[narrator] this time on master distiller...
Hoo!
[narrator] a no-holds barred outlawed grudge match.
Don't quit on us now, josh.
[narrator] backwoods battle.
They're trying to beat me and I'm going to try to beat them.
[laughs]
[narrator] defending champ, josh owens.
[exclaims] you can use that for paint stripper.
[narrator] returning challenger, mark rogers.
He must be, from what I noticed, he would.
[narrator] throwdown with new opponent, mike cockrell.
I got damn good competition over here.
[narrator] and only one notorious shiner can reign supreme.
Which one of you guys is number one?
How in the hell he run 20 jars of liquor.
[clinks]
quit eating your gravy you ain't going to have enough to put your liquor
that's as good as I can make.
-[laughs] -[bleep]
[laughs]
[narrator] across the country, a handful of expert distillers
are heirs to a centuries old tradition.
Some operate on the legal side.
Others practice their craft beyond the reach of the law.
Now, three of the best will throw down at the stills.
[exclaims]
[narrator] judged by a jury of their peers.
They'll go head to head in a series of challenges.
[exclaims in pain]
I don't want none of that thing you're licking there.
Better stitch that quick.
[narrator] to determine who has what it takes.
Josh.
This is some [bleep].
[narrator] towards backwoods bragging rights
and a backwoods trophy any distiller would love.
[ramsey] miniature functioning still.
That'll look awful good on the farm.
Welcome to back wood battle number dos.
-[digger] josh, markie. You boys ready? -Yup.
It's time to make some liquor.
This time we got mike cockrell in the mix.
It's going to be good. Josh, last time,
you cleaned everybody's plow and won one of our prize possessions.
A jar of popcorn's liquor.
Somebody's going to take this home.
And it'll be you josh. You knocked her out of the park, son.
Hell, yeah. Drink up!
[josh] last time I smoked the competition.
This year,
I can lose with the best of 'em but I don't like it,
and I'm going to do whatever it takes to win this competition again.
[ramsey] in this competition, we will determine
which one of you guys is number one.
The prize for the winner,
a little miniature still sitting over here.
It is a functioning still.
[mike] that little, small still,
it's exactly like the stanley cup of moonshining.
I would love to see that thing on my mantle.
[ramsey] the winner of this competition,
will bring that little still home with them.
And I want to wish all of you good luck
and we're looking forward to tasting what you bring us.
You know the key element here
to being a great backwoods successful shiner,
is making high proof smooth corn liquor.
Alright, guys, your first chore.
Run us some top shelf, old fashioned corn liquor,
like we've never tasted in our lives.
Then for your next challenge,
you're going to use that as a base for your flavored liquor.
[tim] you guys got your mash ready. You made it. You brought it.
Should be ready to run.
Best jar on the table
is going to get first pick at the fruit stand for your flavor run.
-You boys ready? -Yup.
-Ready. -You got four hours to run your liquor.
Starting...
Now.
Good luck, boys.
Ah, yeah.
Here we go.
-Been nice knowing you, josh. -[laughs]
[mumbling]
-[laughs] -boom!
[digger] josh. You the man to beat now.
You the reigning champion.
[josh] I'm just a man and a man to beat.
[digger] I didn't say youse the man, I just said you're the reigning champion here.
[josh] my name is josh owens. I'm from columbus, north carolina.
Ho, oh, oh!
I'm wide open all the time, 'cause I've got a long way to go.
And a short time to get there.
I'm going to go ahead and mash these doggone cherries up.
[josh] moonshine runs deep in my veins.
Mm-mm. That smells good.
[josh] I have a family history of moonshine.
When I was 15 years old, I was fascinated by moonshine.
And I've been messing with it ever since.
[ramsey] my man, josh.
You just running your regular sample recipe mash?
Just plain jane, getting it done.
I made my mash out of white corn, little bit of yellow corn,
some yeast and some sugar and some water.
I notice you always stir
your mash a little bit in the pot while it's heating up.
Your mash is sitting still, it'll stick to the bottom of your pot
and start scorching down there.
And give your liquor a horrible, scorched flavor.
And if you keep it moving, that's definitely not going to happen.
Pressure's on you a little more than these other two,
you being the reigning champion.
There ain't no pressure.
I like that attitude.
[josh] I already won the last backwoods battle. I'm here to try to do it again.
Mark rogers.
Who do you think is the heads-up favorite here? Feel good about it?
Well. They're both my buddy.
But they're trying to beat me and I'm going to try to beat them.
-[laughs] -you know.
[mark] I'm mark rogers. I come straight out of the mountain.
Been making liquor all my life.
[coughs]
-that's fire. -Fire in the hole.
[laughs]
I've run in the mountains, you know, on wood.
