Yeah, I do.
[narrator] this time on master distiller...
Gonna build a little family recipe,
your recipe.
[narrator] three moonshiners
with over 10 generations of moonshine legacy
will put their heritage to the test.
Show us that recipe
that the regular normal people never get to taste.
[narrator] recreating family recipes
going back more than a century.
Anybody wanna borrow some damn muscadines?
I've got plenty.
[narrator] it's josh owens...
Yes lord.
[narrator] ...Versus daniel maner...
I hope that ain't white gas.
[narrator] ...Versus mike cockrell...
Let's get a little fire in it.
[narrator] ...To see whose family tradition
comes out on top.
All of them are gonna be great, I know that.
I see a hard decision in our future.
[narrator] across the country,
a handful of expert distillers
are heirs to a centuries old tradition.
[rock music playing]
[narrator] some operate on the legal side,
others practice their craft beyond the reach of the law.
Now, three notorious shiners
will battle for family legacy.
Smoked rye.
You either love it or you hate it.
[narrator] judged by a jury of their peers
and guest judge,
danielle parton
who knows a lot about legacy
and moonshine.
[danielle] that's a technique I ain't never seen,
I'll give you that much.
[narrator] they'll go head to head
in a series of challenges...
Josh, you're gonna burn your hand there.
Oh [bleep].
Josh?
I got problems.
I gotta hole in my cap.
[narrator] ...To determine whose jar of history...
Oh god! What am I gonna do now?
[narrator] ...Will earn backwoods bragging rights.
And this little fellow's at stake.
Put on your mantle as a reminder
that you kicked everybody's ass.
[rock music playing]
[country music playing]
well men, welcome back.
We're gonna put you through something fierce.
You know the deal, you boys been here before,
y'all competed, y'all winners.
We're gonna build a little family recipe,
your recipe.
[mark ramsey] you're well aware of the fact that
liquor stores shelves are full of moonshine these days.
There are some
that you can't get off those shelves,
there are some that just have to come from a jar
from the backwoods.
Passed down recipes from generation to generation
and each generation improves somewhat,
so that's your challenge today.
[tim smith] show us that recipe
that the regular normal people never get to taste.
Everybody's fixing to see it.
[digger manes] then y'all gonna get bragging rights
that you kicked everybody else's asses
if you happen to win.
But on to of that,
you get this little trophy.
-Hell yeah! -Put on your mantle as a reminder
that you kicked everybody's ass.
That gonna be all right.
[daniel] it's a little bootlegger truck
with a keg in the back of it.
Man, I'd love to have it, old thing on my mantle
above my fireplace.
No fighting between you two,
no more broken bones.
You've done enough this month.
You got one hour to get this mash built,
five days to ferment it,
then we'll see y'all back here.
Your one hour starts...
Now.
Good luck boys.
Oh hell, mike, put that bucket of kerosene in there.
I hope that ain't white gas.
Let's get a little fire in it.
Yes lord.
I recently broke my foot,
so I'm sitting here
with a freaking purple foot right now.
My doctor told me not to come.
He told to me to keep my foot elevated,
and keep it on ice
and I'm back out here at work, doing what I do.
[daniel maner] are you having fun yet?
-Oh yeah, -[daniel laughs]
glad to be here.
Moonshiner josh, I'm from columbus, north carolina.
Alright y'all, it's already rolling.
I was always fascinated with moonshine.
I really think it's just something
that came natural to me.
It's just in my dna.
My uncle amos, amos owens
was one of the most famous moonshiners
in north carolina history.
And that does add a lot of extra pressure
because you got the family name to uphold.
Tell me what you working with?
I brought some creek water from back home,
-I know makes good moonshine. -[tim] yeah.
I am here to make a family recipe.
I brought some white corn,
yellow corn, corn malt.
Do you have a name for it?
No, it's just a family recipe that I was taught to do
and I just added a grain or two to it.
I went and dug up a bunch of sassafras,
which is where root beer came from.
So, it's just a root beer moonshine.
-Good job, all right. -Thank you brother.
I'm here to win.
-All right, daniel. -What's going on?
What you working with over here?
You got a whole lotta buckets here.
Yellow corn, malted barley and malted rye.
And I put just a little cold water
in here on top if it at first.
Because I found, if you pour hot water in it,
it'll just ball up like a softball.
It'll keep it from doing that.
It's just a tennessee recipe
that's been passed down.
I am daniel maner from sevierville, tennessee.
Yeah.
As a kid,
I always had a real big interest
in moonshine and distilling.
It means a hell of lot to me
to be able to make the same mash
that a friend of mine's great grandpa made.
His name was greer sutton and it was his dad's recipe.
I'd love to keep this art and heritage alive
because that's what it is, it's art and heritage.
Oh lordy.
Today I'm making traditional four grain liquor.
Old timers, back when they used to make this,
they would use cattle bran.
Instead of using cattle bran, I always use raisin bran.
The raisins actually work as a yeast nutrient
which produces more alcohol.
I hope that it turns out
as good as it did for me in the past.
All right, good luck with that.
