so I pulled the proof down a little bit
on that final jar just to try
to tone it down a little bit
so that fiery rye wasn't on the end.
[Josh] It reminds me of some kind of pie crust
or something.
[Digger] Graham cracker?
-Something like that. -[Digger] I'm gonna say
that's from that chocolate malt.
I don't get none of the peppery rye.
I mean, how is it possible as much grain as he had?
[Digger] I think his predominant grain
was one of those barleys,
one of those other malts that he used.
It's got a really good flavor
and I think it would age really, really well.
[Mark] Absolutely.
I think Jim Tom would have been happy
-with any of them. -Yeah.
I know where I sit on this pew.
I know where Jim Tom would be at.
If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me.
-Ain't that the skinny end? -[Josh] That's right.
[Mark] Let's go, guys.
[country music playing]
[Kelly] Yeah, man.
Here comes the maestros.
[Digger] Now, what we asked y'all to do
was bring us a spicy rye jar,
just like Jim Tom Hedrick was known for at 100 proof.
Big Chuk over here.
Your liquor was more of a rum.
I don't think you got enough rye in there.
The barleys that you put in there, the crystal malt,
they brought just a mellow note to it.
Didn't have that spicy rye bite
like you want with the rye.
It's supposed to punch you right in the tongue
right off the bat.
-Yeah. -[Digger] But fine drink
-of liquor. -Thank you, sir.
All in all, the drink come off clear.
I didn't really think it was gonna come off clear.
I figured it'd be cloudy.
And it being made out of rye, too,
I figured it'd be like gasoline in a jug,
but had a really good flavor.
It blew my mind, honestly.
Yeah.
Joe, I think Jim Tom,
he would have smacked his lips two to three times
just trying to get a feel of where it was at.
[Digger] You didn't bring a spicier rye.
I think what you brought us there
was a really good wheat liquor with some rye in it.
-But all in all, fine drink. -Thank you.
[Mark] Kelly,
you stuck to more traditional Jim Tom recipe
with very simple ingredients.
The spicy pepper burn on the back end
that's typical of rye was there.
You tried to stay as true
to what you thought the recipe would be
-and it worked out for you. -Thank you, Josh.
Men, we can't get y'all to the stock room
unless we get the order in which Mark
is gonna take you all.
[tense music playing]
[Digger] And the way that plays out...
is Kelly, you're number one.
You had the spiciest rye.
Second one in the gate to the stock room, Big Chuk.
So that brings in Joe driving the caboose.
That being said, Mark's gonna take y'all to the stock room
and let you get you some groceries.
Set your jars down and follow me.
[country music playing]
[Mark] Welcome to our stock room.
This is your chance to add additional ingredients
to build up on Jim Tom's legacy
and create the next generation of rye whiskey,
which he so loved.
We got a lot of stuff in here,
but here's the catch now.
We don't have enough of everything
for everybody to get the same item.
Kelly, you're in first.
You're getting one minute.
Your time starts now.
[tense music playing]
[Big Chuk] Them peppers will be good, Kelly.
-Get them. -[Joe] Yeah.
[Kelly] My whole plan on this thing
is to go apple.
Apple rye is a win all the way around,
all the time.
I love it. I've done it before,
so I know what I'm looking for.
How you doing over there, boss?
-Fifteen seconds. -I'm getting some apples.
If I can find some caramel or some cinnamon,
whichever one is in the stock room,
that's what I'm gonna come away with.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Drop your basket, boss.
I think Kelly took every apple in the store.
All right, Chuk.
Your time starts now.
[groans]
You know, I know how you are.
There ain't no doubt in my mind
you're gonna pick out the most weirdest stuff over there
-and make it work. -Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I got to balance this drink out.
What I was gonna do them was apples,
but Kelly went and got every single apple in the bunch,
so had to deviate.
[Mark] I notice you're not worried about bruising them.
-[Big Chuk] No. -[Mark] That's fine.
Absolutely.
I'm going for peaches, baby.
[Mark] You're halfway through, Chuk.
Yeah, we got to throw 'em in there
-and bruise 'em up better. -[Mark] There you go.
-Get them started. -I seen a jar
of brown sugar.
I found a little old jug of apple juice.
I got some little syrup that I might could add to it
to give it some sweet effect.
-Here we go. Five... -[Big Chuk] I got it, baby.
-four... -[Joe] Oh, isn't that peachy?