I ain't never fooled with gas much based on the little turkey cookers.
[man] you got a flame over like a campfire.
Oh! You scorched the piss out of that.
That tripped me up last time.
Believe I've got it figured out now.
So I'm working a little harder.
I'm ready. And I'm ready for the competition.
It's a little easier on you if you fight with your flavor than it is with your fists.
Mark rogers.
I don't even have to ask you I know you brought just corn mash. That's what you do.
-Corn simple mash. -Yep.
My corn mash, it's really the recipe
of an old moonshiners running in the mountain.
Just corn, really.
Sprouting corn, dry it.
Grind it.
I make my own yeast.
Mikey...
What do you got going on here.
-Just trying to get heated up, cleaning up this charcoal. -Okay.
To run my liquor out first.
We'll run it low and slow, you know. Just let it carry on.
-I'm sure it'll be good, so... -I hope so.
My name is mike cockrell. I was born and raised in the state of mississippi,
but I hang my hat in tennessee.
Fire in the hole.
[mike] I come from a long line of moonshiners from mississippi.
People like us moonshiners, they don't have much of nothing in the backwoods
to make alcohol.
It's the only way of living.
I like doing little of the old and little of the new.
All six of these jars serves as distillation.
There were a lot of people who use yellow corn.
For corn mash, I do like to use the white, sweet corn.
Got a better sugar content.
I'm real confident
in my corn liquor,
because it's something I've always made and done,
in the backwoods on a daily basis.
And that's what I'm doing here today.
What do you think about your competition over here?
I've got damn good competition over here.
[mike] josh is a great guy. He's a little bit scattered brain.
He don't have no idea what he's gonna do
at the time that he's doing it.
But he always pulls something out of the hat.
You know mark rogers. He goes to bed with a doggone bowie knife.
He ain't a fellow you want to mess with too much.
Here I am coming in as the underdog, you know, trying to win this thing.
Folks, y'all got three hours left.
Mark he's over here stitching or somethin'.
He's making him a little drip strainer to go on that worm spout.
Mark, he's getting his still ready for it to come out.
Don't take no time for those little fellers there.
Yeah, they're all about the same. We're all within ten degrees of each other.
Here we go, boy.
Running liquor.
It all went pretty fast.
Oh [bleep]
josh, you running yet?
[josh] yeah, just started.
I like to warm mine up gracefully.
[mike] I've been known to have a cocky attitude because
my corn mash is really, really good.
The recipe that I was taught,
it's got a better flavor.
So I have confidence that I'm going out of here a winner, guys.
I think I'm the only one running over charcoal over here too.
-[clunk] -damn! You scare me every time you throw something
or shut that damn lever. [laughs]
mike cockrell's awesome.
But sometimes he gets a little cocky.
[bang]
-[laughs] -[bleeps]
[mark laughs]
damn you, josh.
[josh] some people call me a agent of chaos,
but I'm the master of disaster.
This is [bleep] killing.
Two hours left...
In your run.
[mark] getting into the hard part.
I'm getting proof right on it.
It ought to be good.
[josh] I'm going to throw my heads off.
And this is my first jar I'm catching.
Come on, baby. Run a little bit.
Here we go!
It had me worried.
All right mark.
-That's a pretty good stream right there. -Yeah.
How many jars? You got a lot of 'em over there.
One, two, three, four, five.
[mark] this will be the sixth.
You way ahead of everybody else.
There's jars of liquor over everywhere. How do you do that?
Last time we had a competition, old mark rogers
got into the moonshine. The next thing I know,
he's all tore up.
[bang]
[clattering]
when I get in the kitchen,
I make a lot of racket, it's all I do.
I love a good fire.
I don't care what I have to do. I love to cook with fire.
[josh] this time, if he's staying sober,
I'm going to have my work cut out for me.
Josh owens.
You just got a little filter on the felt.
You don't have no wood chips,
-no nothing in it. Charcoal. -No.
[josh] I don't never run over charcoal.
What you think about mike over here. You ain't scared, are you?
Are you trying to put pressure on me?
Yeah.
Don't be over here relaxing.
-Now there is some pressure. -Yeah?
What's going on, mike?
Well, I'm trying to got this liquor run off for you guys.
Now you're on your third jar.
I'm running it as low as I can, as slow as I can.
Tell me about the charcoal thing.
It just helps strain any impurities or particles.
Just a few extra steps to try to make my liquor as good as I can, you know.
-Yeah. -[josh] mike cockrell.
He may be cocky. But one thing's for damn sure.
He can make some liquor.
One hour left, guys.
Better be buttoning it up.
-[mike] tell me something, josh. -What buddy?
What's up with you using charcoal now?
You said you didn't use it last time, so what's the deal with that.