[daniel] it's a honor to get to compete
with two competitors
that are pretty stiff competition.
But now, you know mike,
michael's no dummy.
He knows what he's doing.
I worked side beside with him for a long time.
We used to be partners.
It seems to me like, you just
dumped me off and take somebody else.
[mike] I had to bring somebody in here
to help me finish this.
I mean, I've got money to make too.
[daniel] we no longer work together.
I feel that he done me wrong.
And I don't hate him,
I just don't trust him no more.
Partly it's a loyalty issue, you know,
that's been breached.
You gotta be professional
and I can get along with the devil.
-Hey mike. -What'd you say tim?
What you doing there?
I've got my water here heating up.
I always put a little cool water
in my grain.
-Stir it up, that way it won't ball up in the... -Okay.
-...Hot water heat-- -you kinda like daniel.
Yeah, pretty much, we used to work together,
-so we do a lot the same way. -He put yeast in his.
-Did you put yeast in it? -I didn't do...
I don't never do that to mine to start off with.
-Do you have a name for it? -Just call it maynor creek.
That's strange 'cause his last name is maner,
but it's actually a place called maynor creek.
Okay, good luck.
Yes sir, thank you brother.
[mike cockrell] I'm moonshiner mike.
I've been up here in tennessee
for about 15 years now.
And I'm from south mississippi.
I've been distilling and tempering with moonshines
since I was about 16 years old
and I plan on doing it till the day I'm dead.
The way moonshine started in my family
was from my great great grandmother.
She actually taught her husband
how to make moonshine.
And my grandmother is the one
who passed down the recipes to me.
All right, that ought to be enough to try to proof now.
My great great grandmother
was from maynor creek, mississippi.
So, the name of my family recipe
is gonna be maynor creek
corn and rye.
[grunts]
this is recipe is over 100 years old.
You always have a weight on your shoulders
when you're doing what comes from home.
You wanna make it right.
Ah, damn, that's fine.
We got a lot of pecan trees in mississippi and louisiana,
so I've put a spin of pecan smoked rye.
My grandfather, my grandmother,
they would want me to
put in a little something new
without screwing it up.
Smoked rye smells so good.
All of them are gonna be great, I know that.
I see a hard decision in our future.
But we shouldn't have to taste no bad liquor.
I might regret there, so y'all boys watch out.
[daniel] what you gonna do?
[mike] what the hell!
Josh you gonna burn your hand there.
Holy [bleep].
[mike] you all right?
I wasn't waiting on that damn bucket.
One minute boys, y'all better stir fast.
[josh] is that all?
Yes sir, buddy boy.
[digger] three,
two,
one.
Step away boys, y'all are done.
Whoo!
Chase on out, and get you a little rest.
We'll see you in five days.
[josh] all righty.
[mark] looking forward to it.
[suspenseful music playing]
[digger] family recipe.
You made what you've been taught to run.
Now, it's time to see
which one of you gonna win this race.
And josh, you'll notice,
we put you a little something extra over there boss.
-[mark laughs] -we didn't have a for real wheelchair.
-But that's a chair with wheels on. -Damn it, man.
I did what I could do, man.
Let's get this show on the road.
I want some liquor.
Whoever's got the best jar
gets to pick the still parts.
[digger] you know what you got boys, four hours.
You're time starts...
Now.
Good luck boys.
Hopefully your mash worked off,
ready to run.
Yes sir, ready.
[josh] mine's still working off.
[bleep]
but it ain't done.
My heart sank when I looked into my mash barrel
'cause it ain't ready.
My mash is still working off.
I'm [bleep] already.
[mike] don't overthink.
[josh] I ain't gonna lie
kind of started panicking a little bit
'cause I thought, well,
it ain't like I can tell them
I need to come back in a day or two.
It's competition time.
I gotta run it right now.
[tim] every one's worked off but yours.
Sometimes that gives a different taste profile.
[digger] he's doing the right thing.
He heats it up good and slow, it'll kill that yeast.
I think that mash just needs to be gassed.
I'm gonna try and strain most of this stuff off the top
before I get started,
maybe not get so much in that screen.
That's a pretty good move.
[mark] them raisins is rehydrated
back in the grapes, ain't they daniel?
[daniel] yes, sir.
Tell me about your mash, mike.
Uh, white corn
and uh, smoked rye.
Put a real good flavor to it.
-Gotta be careful with that rye. -Got to.
-That rye will make it mean in a hurry, won't it? -[mike] yup.
[daniel] it won't if you know what you doing.
-[mike] that's right. -[daniel laughs]
yeah.
And you either love it or you hate.
Well, I love it, I love rye.
I got problems.
[mike] what you got going on there?
I got a hole in my cap.
[mike] holy hell.
-[tim] can you see through it? -[daniel] yeah.
There's a hole inside this
arm right here,
right there.
Yup, they sure are.
That'll leak.
We got anything to make a little paste with?
I don't know, if there's any in there or not.
[digger] well, unfortunately, we get a contestant
in here every once in a while
and they wanna treat their still
like it's a rental car.