[chuckles]
[Mark] Joe, you ready?
-Yes, sir. -Let's get busy.
Your time starts now. Go.
So I'm going in the stock room third.
There's a lot of things that have been taken off the shelf
that, you know, I could have potentially used
to infuse in my run.
Halfway there, Joe, 30 seconds left.
[Joe] So right now,
I've got a buttload of citrus to work with.
I see a lot of citrus going in the basket.
I went for the mandarin oranges,
the lemons, the limes.
Anything citrus that I could grab,
I put it in my basket.
Four, three, two, one.
You're done.
I hope youins are all happy with your ingredients.
You either are or you ain't, too late now.
We ready to get this flavor run started?
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
[Mark] Grab your baskets. Let's go.
[Big Chuk grunts]
[tense music playing]
All right, guys. Y'all are gonna rerun the rye whiskey
that y'all made from your first run.
Now, this time, you can add your additional flavor.
We don't want the classic rye that Jim Tom was known for.
We want that rye whiskey with your spin on it.
So that being said,
anything goes except for low-proof whiskey.
We want that 100 proof jar.
This run's for all the glory,
all the bragging rights,
and a special Jim Tom Master Distiller prize.
2 All right, guys. Y'all are gonna rerun the rye whiskey
that y'all made from your first run.
We don't want the classic rye that Jim Tom was known for.
We want that rye whiskey with your spin on it.
You got four hours, gentlemen.
Your time starts now.
Good luck. Get with it.
[country music playing]
[Digger] I'm gonna tell you that Joe's mash
is pretty mash.
-It's how we want it... -It's rich--
...to work. Come out.
I was thinking it looked good, too.
Mmm-hmm.
-There we go. -[Digger] Now you're cooking
with gas, literally.
I'm gonna keep everything simple.
I'm gonna go with what I know.
I know rye and I know apple.
Jim Tom always made simple, good liquor.
And that's what he always said do,
"Keep it simple and stick to your guns."
And that's what I tried to do here.
[tense music playing]
[Mark] Needs a little... [speaking other language] ...in it.
[Digger] Needs a little liquor in it.
I'd put some mash in if it's me,
-but that's just me. -Or some mash.
[Digger] There we go.
[Kelly] I'm gonna puree these apples.
I'm gonna put them in the thumper
so that it has a little bit of time
to, you know, just kind of steep itself in.
And I feel like we can carry the flavor over.
[Digger] Hmm, look at that.
That's some good-looking stuff right there.
[Digger] Oh, I ain't gonna lie,
that's what you make good liquor
out of right there.
[Mark] Well, we'll see.
[Josh] His seems the simplest.
Kelly's making stuff Jim Tom made himself.
[Mark] Kelly knew that, too, but he had the advantage.
He was able to get those apples.
He's cutting up his peaches and throwing them in there.
[Digger] Yup, leaving them seeds out there, though.
The traditional moonshine back in Arkansas,
back during the Prohibition era,
they would infuse their pot with fruit.
So I'm gonna put peaches in my pot.
So that way, as the liquor's churning and earning,
it's gonna pull through them peaches
and maybe throw some peach in the body of that drink.
All right, I'm whipping up
a little old peach sauce over here.
Go in the thumper.
Cook this down here.
Add a little brown sugar, a little bit of syrup.
If I can't bring a little bit more of that rye to it
with the peach, peach gumbo.
[Joe chuckles]
Peach gumbo rye. I've never heard of that.
Well, we asked them to put their spin on it.
Guys, you've burned 40 minutes.
[Joe] All right, here comes the real work.
[country music playing]
I see G.I. Joe is over here
trimming an orange.
[Digger] I know what he's bringing to that thumper
is citrus times ten.
[Joe] So I've got some oranges,
limes, some lemons.
I'm gonna go for a citrus mountain brandy.
Citrus mountain brandy, that just goes together.
It does. It just rolls off your tongue.
He keeps dropping the citrus over there, though.
[Joe] If you treat rye right,
it really brings forward a floral, botanical note.
So, I'm expecting that note
to really play well with that citrus.
I'm struggling here. I can't peel fast enough.
Well, you better hurry up. I'm about to start running.
[Joe] Well, my still's at 140.
[Big Chuk chuckles] Yeah.
All right, guys. You're halfway home.
Burned two hours, got two left.
-[tense music playing] -[Big Chuk] I'm running, baby.