I saw you using it over there and I thought I'd run off
a jar with it just to see what it was like.
'cause I ain't never used it.
Here's josh owens,
doing his liquor like mine.
But if he wins this round with the corn liquor,
friendship ends and business begins.
We both got to do what we got to do to win.
[josh laughs]
45 minutes, folks.
That's how high proof it is right there. You can even see it burning.
Something's going hot, boy.
Josh, he's got one filter in there with charcoal.
[whistles]
[clicks]
mike over here has got a charcoal with filter.
He's running real slow.
Charcoal's doing good.
God almighty.
[exclaims] you can use that for paint stripping.
Mark, he's running pretty fast.
And he's just running his down on cotton string.
-How in the hell he gonna run 20 jars of liquor. -20?
Mark's proof looks like it's coming down there a little bit.
Think mark's in his backings already.
What you reckon that proof is?
It's pretty high.
-130, 140. -I think a little more than that.
Came out good and stout.
I think around 160 proof.
I was really tickled with it.
I'm getting proof right on it. It ought to be good.
That's my jar. About 110.
Demo jar number nine.
I bet that taste good, mike. If it's slow proof, ain't it.
I'm going to fix her up.
All right. Markie turnin' his in.
That the winning jar, markie?
I don't know 'bout that. It's going to be a jar of liquor.
We'll let you know. We need you boys back.
All right.
All right, boys.
Five minutes.
[mike] five minutes.
I may do a blend.
That's my jar right there.
100 percent confident in my jar of liquor.
This run was perfect.
Bringing it in.
Number nine and four.
Together.
-Nine and four. -Here we go.
-All right. -Thank you all.
-Good luck, mikey. -Yes sir.
Josh, three minutes left.
-[josh] damn, I can't decide. -[mark ramsey laughs]
oh, no.
It could be bad, it could be good.
My mouth burns so hard, I can't tell.
[laughs]
he keeps trying himself which jar he wants,
he ain't going to be able to walk it over here to the table.
[josh] I really can't tell no difference using that charcoal.
What the hell's the point in that.
One minute.
If you ain't ready, you ain't going to be.
There ain't no worry about losing track of his.
His the one's got a cartoon strip on it.
That will suit you, boss?
Hell, man, yeah, I reckon.
Ah, good luck slim shady.
Chase them other fellers. Will be to get you in a minute.
[tim] let's try mark.
Good, nice clean jar.
And there's no filter.
-Pretty good bead. -Yup.
-Goes away pretty fast. -[laughs]
120 proof.
Do you feel confident about the jar you turned in?
I...
Feel pretty good, yeah.
It's pretty high on the nose.
Yeah. It's got some vapors.
-It's nice though. -Yeah.
Good, sweet finish.
There's plenty of alcohol in it.
I think mark did a good job.
Think he ran it pretty fast so it's got a little bite on it.
-That little fire lingers on the back of your throat. -Yeah.
It's still there on me.
The last time he's doing this, he was drunker than cooter brown.
[josh] this time you're on your game.
Youse on number two or three before I started even coming up with liquor.
Now we got wild man here.
Cartoon drawer.
-He couldn't spell distiller, so he just spelt dist. -Yeah.
-Got to work on his spelling. -Another one high proof.
Oh yes, he's popping.
That is nowhere close to 100 proof.
[digger] he changed gears and went and filtered over that fire coal too.
-[mark and tim] yeah. -I don't know that that jar got any of it.
I never tried that charcoal before.
I always heard it would strip the flavor profile out of it.
So I tried it on a jar or so.
Now he's got a little bit smoother on the nose.
It finishes smooth on the tongue too.
It's a little milder drink that mark's
but fierce on me.
-Yeah. -There's definitely high proof.
But just using that little bitty handful,
for me, it mellows out the bite.
Or the hotness of the alcohol and you keep all your flavor.
Well, move on to old mikey.
It's one of the clearest jars. And a high proof.
You know I started running last and it took me
the whole time that we had to run off my jars.
Now that's really smooth on the nose.
Yeah. That's light as a feather out there.
-That's got you that fruity aroma now. -Mm-hm.
That's real easy on the tongue.
It's got a real good finish.
Mikey ran his the slowest of any of 'em.
He done just a little dab of blending.
Nine has got the flavor
and four has got the proof.
-That's a good job of blending them. -Yeah.
You know how to make moonshine.
And I know you know how to make moonshine too, so...
Hell, I'm just glad to be sitting here with y'all doing this.
-You know. -Same here, man.
I'll go fetch 'em.
Good luck, you gentlemen.
-Appreciate it brother. -You too.
Look guys, all of 'em taste good.
Mark, yours
outstanding, clear, to be not filtered.