What are you gonna try to do daniel?
I got problems.
[mike] what you got going on there?
[daniel] I got a hole in my cap.
-[mike] holy hell. -That'll leak.
Make you some paste.
I got some oatmeal.
-Yeah. -[tim] there you go.
I can make paste with oatmeal.
Yeah, you're all right.
Crank her up.
Some you can't control sometimes.
Just gotta work with what you got.
[mark] that's right.
You reckon that's a good bond?
That'll be right yonder when the damn cows
come to the house.
[daniel] yeah.
[mark] problem solved, daniel.
[josh] oh there it is.
Final came out.
Guys, two hours left.
Hey,
boys taste this.
I mean, I'd say, I think it's mighty fine.
It's still up around 140 though josh, it's burning the tongue.
I've been here several times
and I've come this close
to winning so many rounds.
I want to win.
-[josh] dump some more water in it? -[daniel] mmm-hmm.
I'm not satisfied, I'd like to filter it little bit.
In my opinion I a put just
just a little too much malted barley in it.
And that made it just a little bit bitter
on the tail end note.
I might actually cut two jars together.
Forty five minutes boys.
[mike] I'm having a damn tug of war over here
between six and seven
on flavor and proof.
Today I'm bringing
what's true to me and my family.
That is my jar right there.
And when I set that jar of liquor
up on the table for the judges,
I'm 100% confident in that jar.
[digger] all right boys,
you're out of time.
Tighten 'em jars up, come on.
Bring her in here.
[daniel] don't get me wrong,
some good liquor,
but it is not the best I've ever made.
[mark] bring it on, big daddy.
[josh] representing the whole owens name
and all the other sides of my family
that've made moonshine.
I sure as hell don't wanna make 'em roll over in their grave.
We better get you when we get the decision.
[mark] watch him go.
He left out of this room
just like he come into the world,
-backwards. -Yeah.
[all laughing]
[tim] we got three good jars here.
You start wherever you want to, tim.
Mister josh.
Well boys, I was really worried
when we started this competition.
We all make good liquor.
But I felt like it turned out pretty doggone good.
I'd say it did, brother.
It looks clear on the side he ain't marked on.
Little bit low proof.
Maybe 90, maybe.
Let's see what's in the jar.
That's got a great nose on it, that's corn liquor.
Through and through.
Yeah boy, all across your nostrils.
That's the way corn liquor is supposed to smell.
What's that other taste I'm picking up on?
It's got a little something different there.
Water makes a big difference.
That's why I brought my water from home on this go round.
Maybe it's just we put a lot more love in it.
[tim] let's go to the next one.
I think it says mikey on it.
And another low proof jar.
Do y'all see what I'm seeing?
He watered it down.
There's a little something funky about the smell.
[digger] yeah, that smelt like feet for a minute.
Reckon he washed daniel's feet in it.
Yeah, there's something hard funky in there.
I'm getting little fruity smell.
My old family recipe, it's simple.
So, I figured out I'd smoke some rye,
add my own spin to it,
yet the base is still the same.
Anything you can do to make it better,
make it better.
The taste, it's a descent flavor.
But I think it lacks something.
Yeah, it's just watered down.
Well.
-This one's daniel maner. -Let's try big dan.
Another clean jar.
How did they get it so clean?
Look at that thing.
Little better on proof.
-Not a lot though. -[tim] he could do a little bit more proof too.
All of them's got ninety or below.
I kinda like that.
-That's-- -it finishes good.
Daniel's is like grandpa's moonshine.
I think he's got a good nose and a good taste.
I made the same style mash
that's been made for years,
except I put my own spin on it.
These family recipes, you know,
over the years,
the more you do it
the better you'll perfect it.
[mark] we're all in total agreement here.
Pretty simple.
-[mark] okay. -One, two, three.
I'm just glad to be here with y'all,
but I still wanna win.
[mike laughs]
we know you do.
Well, may the best man win is all I can say.
[country music playing]
[all laughing]
-[mark] you got him, ain't you? -[daniel] yes sir.
[digger] mercedes brake.
-Hell yeah. -Appreciate it.
[digger] all right guys, welcome back.
And honestly, it's the first time
we've ever faced anything like this.
This is stuff that you can't get on store shelf.
This is family recipes, guys.
And it means a lot to me
just to be able for you to shine with me.
All that being said, the mushy [bleep].
[all laughing]
mikey, your liquor, it's got great taste.
Had you brought some alcohol to the party
you'd probably be holding the winning jar right there.
Fell short,
I'm gonna say probably under 70 proof.
Little bit low on the proof,
but all in all
fabulous flavor.
Thank you.
Daniel,
what you got in your hands
is what corn liquor's supposed to be.
It was good drink front to back.
You could get the other notes of the other grains in there,
but it didn't overpower, it was corn forward.
So, it's damn fine job on your part.
Appreciate it.
It remind me of my granddaddy's liquor,
is what reminds, it's like old-fashion.
With a little simple still,
simple mash peel,
tastes really good.
-That makes me feel good. -Real good.
