[tim] watch out.
[narrator] this time on master distiller.
[tim] this is a good drink after you've been drinking.
[narrator] the legendary moonshine of eastern europe, slivovitz.
When it's made right, it brings the flavor of fresh plums.
[narrator] kept alive for decades behind
the iron curtain by shiners
who risked prison to keep this high proof spirit alive.
Ooh.
[narrator] now, three top distillers put their recipes to the test.
It's plum good, plum strong.
[narrator] to see who makes the best slivovitz.
You'll be plum drunk if you drank enough of it.
[narrator] across the country, a handful of amateur
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 they'll face off to earn their place
in america's liquor making legacy.
[tim] keith, what are you trying to kill in that mash barrel?
[narrator] judged by three legendary moonshiners,
they'll go head to head in a series of challenges.
He's got this thing set up over there like a rocket ship.
That's what we like to see.
[narrator] to determine who has what it takes.
He like to live dangerous, don't he?
To be named master distiller.
Daniel's got the poker face from hell.
You gonna let us know what that is?
-[nicole] special water. -[tim] that's really nice.
[mark] it smells really, really good.
[digger] guys, welcome to master distiller.
Slivovitz, the backwoods bounty of eastern europe.
Y'all gonna build us a run of it.
We're going to find out what it's all about.
It's a whole different process from what
we're used to. And this whole panel right here,
we're stoked for this one. What you're going to win?
A limited run of your slivovitz at a major distillery.
You know, I'm going to be honest with you guys.
I don't know a whole lot about slivovitz,
but what I do know is when it's made right,
it brings the flavor of fresh plums.
Now when it is made badly, it tastes like gasoline.
So do not bring us gasoline.
In eastern europe, they've been making slivovitz for a long, long time.
Tickle, tell us about it.
Slivovitz is a plum brandy.
This is basically the moonshine of eastern europe.
Plums were first distilled into alcohol around the 15th century.
Slivovitz was made in small batches
with plums from family orchards.
It can be clear, it can be aged,
and some people even infuse it with honey.
In the late 1800s, commercial
slivovitz distilleries opened up,
but many of the slivovitz distilleries
were taken over by the nazis
during world war ii and the communists after that.
Thankfully, the backwoods' tradition
of making slivovitz never stopped.
Those are the moonshiners that kept the backwoods recipes alive.
Slivovitz is really having a big comeback now
and now people all over the world
are getting to know what eastern europeans
have known for a long time.
But this right here, that's some damn good liquor.
[digger] all right, guys, you've heard everything we've got to say.
You got one hour to build this mash.
You'll have five days for it to work.
We want the best possible slivovitz we can get on our table.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
-[nicole] safety first. -Haircut, coming up.
Sam, you've actually drank it.
[tim] yeah, I drink it and made it and everything.
You smell plum, right?
And you taste plum after you wake up from taking a shot.
-Really? -Yeah, because this is really strong.
But it's plum going and coming.
It's plum good, plum strong.
You'd be plum drunk if you drank enough of it.
What's that you're fixing to dump out there, nicole?
I'm using puree because puree is made from...
Cut out the middleman.
...The best sourced fruit at the exact right time and it's aseptic
so there'll be nothing else growing in it.
So, hopefully I'll just be my yeast.
I like timesaving.
I like the way you're doing business.
My name is dr. Nicole schreiner
and I'm from east lansing, michigan.
Some people call me doc.
My friends and family call me tricky nikki.
I have a bachelor's in chemical engineering, phd in chemical engineering.
I'd say I'm pretty badass in chemistry and engineering and brewing.
Right now, I am going to be checking
the sulfur content of the wine that we made here in class.
At michigan state here, I lead the fermented
beverage program, which includes
a fermented beverage class, a winemaking course,
and a brewing and distilling course.
I'd say that's a little over carbonated.
I want to win it for my students
so they know that they're getting
an education from one of the best in the business.
I think she got some nitroglycerin in that one.
Are you going to let us know what that is in there?
Special water.
-Oh, it's running down your shirt right now. -[nicole] that's okay.
I want to get it up to about 40 degrees celsius,
and then I'm gonna start making my yeast starter.
It's di water, deionized, so there's nothing else.
Chlorine will be really bad for the yeast, so.
[mark] I'm looking forward to trying this.
Slivovitz is a really high proof spirit
so the importance of when you distill it
is to keep that plum character.
You're looking for the flavor and the aromatics
of a really fresh ripe plum that you would want to eat
and then I'll distill it and make the best slivovitz possible.
Daniel's got enough buckets here to float down a barge.
I see your plan to win this competition is to remove all plums
so that your competitors couldn't have any.
Right? Yeah, I bought up the market.