But it is a little bit hot and really does taste high proof.
A little fiery on the back end, but it finishes good.
Josh, you got way deep into your heart.
Good drink, a little fire on the end that high proof liquor will have.
-I like mine about 110. -Yup. It might be a little higher now.
But we also noticed that you maybe cheated off
of mike a little bit by using the charcoal.
Yeah, but, I didn't use my last couple of jars.
And that's what I used the charcoal for.
-'cause I just wanted to see what it was going to do. -Mm. Okay.
Even though you went through double filtering
-and charcoal filter-- -I done told you I didn't double filter.
It's actually smoother than mark's.
And I think that maybe that charcoal did it.
I didn't put the charcoal in it.
I'm trying to tell you how good it is.
I see how you are.
Okay. Well.
Mikey.
I think you took full advantage of your time.
'cause you ran yours really, really slow.
-And yours is outstanding. -Thank you.
Mike, you blended jar number four and jar number nine.
-I think that's a good job of blending it. -Appreciate it.
All right guys. Any good liquor man worth its salt,
flavors his is corn liquor with whatever he's got on hand.
So your next challenge,
you're going to build the fruit stand to flavor your base liquor.
And I think all of you got something to work with.
To flavor it with something.
And this is just the first, second and third place.
Who's going to go to the fruit stand.
Mikey, you the man. First.
-Number one job. -Appreciate it. Thank y'all.
Josh. Number two man.
Mark. Number three.
All right boys. To the fruit stand.
Tim, you ring the bell.
Tickle!
Hey y'all.
All right.
Fellers.
These guys need some cucumbers and squash and cantaloupes and watermelons
and anything else you can find to flavor this stuff up.
Well, I'll see what I can find. Y'all ready fellas?
-Ready. -Come on, let's roll on.
If you milk a cow, you just get milk.
But if you milk a bull,
-you got a friend for life right now. -No doubt.
All right, fellers.
We're here so y'all can
infuse your liquor with something in your thumper.
And get something,
to flavor it, after the fact with.
Y'all going to have three minutes.
And mike, I believe you're up first. Let's keep to it.
Okay.
I see a lot of these strawberries.
You know the liquor that I enjoy making,
I like to do tropical fruit, some citrus.
[tickle] okay. Are you making a pie or a drink. [laughs]
we'll figure it out when we get there, right.
[mike] I'm going to make a strawberry-cherry limeade.
So I chose fresh strawberries,
a little bit of cherry,
and some lime juice.
-I got to have one more bag. -All right. One more bag of strawberries. There you go.
Your time is up. Josh.
You're up, boss man.
There you go. Get your basket.
Look, if anybody can make a tomato drink, it's you josh.
If any kind of fruit around, I've made whiskey out of all of it.
And sometimes it turns out great,
-sometimes it don't. -[tickle] all right.
Looks like the last of the strawberries are gone.
All right. Let's see. Look, there's all kinds of juices.
[josh] for the flavor run, I use strawberries and pineapple.
You've got five,
-four, three... All right. -I'm done, I'm done.
Mark. Three minutes.
Hey, look. There's some okra back there.
If you make these judges a nice snotty drink,
they will love it.
-How many peaches can I get? -You can take those bushes if you want them, boy.
[tickle] mark has come up with a plan.
I see some peaches going in the thumper.
[tickle] what you looking at there, mark. Some preserves?
You got some sugars?
I believe that about do it.
All right fellers.
Let's head back towards these stills and see what we can't get done. All right.
Them peaches, any count?
Hit 'em with a baseball bat.
That ain't good.
[digger] well boys.
You got that farm stand visit out of the way.
Time to make us some tasty liquor.
Your choice.
Hope you got everything you want.
You got four hours, your time starts...
Now. Good luck, boys.
-Mark, you making some peach cobbler. -Yeah.
Who'll blowed him up?
[mark] oh yeah, look at that.
That will be good enough.
Mike, what are you, doing over here.
Crushing my strawberries.
I don't know if he's praying or what he's doing there.
Trying to get it... Bring it flavor.
Put a little cherry, a little lime juice to go along with it.
Trying to infuse this run
and make a strawberry-cherry limeade, so to speak.
[digger] I see in the future, you're fixing to lose another digit.
-[laughs] -[josh] I know I'm good
at throwing recipes together on the fly.
[digger] josh has got pineapple,
strawberry, cherry.
-So you gonna hang a bag in the still? -Yeah.
Somehow or another, I always pop out with a good jar of liquor.
That right there is off the chain.
You've got three hours left.
Here we go.
Here we go, boy.
Mikey.
Now you ain't got a little bit cocky on that win, have you?
No. The only thing I can do is try to do my best.
Infuse my thumper with that strawberries,
cherries, little bit of lime juice.