But you know, if you had more proof
I think you'd be right on the money too.
Josh,
you had a damn fine jar of liquor right there.
Appreciate that.
I like the layers, I mean, it's real complex.
You were little low on your proof.
Sometimes two drops of water can make a difference
in your successful tempering and a failure in tempering.
Boys, I'm proud as hell of every one of you.
Nobody's going home, it's pecking order
where everybody goes to the still house.
Mikey, you're going in last.
Joshy, you're going in second.
Daniel goes in first.
I'd have never believed that.
It really feels good to me.
Hit a home run and I'm glad I did.
It's time to get your tour guide for the day.
Tickle.
How's it going fellas?
[all laughing]
did you get the starter fixed on the truck?
No, josh is going to have to push.
Phew.
All right, come on look.
Here, you look like you could stand a hand.
All right.
-Moonshiner out. -Yeah.
Guys, look yonder, josh is sitting down and
he's still taller than tickle.
[tickle] uh, no, don't be shoving at that door, josh.
I tell you fellas,
when that racoon jumped out of that damn mash barrel,
I was just about done for the day.
[all laughing]
all right fellas,
we are here to pick your still parts.
When I say parts, I mean a whole still.
Daniel, you're up first.
You got three minutes.
Starting...
Now.
[daniel laughs]
I'm just gonna grab a thump keg
it will clean it up a little better
and it'll actually enhance that flavor.
All right, you can't make liquor with just that.
But look, your time is steadily running out.
Don't you wear the hinges out on my door.
I wish you'd leave it open, I'm scared of the dark.
[tickle] god almighty! That man, daniel.
-[daniel] what? -You're really starting to worry me.
He ain't leaving nothing for y'all now.
All right daniel.
[daniel] I've got to have that.
Josh,
we understand you're at a little bit of disadvantage.
It's all right.
When you're done,
-I'll haul it all up for you, all right? -All right then.
You got three minutes
starting now.
[josh] I'm just gonna remain calm.
I'm just gonna go in there,
I'm gonna grab the pieces of the still
that I know I need.
Try not to forget all the little pieces
that connect it.
Are you finding what you need?
Yeah, I do.
There sure is a whole lot of noise in there
and he just hollered.
I don't know if he's down or what.
[josh] I'm missing something here.
All those little caps
and gaskets and clamps and all that.
There was just nothing to pick from.
It was terrible.
Somebody's a [bleep]!
[tickle] oh well, you didn't think
it was going to be so easy, did you?
They don't nothing [bleep] fit!
It's down to seconds now, josh.
Shut up.
Don't laugh mike, you're next.
[bleep] there ain't gonna be nothing there for me to get.
[tickle] three,
two,
one.
Pencil's down, time's over josh.
The competition's a little bit fiercer against us,
even though we're all buddies.
[tickle] let's grab your stuff.
[josh] let me tell you,
there ain't a single one of us here
that don't wanna win.
It is your turn mike.
You got three minutes
starting
now.
[mike] my strategy going into the still house
is to pick what the hell's leftover. [chuckles]
I mean, that's all I've got left.
[tickle] all right,
he has got a thumper.
All right, I can't find nothing else.
Is there something here under here?
-[bleep] -all right, your time's running out now.
I ain't even got a damn ie.
[tickle] all right, well, if you ain't got it,
you don't see it in there
maybe one of your partners has got it.
You got one minute left, mike.
-[bleep] -[tickle] one minute.
Oh god, what am I gonna do now?
I ain't even got a damn ie.
[tickle] all right, well, if you ain't got it,
you don't see it in there
maybe one of your partners has got it.
You got one minute left, mike.
-[bleep] -[tickle] one minute.
Oh god, what am I gonna do now?
Maybe I'm left behind as far as still parts or that,
but at the end of the day
when we come back in the room, I'll make it happen.
[tickle] you got fifteen seconds, mike.
Are you done? Is that all you need?
I got a little something to work with, not much.
Well, we got what we've got.
Josh, why don't you lead the way on out.
[tim] back in action.
Welcome back boys.
Hopefully got what you needed.
You got one hour to get that still together,
then you go right into your four hour run
flavoring your liquor up.
One hour on your build starts
now.
-Good luck boys. -[mark] get busy guys.
[mike] boy, that's just...
Frickin' beautiful.
Hey mike, we may need to swap.
We may need to swap arms.
Mmm-mmm.
[digger] mmmm.
-[daniel] huh! -What's the problem?
My cap and arms are different heights brother.
Surely, they're all the same.
-[tim] it'll work, just squeeze it down. -Just pull that base down
and lock her on there.
Show him, josh.
[tim] do it, josh.
That's all you had to do.
Dan, you said josh was the dumb one in the lot.
[chuckles] well, look.
[all laughing]
everybody always bust my [bleep].
[daniel laughing]
[tim] mike, he's gonna modify what he's already got.
[mark] that'll work.
Put your weight on that,
you're in business now.
[josh] I need a little gasket.
What's wrong with you, you're cheating.
You see that, he's cheating.