-[Joe] You running? -Yeah.
Running fast too, boys.
That's all right. I'm gonna run it hot.
[Joe] You're gonna give them some spice, Chuk?
I'll be damned.
[Kelly] There we go, daddy-o.
My liquor's running now.
It's coming through.
It's pretty high proof.
You can smell the apples in it.
I'm gonna put some cinnamon sticks
in my thump keg.
I'm only gonna put a few in here.
If they don't carry a lot of cinnamon flavor,
that's okay 'cause I'm gonna hopefully
-have a good apple flavor. -Less is better in cinnamon.
It don't take much.
If you find out, you've done overpowered yourself.
I believe if I can control the cinnamon,
I can pull enough apple flavor through to make it work.
Hour and a half in, hour and a half left, guys.
[Joe] There we go.
It smells like citrus
coming out the end of that spout right now.
Working with citrus is challenging.
It has a lot of really bright notes
that can overpower whatever base spirit
you put it through.
[Big Chuk] Is it working out
like you wanted it to?
[Joe] Somewhat.
I'm gonna have to try to blend it all together
and make it marry.
A lot of those big, bright citrus notes
were at the beginning.
So I might have to take, like, just a...
[Kelly] A little bit of the high fruit.
Just, like, a touch.
[intense music playing]
[Joe] You're blending right now?
[Kelly] Running it back through
that cinnamon and charcoal,
just running it and across it again.
Pulled maybe just a touch more cinnamon flavor, a touch.
Just so you know, guys,
you're down that straightaway headed home.
Thirty minutes left.
[intense music playing]
I believe Kelly's about ready with his.
It's a good solid jar of rye apple
with a hint of cinnamon to it.
You can smell the apples in it
and you can kind of smell the cinnamon.
I'm gonna believe I'm gonna win this thing
because if I believe it, I will,
and I want that trophy really, really bad.
Gentlemen.
[Josh] Nice and clear.
My jar.
Beautiful, clear jar.
You got five minutes left to get us a jar on the table.
I believe Chuk's ready.
-[Big Chuk] Yes, sir. -Bring it in here, big man.
[Digger] I believe he is.
He's got it chilled.
[Big Chuk] Here you are,
-my friend. -Absolutely.
Enjoy.
This final jar does have the peach.
It ain't got the smell I want,
but the flavor's all the way there front to back.
I think this is it, brother.
Well, I wouldn't waste any more time.
[Mark] Bring it on, JJ.
[Joe] This jar is my best foot forward.
The rye is there.
The citrus has really played well with it.
And I think that Jim Tom, he would love it.
We're gonna go taste and deliberate,
and then, we're gonna try to reach a decision
on who gets the title
of the Jim Tom Hedrick Memorial Run.
2 [intense music playing]
Look, Robbinsville, North Carolina,
and Cocke County, Tennessee,
they ain't much difference in them.
Jim Tom's like us.
[Josh] Yeah, I remember him saying that.
[Digger] You know, not only did Jim Tom excel
at making good whiskey,
he absorbed it pretty good, too.
-[Josh laughs] -Wow.
God, I miss him.
What a character.
Here's to you for coming down here
and helping me with this.
2 [intense music playing]
The Jim Tom Mountain Rye and their twist on it.
We've gotta have 100 proof liquor bare minimum.
Absolutely.
[Josh] This is Big Chuk's.
It says "RIP Jim Tom" on the top of it.
[Digger] Shake it up a little bit.
It worked out how I planned.
I mean, it was a little peach on the nose.
I didn't really have that on that first run.
Oh, you did. It was just a different one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Digger] Chuk was going for peach gumbo.
[Josh] Being so full of grains,
it's making it really hot.
But that's pretty good.
I'm confused whether it's rye, spicy heat,
or just heat from hot run liquor.
[Digger] That sort of played out well,
but that ain't nothing
but plain and simple, fierce liquor.
[Mark] Well, let's move on to these other two.
All right, y'all.
This is G.I. Joe's.
[tense music playing]
[Josh] Pretty good proof.
I've done a lot with like citrus gins,
so I just wanted to balance it.
[tense music playing]
[exhales]
[Mark chuckles]
[Digger] He's up there, ain't he?
[Josh] Mmm-hmm.
Well, I think the fruit
definitely made it fierier.
I get a lot of citrus.
Yeah, it's citrusy.
[Mark] It's a good jar.