Then I believe you got it going on.
Maybe some of the flavor will transfer over in that clear jar.
You got to be careful, all that cherry and strawberry stain.
When that stuff runs out on the floor, we don't know
whether josh is bleeding or it came from the fruit.
Tell me about it.
Well, carry on, brother.
Josh-y, quit eating your gravy you ain't going to have enough to put in your liquor.
It's so good.
Listen. I put strawberries, and pineapple,
-yeah. -And I let it hang in the still here.
So it's just kind of carrying out
maybe a little bit of the essence over you know.
And then, this is what I'm going to flavor it with, here.
You can put some sugar gel in there
and can it it something in jars, if you quit eating it.
You need me, I'm right over there.
Guys, two hours left.
There we go. I'm running.
Something ain't running.
I never had so much heads I can't even smell alcohol.
Mine ain't spitting out liquor, it's spitting out water.
-Straight [bleep] water. -[mark] I don't see how.
I swear, it ain't have a bit of damn alcohol.
[mike] josh, did you put all your jars in it?
All your jars of alcohol?
[josh] uh-huh.
That weren't alcohol in the five gallon bucket?
It was water.
[mike] oh, my god,
you poured that five gallon bucket of water and not your jars?
You didn't have no liquor in your still.
I thought they put the alcohol in the five gallon bucket.
I didn't put my moonshine in.
So I wasn't running liquor.
-[josh] I'm making twice distilled water for them. -[mark laughs]
my competitions over. I screwed up.
-Josh, hey-- -this is some horse [bleep].
-[mark laughs] -just remain calm.
Uncap your still.
It's already hot. Get your alcohol out here.
Fire that damn thing back up.
You're ready to go, man.
It's all for nothing.
[josh] when I realized that I want running off liquor, I was like,
the hell with it.
[mike] turn your fire off till you pot.
Here let me help you. You ain't gonna be out of this competition yet, brother.
Mike was like, dude, just...
What are you doing? Just come back and damn...
Run it. You're fine.
We're still going to be good.
So that's what I did.
You've got a ton of hot water in there.
You don't have long to heat that up.
[josh howls]
-[mike] don't quit on us now, josh owens. -[josh] goddamn.
I am a mess. 24 hours a day, I am a mess.
But I'm pretty good at pulling a rabbit out of a hat because I live that way.
It's either going to work out or it ain't.
-[fire whooshing] -there you go.
Back in business.
One hour left guys. Better be buttoning it up.
What you been doing, mark?
-You got three jars? -Three, a little three.
-Okay. -I've been running. Little slow.
[tim] mark, you have peaches.
Yup. Just straight peaches.
It's already hot again.
[mark] oh yeah. You didn't collect--
god almighty.
Mike, tell me where you at, at your run.
I ended up running seven jars.
I just played around with it.
See where the flavors would come,
there's cherry, strawberry and little lime.
All right! Got liquor coming.
Frick. It wasn't five minutes and it was ready to spit out liquor.
I'm very, very happy with what I've created here.
It's a little more on the cherry-flavored side than the strawberry.
But I'm going to be okay with this.
It's just lightly rose-colored actually.
But may not be like the best,
so I've tried to infuse the flavor into my liquor.
And run the strawberries and pineapple into the jar.
It's pretty.
Pretty, damn mean. God almighty!
Hoo!
[mark] they stung my nose for sure,
-those strawberries makes hot liquor. -Yeah.
-Really? -You bet it.
It's hot. Burn on it.
Still 'bout 110.
That's the jar.
Oh yes, she's still high.
130, 140.
Think that's it, mike.
That's it. I'm ready to turn in.
-Got your name on it. Ready to rock, bro. -[thud]
you can head on to that little sipping bar and have a drink on me.
All righty.
15 minutes, boys.
Get everything buttoned up ready.
Wow, number three is hot, boys.
Get 'em ready, mark.
Yeah, that's as good as I can run her, boy.
That's a pretty jar of liquor.
Chase on that out there with mike. You have your drink on me.
Boys.
-Y'all kicked my ass. -How many jars of liquor do you got?
-Three. -Well, you just need one.
Yeah, I know. But I didn't want to give you my strongest one,
'cause y'all complain.
You heard of this little thing we call tempering?
You got spring water over there that'll temper.
God, all getting mighty hotter.
I cost myself a little bit of time.
And it did hurt me.
Because I wasn't able to run my run down as far as I wanted to.
You probably got 140 proof liquor there, huh.
[josh sighs]
-that looks like a pretty good bead. -I don't like it.
We might!
You ain't going like it.
-[thud] -[digger] go get you a drink on me.
I don't need no drink. I'm gonna have plenty.
Well then, have them give you water.