Looky there, a little bit of persuasion.
That didn't look like cheating,
just like he borrowed something.
[daniel laughing]
he just got what he needed.
I needed that.
[all laughing]
I knew it was over there.
I figured it had to be you.
[mark] oh mike got her built, I think.
Hell, I guess, I got mine together.
[digger] all right boys,
you look like everybody's finished up, ready to run.
Time to run this liquor.
Your legacy passed down to you all.
Now, here's what's at stake.
The winner of this flat for your next challenge,
gets 30 extra minutes
to do their magic.
Remember
this little fella is at stake.
[mike] all three of us would love to win,
but one man's gotta walk away with the trophy.
Four hours starting
now.
Good luck guys.
Dang god!
Yeah, we tightened them up for you.
Somebody did.
[daniel] look there.
Old backwards trick here,
burn the hair off your arm when you light your burner.
I thought I smelled hair.
Anybody wanna borrow some damn muscadines?
I've got plenty. [chuckles]
I'm third right now,
so, what I'm gonna do to move forward
is put some flavor in there
from my home, from mississippi.
And of course, everybody in the south knows muscadines.
[mark] mikey,
I noticed you put them muscadines,
muscadine juice
and a jar of liquor in your thumper.
I did.
[mark] is that part of the original family recipe?
[mike] the muscadines,
they're plentiful down in mississippi.
We always use them for a lot of stuff,
-but particularly not liquor, so to speak. -Right.
Just the white corn basically was all they had.
Put my spin on it
with the muscadines and the smoked rye.
You're taking it to another level.
I like the direction you're going in.
Appreciate it.
I'm gonna experiment
and try something little different.
What you gonna do?
I'mma put a few of these raisins in that thumper keg.
-[mark] daniel? -Yes sir.
[mark] I'm pretty sure
on your family recipe
damn raisin bran is your spin on it.
The raisin bran is my spin,
you know, raisin feeds yeast
and makes it work a little better.
-All right. -But,
on the downside of it,
raisin sucks up some of your alcohol.
That I tasted sucked up a lot of it.
[daniel] for the second run,
I knew that I had to have a good strong high proof
that tasted really good,
so I loaded my distillates from the first run
to make it have a higher proof
to mix it with the flavor, to make it stand out.
I like it.
Josh,
-what is that sassafras root? -[digger] sassafras root.
[josh] yeah.
I remember my grandma, grandpa talking about it growing up,
they used to dig it up all the time and...
Hold on.
God dog.
You ain't gonna believe this.
I go to wiggling on it, I'm like,
"damn I smell gasoline."
it's on my damn sassafras,
it's totally coated in gasoline.
God dammit.
The gasoline in the biker truck got to it.
My roots is ruined.
Josh's roots is tainted.
The gas jugs spilled all over it,
I didn't have no idea.
-Damn. -[tim] damn.
That's the only roots you got.
Hell yeah, it took me to freaking
11 o'clock at night to dig them up.
[mark] it's just an accident.
You know how to overcome this,
-that's what moonshiners do. -This ain't the first accident you've had.
Even a blind squirrel can get a nut every once a while,
what the hell's wrong with me?
Get off that pity party bull [bleep]
and get to thinking about what you got
and start with your run.
[daniel] it just ain't right.
If I win, I wanna win on a level playing field
and I feel you feel the same way.
[josh] mike, the woods is right out here.
Let's got get that boy some sassafras.
[mike] yeah boy.
Phew.
[mike] I'm salvaging an idiot.
-That's all you need. -All right y'all.
That's what I wanted to hear from you.
-[josh] man, I appreciate y'all. -[mark laughing]
daniel and mike being awesome good sports
and the brothers that they are,
they're like, "come on josh, we'll go out back
and we'll just dig you some more."
-[daniel] is that here? -[mike] there ain't no way.
-Yeah, there you go. -Oh yeah, there's plenty of it right here, boy.
[josh] you guys are awesome.
[daniel] we're gonna get you sassafras.
-[josh] oh yeah! -[daniel] there you go.
-Here's another one josh. -Golly.
Heck, sassafras grows all over there dadgum...
-[josh] sure does. -...Forest floor.
You just gotta know what you're looking for.
If you've ever been in the woods much,
-you'll know one. -That's right.
-[josh] did y'all know, this is where root beer came from? -[mike] yup.
We probably got enough, tell you the truth.
All three of us wanna play on a level playing field.
-Thank you so much, y'all. -Yeah bud.
If we got to help the other one
through the competition,
that's exactly what we're gonna do.
[digger] well, I'm gonna tell you boys,
I'm speaking for all three of the old heads up here,
that's the way you're supposed to do business,
help each other.
That's a big deal in our eyes.
[josh] I got to thinking, boiling that down
making a sassafras tea
and put it in my thump keg.
Kinda up against the fire,
but I'm going for it
'cause it's family, it's heritage.
It'll either work out or it won't.
Oh yeah, it won't be long.
All right boys, you got 30 minutes.
Got alcohol.
Oh hell, I'm running, didn't even know it.
Oh boy!