Yeah, you got all the plums.
My name is daniel reason. I'm from portland, oregon.
Currently, I'm a consultant for distilleries
for making pear brandy, apple brandy, slivovitz.
This is going to be our bottling room
and then over here's where our still house is going to be.
While I was in college, I did a cultural exchange program
to germany when my host parents took me out and he said,
"oh, you got to try this stuff."
and it was actually slivovitz and I tried it,
I was like, "I never tasted anything like this before."
yeah, magic's gonna to happen soon.
What I love about slivovitz is they're able to capture the essence
of the fruit any time of the year.
You open the bottle and it's just fresh fruit aromatic
that you get out of it.
When you drink that spirit,
you know where it's from, its history behind it.
I find that pretty fascinating.
Gonna be one of the most expensive running liquor in history right here.
[daniel] fresh fruit isn't cheap. That's all worth it.
You know, you gotta get the high quality fruit
to produce high quality brandy.
Keith, what are you trying to kill in that mash barrel?
[keith] it's a lot easier to do with a drill,
but I'm mashing them up.
My name's keith miller from fairfield, california.
There is this history of distilling in my family.
My great grandfather was a doer.
His inheritance didn't make it down to me, but it's in my blood.
This was my very first... Very first liquor
I ever made right there.
I was in the air force as a firefighter traveled around,
bartended, bounced, and I have a buddy
that lives in prague.
I really wanted to try different moonshines from different countries.
So it became a priority of mine to get over there and try as many
different peoples' slivovitz as I could
and made me interested in learning how to make it.
[dagger] guys, you're 30 minutes in, halfway done.
[nicole] getting ready to rehydrate my yeast.
[tim] and do you heat this up or this is it?
-[nicole] it's ready to go? -It's ready.
So you're gonna put the yeast in and that's it.
-[nicole] yep. Yep. -[tim] and done.
[mark] we might be in the wrong kind of business, tim.
We cook, cook, cook and heat and cook.
[tim] she just poured in and put the yeast.
Well the puree has probably been pasteurized so it's already cooked.
Hi, keith. Tell me what you're working with here.
Just trying to get these plums busted up.
How many plums you got in there?
62 pounds.
You got anything else in there?
Not yet. We'll have some prunes coming in with it too.
-Prunes. -Yep.
-You're trying to make somebody go to the bathroom. -Dried plumes.
Daniel being careful.
He's... He don't want to scorch that.
I don't know what scorched plums taste like.
No, probably would be no better than scorched anything else.
One minute, guys, you're getting close.
I hope y'all are where you need to be.
Oh, yeah, getting there.
[dagger] five, four, three, two one.
Step away from your barrels, guys, time's up.
We'll move your barrels in the mash house for you.
Let this run five days and y'all all going
to come back and run us some slivovitz.
See y'all in five days.
[mark] all right, guys, welcome back.
One of the things that enables you to be able to wear
the title of master distiller is your ability to work
with whatever equipment that's given you.
You all have identical stills.
They're simple, no thumper, no frills.
[tim] the winner of this challenge gets first pick at still pots.
If you need that double or a thumper to add, you better win this.
So do the right thing, take your time.
You've got a lot at stake.
You've got four hours to get your best jar up here on the table.
Your time starts now.
Mine's still fermenting.
When I first walked in, I saw my mash,
I noticed that it wasn't done fermenting yet.
As soon as I put my plunger in there,
all these bubbles came out.
Everyone's worked out, but yours.
Yours are still working.
May not have the alcohol content.
But there's not really any options because we've got to do it today.
You're backed in a corner,
you got to fight your way out.
My mash wasn't done fermenting yet.
But there's not really any options because
we've got to do it today.
[mark] do you know if... Your mash isn't fully fermented,
what the old timers called it running wild
in the pot like boiling a pot of spaghetti.
[dagger] yeah. Or taters.
[nicole] I'm using 100% plum puree.
I also added some sugar.
That's to bring up the sugar content
to make more alcohol at the end.
When I have control over that,
I will make the flavors that I want.
[tim] well, it looks like keith's doing a pretty good job
of filtering it and pouring it all in there.
First saw my mash, I was stoked.
It smelled great, tasted great.
I think it might have been a little low in alcohol,
but I can fix that later.
Water is your friend when it comes to thick mash.
All right, I'm gonna put water in again.
You're gonna put the water, huh?
[nicole] yeah, it's a little thick.
I don't want it to burn, and that would suck.
I'm not used to having open flame
when I'm distilling, and I didn't want any scorching.
So I added a little water to make sure it wasn't too thick.
There we go.
[dagger] guys, you burned a full hour. You've got three left.
Keith over here, he's producing alcohol.
Not to the good stuff yet though.