Heavens to mackeltroy.
-Here we go. Start wherever you want to. -So we got him.
Let's get busy with it.
-What the hell's this? -Hey, hey, hey.
I told y'all when I brought these fellers back,
I was coming back to taste some of this stuff.
So what do you do, walk around carrying a chair with you all the time?
I had it ready.
I'm not too happy with this run.
In my experience,
it's just going to be toward the end of your runoff
before you start getting any good flavors.
I never made it there.
This is josh's here.
I think he drank some of it too.
I don't know. Maybe that's all he ended up with
he thought was presentable.
He even put a big old booger right on the side, right here.
Looks pretty clear on the inside.
Might be high proof.
I never did peter all the way down to my tails.
So it's really pretty, I just thought it was
a little hotter than I thought it should be.
She's got a good nose to her.
Well, it ain't bad.
She's a touch fiery.
Strawberry will make really hot liquor.
No, that ain't hot enough.
But I don't find no strawberry.
Strawberry can be notoriously hard to get to come through.
I don't know if mine's gonna pan out or not, we'll see.
Next. Mark's.
Now that's a clear jar.
-See you through that. -I mean, yeah.
I see all three of your wives.
That's the romance. Let's get to tasting some liquor.
My proof's going to be a little bit high but...
You'll taste peaches.
-It's about 115. -Yeah.
She is a touch proofy. But that's the way mark likes it.
I'm not getting a lot of peach on the nose of it.
Don't hardly have any smell.
But it's got a great peach flavor in it.
[tim] but that's a green peach.
Those peaches not ripe.
He had to cook his peaches which he wouldn't normally have done,
if they'd have been ripe.
If he was having to do that,
he's pulled off an amazing job.
-If it'd have been a ripe peach, -oh my.
He'd have brought a whole lot more to the table.
I'm going to proof it down when we put our flavors in it, you know.
I'm afraid I left it a little high.
Don't know if that'll work out for me or not...
That was my idea.
-There's little mikey's -oh, mike's.
Little mike. He's got a good clear jar.
Looking through this way, I can stand to look at mark ramsey.
[laughs]
you can see him breaking fast.
All right, proof is awaiting.
Nothing less than 110 on the table.
My end jar started getting all that good flavor.
My strawberries and cherries and lime.
-Yeah, I'm smelling those cherries. -Oh yeah.
Ooh, I ain't mad at that at all.
He talked about strawberries and lime.
I'm getting more cherries, I think.
Yeah. It's bored on the palate.
A lot of times when you're playing with cherries,
you get the cough medicine taste.
-We don't get that. -It's excellent liquor.
For me. It don't outrun the peach though.
Every one of them
can take their jars and pull something phenomenal out.
All three of them are excellent.
I'm having a tough time between two of 'em.
Oh, I like the cherry.
-I like the cherry but I like the peach too. -I like the peach too.
We may have a three-way coin toss here.
You have a three-sided coin over there?
You're the one man crooked enough to have one of them that I know of.
[laughs]
all right.
I found 'em fellers at your bar.
[ramsey] all right, men. We have tasted your liquor.
Mikey, you liquor came in easy on the nose.
I think I got more of a cherry note,
than I did the strawberry note.
[tim] we talked about the lime coming through but...
We didn't get the lime.
See I was actually scared to put
too much lime.
Couldn't fine it in there nowhere but,
it's still a good drink.
Josh.
D'you use strawberries? All four of us,
we couldn't find it.
The little foofaraw you had initially
I think you did use up some of your...
Your flavorings on the water distillation.
Markie, you did a fine job
taking them rock hard peaches.
Those things didn't have no juice in them.
Yeah, they had nothing. But it's got peach flavor in it like I wasn't expecting.
Whoever wins this round,
gets 30 minutes in your next challenge.
The two that don't win this round,
only gets 15 minutes to do it.
Mark, you got the best jar on the table.
-Oh. Thank you. Thank you. -[staggered clapping]
-young haul being hauled off. -[laughs]
not for long.
Yeah, I fell a lot.
-So use that 30 minutes. -[laughs]
the next step in your challenge, is your flavoring.
Polish up your flavored corn liquor.
Make it into something
that any master moonshiner would want to sell.
You're not being looked at as clarity.
Because you're going to add something to it. It's just, does it taste good.
And mark, you get 30 minutes.
And josh and mike, only gets 15.
All right boys. Your time starts now.
All righty.
Josh, this ain't no eating contest. Get us some liquor blended up.
-Man, that stuff is so good. -He can't leave it alone.
Talking about it's so good, why don't you put it in a jar.
He needs to put some of it in a jar so we can have a little of it.
Problem is we're going to have to drink some of it after he's been spitting in it.