-It tastes good. -I think it's got
some good qualities to it.
It's a good drink.
[Mark] All right, Josh.
We're on to Kelly now.
See there?
Spot on. Pretty bead.
For me, it was an honor to do this
because of Jim Tom.
And the rest of it
was a game playing with you guys to see...
-Absolutely. -...if I could get y'all
-to mess yourself up. -[laughter]
[tense music playing]
[Josh] This is a smoother jar for the proof.
The cinnamon is not overpowering.
Man, I'm gonna tell you right now,
that's a good jar.
I could tell the spiciness
is still there.
The rye is there.
Just enough, the spice on the back.
And that cinnamon does not run away with it.
That is a good jar of liquor.
You've got fruit, then you've got that spice
you added to it.
[imitating Jim Tom] Kelly, let me tell you something.
That's a fine jar of rye liquor right there.
Rye whiskey. That's rye whiskey.
I sure do miss him.
I think at the end of the day,
Jim Tom would have been tickled to death
with all three of these jars.
I he was here, he'd be drinking them.
I just think that there's one on the table
that Jim Tom would have liked better,
and that's what we have to judge on.
[Digger] All right.
Here we go.
[tense music playing]
-Oh, we're gonna find out now. -Here we go.
Oh, here's the beat.
[Joe] This is it, boys.
[tense music playing]
[Josh] All right, boys.
Being here that we're running liquor
in Jim Tom's name
means that his legend's never gonna die.
[Mark] In honor of the master still builder,
Jim Tom Hedrick...
[tense music playing]
...this will go to the winner.
It not only looks like something he would have built,
sounds a lot like him, too.
[Jim Tom] ♪ Oh, whiskey Rye whiskey ♪
♪ Please don't let me down ♪
[laughter]
You ever been sung to by a liquor still?
I love that.
[Big Chuk] Now, the trophy with Jim Tom singing in it
and the little mini still, that's sharp, man.
And I really wanna win that thing.
[Digger] Well, guys, this has been
pretty bittersweet.
We're here to honor the memory of Jim Tom.
I think we've all done just that.
[Mark] Chuk, your liquor was a little hot to me...
Yeah.
...and it had a lot of flavor.
I mean, good flavor.
Jim Tom would have drank the piss out of it.
[laughter]
Big Chuk, I tasted all those malts.
I tasted your sorghum in there,
and it played out well.
Joe, you went with the citrus.
It came through like gangbusters.
It didn't overpower your Danko.
It was still there on the back end,
where a rye should be, to me.
[Digger] But it wasn't quite the rye
that would have been in this region
-that Jim Tom relied on. -Mmm-hmm.
But I'm telling you, for a screwdriver
or a Sunny All Day, it'd be its best friend.
Thank you, sir.
Kelly, I saw cinnamon sticks over there
and I was terrified
that you were making a mistake.
Well, it smelled like an apple pie
and it was a very smooth flavor
and you stuck to the Jim Tom recipe.
And that jar is mighty fine.
Thank you, Josh.
[Digger] You all did your level best
paying honor to one of our greats,
but...
It's my pleasure and honor
to name the Master Distiller winner
that gets this prize in honor of Jim Tom.
And that person is...
[tense music playing]
Kelly, you win it again, my friend.
Whoo!
Good job, big dog.
-Thank you, guys. -Yes, sir.
I have no doubt it wasn't easy,
because I have tasted both of those.
And these guys did bring great, great.
Well, I didn't win this one.
But, hey, I think Jim Tom
would have liked me as a person.
And most importantly,
I think he'd have liked my liquor, man.
Men, you got nothing to be ashamed of.
Y'all winners in my book.
Looking down at my jar,
I really think that this is something
that Jim Tom would have definitely dug into.
I'll pay it forward to make sure
that I keep that heritage alive
and keep Jim Tom's memory alive.
You kept it simple, like Jim Tom did.
And Jim Tom would have said, "Keep it simple now.
Don't make it too complicated,
and we're gonna drink a whole jar."
-[laughter] -My time with Jim Tom
helped me to understand
that there's a history
to this liquor-making business.
And if we stay true to that,
there will be a future to it as well.
And you guys chase on out of here
and enjoy those drinks together.
Thank you, guys.
Let's go have a cocktail, guys.
[Joe] Yeah, let's go get a drink.
[Big Chuk] I'm going to drink yours
since it's so damn good.
[laughter]