That's high level.
Whoo-ee!
[mark] I don't what we got to worry about flavor wise
with mike on this round
but it ain't gonna be proof.
There's very little water in that nice liquor.
[mike] mmm-hmm.
Daniel over here, he's got the proof, mmm.
Well, that's good, that's good.
[digger] all right boys,
bring in some jars boys, turn them in.
We're eager to get tasting.
Mike's coming up.
[mike] I'm actually very, very blessed
to be able to turn in a jar of history.
Head on out, you know the deal.
[mike] that makes each and every one of proud.
[digger] daniel's up next.
[daniel] I handed in the lowest proof jar
that had real good flavor.
Yup, that jar is full, we would know nothing's in it.
[daniel] the flavor of the raisins
actually carried through real well.
You might wanna wait, you can push old josh.
That it, josh?
Yes sir, it has the winner written on it.
-[mark] it looks good. -Winner, winner.
[josh] to be here doing a family recipe,
I just wanna knock her damn socks off with it.
Let's go with the closest one to me.
Josh,
clear but it's hard to see through it,
'cause he got pictures drawn on every side.
[digger] but he nailed it on the proof.
[tim] yeah, it's on the money.
I think those two are for y'all,
since y'all like that sassafras root.
-I want some corn liquor. -Mmm-hmm.
And there it is on the nose.
Mmm, I'm telling you,
that's so good, you about gotta lay down to drink.
-That is good. -[digger] he nailed it.
I'm gonna be honest,
that may raise the bar a little bit.
Gonna be hard to get any better than that.
Yeah, them boys got to bring their a game
if they gonna pass this here.
Josh.
Mmm.
-That is good. -He nailed it.
That may raise the bar a little bit.
Yeah, them boys got to bring their a game
if they gonna pass this here.
I kinda had just gave up
on the whole thing of sassafras.
Y'all were willing to go dig my sassafras.
I said, "to hell with it, I'm gonna do the sassafras,
that's what I'm here to do."
as far as traditional homemade liquor,
josh has really hit the mark.
All right,
next jar.
-Daniel maner. -Daniel maner.
-[mark] high proof. -Boat load of it.
-[digger] yeah, he's still a little high. -Worked well.
What do you say, there's 110 temp?
[tim] more than that.
Maybe 125.
[sighs] let's see what daniel's working with.
That's a corn liquor nose.
Damn.
Ooh, she got some alcohol in there.
I just lost all the hair in my nose.
I guarantee you one thing, you know, they said,
"oh, that's just a little light on proof
to suit me."
well, they've got three jars in there today
that ain't light on proof.
-It's gone a little too deep -that's right.
It'll make you sweat on a cold day.
It's good liquor, just too hot.
All right, mikey man.
Pretty jar.
-Not bad, not bad. -Good as can be.
That ain't as high as daniel's, huh?
-I don't think. -[tim] no, no.
-Yeah, I'd give him 110. -[mark] I'm waiting.
[tim] yeah.
-Mmm, that's good smell too. -[digger] that's got a nice nose.
-Nice smell. -Got that muscadine coming in there.
-That smells good. -[tim] hmm.
I want them to be able to taste
that muscadine of my past, of my history
and family, so...
There's not much muscadine flavor in there,
but there's a hint
of it in there that makes it
totally different say than you two guys
and that's what the whole competition is about.
To be 110, that's a pretty good taste.
Mikey's flavor's spot on
for what a muscadine liquor's supposed to be.
Yeah, I like it.
So, let's get this straight.
The winner
is gonna get one hour
to flavor their jar.
And then, the second place tie,
-they're gonna get 30 minutes. -Yup.
All right, we're all on same page.
-All good. -I'll go fetch 'em.
Okay.
We're back.
-Thank you, buddy. -All right.
Well, I gotta hand it to you,
y'all made it pretty tough.
Josh.
Corn liquor.
You had corn in there
hell west and crooked.
[mark] josh,
-I loved your liquor. -Thank you.
I can't wait to see
what you can do with this flavoring business.
Mikey, good tasting liquor.
It's a little high,
your proof is up there.
Muscadine came through there pretty good.
Flavors is top-shelf.
Good, good drink.
Appreciate it.
Daniel, yours is a,
-a little bit higher. -Yeah.
And with that high alcohol,
that kinda, shocks your palette.
-You don't really taste the profile we're looking for. -Mmm-hmm.
But good clear all the way through.
All in all,
great, great drink of liquor.
We have
a winner and
two seconds.
[suspenseful music playing]
mikey,
you got the number one jar.
-Appreciate it. -That gives you an extra 30 minutes to work with.
On the next run,
we've got a guest judge coming.
Y'all chase on out of here and get your game faces on.
-Well, let's go get that judge out the box, you want to? -All right.
[suspenseful music playing]
here we come.
-There you go, brother. -Thank you, pal.
Welcome back, boys.
Final challenge.
Time to bring your a game.
And I'm gonna hand you off
to the lovely and talented danielle parton.
[danielle parton] nice to meet you guys,
-I'm excited to be here. -Nice to meet you.