Ah well, you know.
Mike over here looks like he's splitting the jar up.
[tim] yeah. Blending or something.
Some of the judges says, we really couldn't get the strawberry through.
Okay so these are the extra strawberry puree
will help kind of go over the cherry
just a little bit and
will help balance out the flavor.
[mark] judges, they said my liquor was the best.
That made me feel good, right there.
When they told me that,
I know I had a chance to win that little still.
I've got a whole bunch of stuff in my basket to flavor with.
But I figure I could come out better just staying with straight peach.
What markie done,
-he's just shaking in a little of that juice. -Yeah.
When I cooked them peaches down, I saved a little bit back to the side.
And I figured I'd use that to flavor with.
Mark looks like he's taking it pretty easy over here.
-He's taking a drink, that's what he's doing. -He's taking a drink of it.
Mark, sure enough way to not win,
is to drink all your liquor,
and not turn none in.
Well, that might happen.
He might have a taste,
and it's good now and he'd just as soon drink that jar of liquor
instead of having that little still.
-You never know. -He might, yeah.
-I don't know, it'll look awful good on the farm now. -[laughs]
-yeah, I'll tell you it would. -It would.
It'll look good on mine too. If don't any of y'all win, I might take it home.
People made some good-tasting liquor there, I'm telling you.
Yup. Ain't much work for it not to be.
I'll tell you what, it looks like everybody's moving right along.
[josh exclaims]
[whistles]
ah, dog, you can run dead on that. [coughs]
that ain't what I turned in.
Well, you need to work with the one you turned in.
I screwed up the run, so I feel like I had to [claps]
stay at it as hard as I can.
And try to infuse the flavor into my liquor.
Just when they may need an energy drink.
[josh] I used strawberries, pineapples, and then... Just a touch of sugar.
[tickle] I don't know what he's done.
Getting ready to make a smoothie.
-I can see it coming. -Yeah.
-He keeps drinking and spitting in it. -Keep tasting it,
he won't have anything to turn in neither.
Well, he liked it.
He ain't making that big, mean, scary faces no more.
But he knows he's liking it better.
Five minutes. For them. Then you got 20 minutes.
Josh, want to chill it out for us?
Cold liquor tastes way better than hot liquor.
I don't know what mike's doing.
He's getting ready to mess up.
I'm very, very happy
with what I've created here.
But it's a little more on the strawberry-cherry flavor side,
than the lime flavor.
-What's he doing over them? -He's got lemon.
Or lime, I--
[tim] oh, he getting ready to mess up something.
Ow!
He cut his finger!
[mike groans] damn.
-I don't want none of that blood in there. -Well...
-He ain't going-- -I got cut myself a little.
[tim] going to get a band aid. First aid.
-Better go get it stitched up quick. -Medic!
-One injury. That's one out. -15 minute time limit.
-That there's going to be a nail in his coffin. -His time...
I need a band aid.
What do you think, tim smith?
You know, mikey had a little injury there.
So it could have hampered his blending profile.
But then again, it could have helped.
You got less lime in it.
Some of that lime's in his finger now.
Yeah, it went into his finger.
I don't think he put a whole lot of lime in it.
You saying you don't like lime?
-No. -Oh.
They don't know all the things I don't like.
There's a lot of things I don't like.
-Yeah. -[laughs]
[tickle] yeah. I've worked with tim smith a long time
-and if you gonna please him, it's gonna be right. -[all laughing]
-[mike] yeah, I cut myself a little. -[digger] medic!
You better go and get it stitched up quick.
With the time limit
that could be a nail in his coffin.
[josh] I'll tell you what, I've played hell this entire contest.
I may screw some things up.
But somehow or another I'm able to
pull it off. I did the flavor.
And I have to say so myself
it was absolutely excellent.
Three minutes left, guys.
Time to be putting everything together.
-Okay? -All right. I'm back. I'm back. I'm back.
-No problem, bud. -No problem, buster.
-[all laughing] -keep busting.
[all laughing and chattering]
you never know how you miss a limb or a thumb
until you ain't got it. [laughs]
I'm out of time. This is my last chance.
One minute fellers.
Markie, you've got 16 minutes.
[mark] a little bit of sugar.
It looks to me like they using that time
to chill their jars up.
I'm just trying to chill it for you guys.
-[digger] ten seconds. -[taps]
there's my jar done.
-All right, mike. -Best I could do.
Fruit punch.
-[clatters] -[laughs]
think mark's got his jar, he's just going to drink on it for that 15 minutes.
[tickle] I know and I hope he leaves us a little bit to taste.
If it had been real ripe peaches,
I wouldn't even have to bring the flavor out.
The only thing I can do, is put some sugar in it.
I tasted of it.