My day job, I'm an airline pilot
for one of the largest airlines in the world.
I'm still an international guard,
I'm a lieutenant colonel here in tennessee.
And I also have a moonshine of my own called shine girl.
I truly believe that if women will drink it,
men will buy it.
But I don't expect this to be weak
and I have, I know a little bit about
family recipes of my own in the parton family
and the nolan family here in sevier county is known for
making a little whiskey
and shutting down a little whiskey
with sheriff nolan, so...
I'm looking forward to this.
[josh] that's danielle parton,
dolly parton's niece, that's pretty impressive in itself.
And she's pretty rad chick.
Well, you know what this is.
It's the last of the mohicans.
It's where the rubber meets the road
one of you is gonna go home today
with this pretty little bootlegger truck over here.
[tim] every generation, they put a spin on things.
I know, I put a little spin on my family recipe
and improved it just a little bit.
That's what we're looking for you to do.
[digger] you got one hour.
You boys got 30 minutes.
Your time starts
now.
Good luck boys.
[mike whistles]
damn, almighty.
[mike] is it hot?
Make a good cocktail.
Daniel, what you got there?
[daniel] I'm actually mixing the salted caramel flavor in
and I'm having to add a little bit water
to get it cut down to par.
Now, how much did you tame this down?
I don't wanna have start waxing my chest
when we're done.
I'll drop it down to about 90.
Okay, I can do 90.
When you've got a real, real high proof alcohol,
it takes a lot of flavor to make it pop.
I know exactly how I have to put in
to where somebody's palette will enjoy it.
[danielle] now, mike, you tell me
what you doing down there?
[mike] you know, everybody's heard of apple pie.
So, I decided to do a muscadine pie.
Which is
something I've never done,
using my muscadine cider
and juice and stuff
and uh, little brown sugar,
-cinnamon and just a touch of vanilla. -Mmm-hmm.
I have never had a muscadine.
Really?
You don't know what you're missing.
Let's try one.
Do I need to spit 'em towards josh?
You can spit the seeds toward josh
and eat skin and the inside.
It looks like a grape.
-I love 'em too danielle. -It smells like a grape.
They don't taste bad.
They're pretty good.
[danielle] yeah, they're a little tart, but I like tart.
It's kinda like me, I'm a little more tart
than I am sweet.
-You're a mountain girl through and through. -[danielle] yes.
Oh yeah.
-Yeah. -Yeah, we're tougher than
a night in jail in these mountains.
[mark laughs]
[mark] do you smell that?
I mean the room's full of root beer.
-[digger] root beer, smell like damn root beer. -Yes sure it is.
I hate damn root beer.
All right boys, y'all got 15 minutes.
He's got 45.
[josh] I'm really apprehensive about,
whether I'm gonna be able
to pull this whole root beer thing off.
I actually brought some root berry candies,
you know the one's like little barrels.
And I'm gonna blend 'em all up dump 'em in there.
[laughing]
[mike] ain't you getting there, son?
You ever used a blender before?
[josh] yes, ma'am.
That's a technique
I ain't never seen in a kitchen,
I'll give you that much.
-You seen people that don't color inside the lines? -[danielle] mmm-hmm.
Josh don't even color on the page.
[mark laughing]
god dog, that's a plain in the ass.
Forty five seconds, men.
[daniel] I was prepared when I walked in the room
to deliver the best tasting salted caramel
that I could.
-[digger] here comes the opposition right out the gate. -[danielle] all right.
And I'm proud of that.
Hot dog.
I come from a long line of moonshiners.
Now, let's get the hell out of here.
You ready?
[josh] so, I'm not just here representing myself,
I'm here representing my whole entire family.
I tell you guys,
I think we're gonna have three really, really good tasty jars here
to try to pick a winner from.
You doing all right over there, mikey?
[suspenseful music playing]
that didn't look like a look of satisfaction to me.
Well, there I am again having that trouble.
-The siding. -[mike] the proof.
The proof.
Whose tasting this?
-All of us. -All of us.
[mike laughing]
I don't know what to do.
-[digger] no pressure over there. -No pressure.
[mike] when it comes down to taste
or proof for firmness,
there's a fine line
that makes a guy win or lose
within a competition with alcohol.
You got a minute and a half to make your decision.
[sighs] I understand.
But we got that mile to walk,
we got that mile of judgement to face.
And only one man can walk away the winner.
Forty five seconds.
-Danielle. You grew up here. -[danielle] yes sir.
What's some of the history of your family recipes?
Well, I like to make a moonshine
made with straight honey.
-Straight honey? -Just raw honey.
It gives a smoother finish.
I don't like that hot vapor in my nose
when I'm drinking.
And as I'm developing my own brand,
I like to think about some of the things
in the market research that people don't
pay attention to.
Women are something like 60-70% of the decision makers
to buy distilled spirits.
So, one of the things I'm trying to do
is to give a female spin to it,
since I am one.
I'd make a awfully weird looking...
-Man. -We never noticed.
[mark laughing]
well, I didn't get the dress code memo.
[all laughing]
-forty five seconds. -I'm gonna try one more time, let me see.
[digger] don't get your ass in gear,
you might not have to worry about a decision.
Swing at it son.
Do what you gotta do.
-You only got 30 seconds. -I'm making my decision.
I'm going with number two.
So, there's jar number two.
That there muscadine, ah.
I brought my a game.
I always try to
bring out something out of the box
that I've never done, especially in a competition.
And some people will tell me,
"well, that's not the time to do that."
but with me,
I like to try to do things different
and just wow the people just trying to taste it.
I say we get with it.
All right, let's do in the order
they dropped 'em off.
-Daniel, josh, mike. -[tim] all right.
[digger] there's daniel's.
You wanna take a good look at it.
[digger] the only clear jar on the table.
And you know it's got a lot stuff in it,
so you can't tell the proofs on it.
Think what I've got a pretty strong jar.
Women like it
and men like it
all the same.
That smells good.
-Got a good nose. -It does smell like caramel.
-Pretty darn good. -Taste like caramel.
He didn't take all the liquor out.
That went down pretty easy.
That was nice.
Still a good 90 proof, ain't it?
It's a good 90 proof.
Now, that taste's really good.
It's like candy.
I could drink that
with my pancakes in the morning.
You'd eat breakfast three times a day.
This competition is about
family heritage.
Bringing something to the table
that you just can't go get nowhere else.
[digger] let's move on to another one.
[tim] josh.
Sassafras man, a root beer man.
He was heating that up,
you could really smell the whole room
filled up with root beer.
[josh] I was really battling
with this sassafras being like a medicinal drink,
mixing it with the liquor,
which liquor's medicinal
to get a flavor with something really sweet
that makes it enjoyable to drink.
But there's a fine line between just sweet enough
and too damn sweet.
-I gotta say, it's root beer. -Oh, it's root beer all right.
You don't like root beer, right?
I don't like root beer,
but that's not real heavy on root beer
I'm gonna tell you, it ain't real root beer.
It smells more root beer than it tastes.
I'm tasting a real medicine.
Spoon of that warm, I would feel medicine.
-That would be a hot toddy. -That would be medi--
yeah, it sure would.
-I like it real good. -I like it a lot.
I don't know if I would drink it cold,
as a regular sipping beverage, but
it has a home somewhere, absolutely.
-We got one more. -Muscadine.
Muscadine pie.
He got a cinnamon stick floating in the bottle.
Yeah, who loves cinnamon here?
I like "cimanon".
Uh, how do you say it?
He can't hardly make a pie
without a little bit of cinnamon in it.
[mike] tell you what boys,
I feel like I got the winning jar this time.
Seen you break out the muscadine juice.
Yup.
When I seen that, I was like, "oh man, it's on."
you sugar that down, it's gonna be good.
[tim] nice flavor.
Little bit of cinnamon.
Not a lot, it's not overpowering.
It's not a whole lot of cinnamon.
Don't seem like it has a lot alcohol in it either, does it?
Not a lot of muscadine either.
For me he's on the money.
We gotta come to a decision here, boys and girl.
Well, listen, I'm a woman who likes to get her way
and I'm not one to be swayed,
I'm gonna stick with my original choice.
Well, I'm gonna go fetch 'em.
[suspenseful music playing]
[mark] all right, guys,
every one of yours jars was outstanding.
[digger] boys, I'm telling you,
toughest decision we have faced to date.
I agree, it was very tough
and I'm so glad I got to be a part of this
'cause I think it's so important to honor our families,
as well as putting our own twist
and moving forward in the world.
Mikey,
damn fine drink.
It still had that good
traditional liquor taste we want.
Flavor is killer.
Daniel, yours the same way.
Taste really good.
[daniel] I've made this flavor a hell of a lot
and I'm pretty confident
in the flavor that I'm presenting.
You got every reason in the world
to be confident with it, brother,
I'm here to tell you.
For what you're representing right there, son,
you knocked it out the park.
[josh] thank you buddy, appreciate that.
I'll have to give all my ancestors
credit for instilling this so deep in my blood.
Wasn't a easy decision.
But
the drunk tomater...
[suspenseful music playing]
...Goes to daniel maner.
Thank you.
-[mike] you got it buddy. -Appreciate it.
-But a damn fine job on everybody's part. -[josh] good job.
Tell you one thing,
this ain't the last competition.
There's no losers here tonight.
[daniel] you know, it's real, real good feeling
to win master distiller
and win this little prize and the bragging rights.
That little truck, it'll remind me of all the forefathers before me
that made moonshine and hauled it.
It's all done, let's go drink a little.
-All right. -[danielle] let's do it.
[daniel] I'm gonna take the little truck home.
It'll hold a lot of sentiment of value to me.
You know, because I actually won a competition
and won it with a family recipe
that was passed down to me
through about five generations.
-Spin around, I ain't taking you backwards. -Come on.
That'll look like all sorts of silly.
[mark] here we go.
-[digger] but you pull your wheels in, son. -[mark laughing]