I know that that'd be the best flavor I could get no matter what I'd done.
Bet that thing will be ice cold when he brings it up here.
-Mm-hm. -[mark] taking my time,
I'm just going to make some good, cold liquor.
This is the best I can do with it.
Yeah, that's about as good as I can make it, I can't make it any better.
-Well now, I like the sound of that. -[mark] I'm done.
-Looks like we have lemonade and fruit punch. -I don't get it.
Good luck! [laughs]
it's like herding cats, ain't it?
It's like herding toddlers and chickens.
All at the same time.
All right whisky pusher.
Start dealing them.
Let's start with the fruity, fruity guy here.
Fruity pebbles.
Josh owens.
The artiste.
Master distiller, josh owens.
He got a lot of stuff in there.
Primarily... [laughing] strawberries.
He likes strawberries.
He's got pineapples sitting in the bottom,
strawberries floating near the top.
It almost looks like a smoothie drink.
Maybe josh wants us to be healthy drunks.
I don't make a habit out of drinking pink liquor.
-But I thought it was awful nice. -Yeah. It was pretty.
-The ladies will like it. -Yeah.
If I could get it to calm down a little bit.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it smells like a strawberry.
Yes sir. That'd be exactly what it smells like.
I'm tasting pineapple,
I'm smelling pineapple.
It's tropical.
That's a great drink right there.
But she is a touch proof-y.
Damn, it taste good though.
Josh done good.
Well we got mark's.
Looks like he's all peach.
Did you make yours sweet?
It tastes peachy.
My fruits be a little bit high. Don't know if it'll work out for me or not.
The alcohols still covering it up.
Boys, you still smell liquor in that.
Yeah. They ain't no low proof in that.
Yeah, no, no he still got a kick to it.
Oh yeah.
That's hot, I'd say.
-That's a liquor drink right there, ain't it. -Yeah.
He added some more peach to 'em.
But he didn't add a whole lot.
Fact that he got a green peach to...
Taste that good,
-mm-hm. -That says something right there.
Yeah. I like it.
What's in that last jar over there.
It look like fruit punch.
Well, let's see what she tastes like.
He was aiming for cherry and doggone if he didn't nail it by the look of it.
It looks pretty thick.
After that good ounce of blood that went in there.
That's what got it good and red.
-[laughs] -after he split that thumb.
Boy, it smells different.
Smells like a fruit punch to me.
It not only looks that way, it smells that way.
You know in my proof, I'm blended a couple of my jars along with the flavor of
my strawberries, cherries and lime.
Well I'll tell you, his lime did not overpower.
That's because he cut his thumb off before he could squeeze it.
It was really good before.
It's a different taste profile now.
He influenced it a little bit more.
There's too much concentrate.
I think the strawberry puree--
that strawberry puree has no place in that drink.
[tim] throwing extra strawberries,
into the cherry mix,
and lime juice,
it kind of killed the cherry in there. Now it's almost like cough medicine.
-Still got plenty of alcohol in it. -Yeah, he does.
It's a good drink.
If that was put in a slushie machine,
-that would be something fantastic. -It'll be really good.
It don't matter who wins or loses, just sit and play the game.
We play the game, we're all winners.
And that's what every loser says, ain't it.
-[all laugh] -every time.
Every time.
All right. Well I found these fellers.
-Oh okay. -Well they're following you, evidently you did.
Everybody here did a great job.
[tim] mike, yours was really good before, for your flavor run.
Cherry and the proof was right on the money.
But it did turn into a more of a fruit punch, I feel like.
[ramsey] good liquor.
But I think you tried so hard,
you over enhanced the strawberry flavor.
Josh man, you had a little foofa on your flavor run.
But all in all,
you've come through with a real, decent jar of liquor.
You enhanced it properly with the fruit.
But your proof is very high.
Mark, even though you know you didn't have a good peach to work with,
-you worked with it. -Cooking your peaches.
You flavored your base liquor. That's what brought you through.
And it's got peach flavoring in it, like I wasn't expecting.
But I think if you'd proofed it down a little better,
your flavors would have come to the front a little bit.
But all in all, everybody did a wonderful job.
Congratulations to all of you.
So this prize over here, is a functioning still, is going home...
With mark rogers.
-[clapping] -congratulations, brother.
I know that look good over the fireplace.
-But I thank you. -There you go, mark.
-I sure thank you. -[all] congratulations, brother.
-It's pretty little rig, ain't she? -Yes, it is.
I got her, boy.
Got my little still to put over at the farmhouse.
Outstanding job, guys. All of you guys, outstanding job.
Let's scatter on out of here and we'll take care of you.
-All right. -Sounds good, fellers.
-Hey, I know where the bars at. Follow me. -Yeah boy.