See, I don't know whether you noticed,
but both of their stills are lit.
Hint, hint.
It's not quite there yet,
I've still got some heads in there.
Daniel is getting ready to light up.
I may not have a lot experience with direct fire,
but I do know that once you scorch,
that flavor is gonna transfer over into the spirit
and it's gonna be next to impossible to remove it.
I started mixing it as much as possible just to keep
that convection flowing, and so I didn't get any scorching on the bottom.
I'm almost ready to make my second cut.
-You haven't even put your cap on yet. -I know, right?
Uh-oh. [nicole] that's interesting.
You don't want to be boiling that much.
You blew over?
[nicole] oh, no, I just ruined everything.
I got too much in my pot.
Oh, you puked.
Yeah, it's a little... Little too hot.
That is not what you want to see coming out your worm spout.
[nicole] no, no.
I was waiting so long for it to heat up
and I was getting impatient so I turned up the heat a little more
and when it started boiling, it just started boiling too vigorously.
Now we're back.
Still a little colorful, but it's heads anyways.
Guys, two hours left.
-[mark] starting to get some liquor. -[nicole] nice.
[mark] keith, you blending us that perfect jar we're looking for.
The taste is good, but little lower proof than I had wanted.
I was aiming for about a 110
proof and I didn't...
It didn't taste like it, and it tasted low.
I think I'm about ready to cut this off.
30 minutes, y'all.
[mark] are you happy with your product so far?
[daniel] yeah, my heart's came out great.
I think it's going to turn out really well.
[daniel] you in tails or--
yeah, I'm in tails.
So, I probably am nearly water at this point.
But it still tastes really good like plum water almost.
I think I'm done. All right, guys.
That's your final decision?
Yep, that's it.
-That's the one? -That's the winner.
All right, guys. Ten minutes left in your time.
Better be getting us a jar picked out.
[nicole] good luck, guys.
[keith] on the first run, it's tough to keep
the proof up and the flavor.
That's your final decision?
About what I can do, so.
You got two minutes, daniel.
He likes to live dangerous, don't he?
I felt like my heart's right at, you know, probably 110 maybe, maybe a 100.
-You guys enjoy it. That's it. -That's your final decision?
Gather up that little bar and take a break on us.
Good luck, daniel.
Let's get busy tasting this other stuff.
Well, the first one here is daniel.
-[mark] that might be that 160 proof. -It may be.
[tim] it has no bead, so it's water or alcohol one of two?
Yeah, probably for our sake, we'd be better off it's water.
We'll say a little prayer before we start drinking.
Like they always say, you know,
you can't drink all day unless you get started.
You can't drink all day drinking them
jet fuel either.
Look through the nose first. Does it have plum coming in?
-Yeah. -I wish I had like maybe two more minutes
just to kind of dial it in so we'll see what we get.
That's a pretty good drink.
I'm thinking that's really a low proof.
It is.
Or it would be a whole lot harder on your nose.
Let's get keith.
[mark] now keith made mention that his proof was a little low.
[keith] I tried to make it a little bit hotter.
I used one of the higher hearts.
I'm not at 140 I can tell you that.
[laughter]
I would say we got a little water with some flavor in it.
Low proof liquor.
Oh, I got good nose.
It'd tastes good if it had some alcohol in it.
[mark] I don't taste any plum.
I think we've got two jars have been blended.
Yeah, way in.
I think they're blended, tails with more tails.
I think we move on to nicole.
It looks like the same jar, same problem.
No alcohol in it.
[keith] I noticed yours was a little cloudy.
Mine was really cloudy, and I'm used to that in practice.
But your guys' were really clear
and that made me really nervous.
Smells okay. I believe she's high proof.
She's got some alcohol in it, but it's not high proof.
No, it's not high proof. Maybe, maybe 60 to 70.
We got a little something to judge on now though.
I think we need a true reading with a hydrometer.
I think all of them are very low proof.
I agree.
Nicole is probably the highest.
I agree.
[dagger] that is daniel and we're at 67.
We're going to keith, 35 proof.
And nicole, nicole is 71 proof.
Hopefully, they're going to bring
a little more alcohol to the party where we got a little something.
[mark] right now, keep that flavor.
They've all got flavor there.
They just got to get some alcohol in it.
Well, you had a little break.
Mark and dick and I went over your three jars.
We just went by taste profile.
What this gives us is the pecking order that you all go
with the still house and pick your parts.
Daniel and keith both have similar taste profiles.
Keith, your nose is pretty strong more than your proof.
Your proof is actually lower than what you think it is.
35.
And daniel, yours is good too with the nose and it tastes as good.
Your proof is low too, 67.
And we kind of look at it,
nicole is more of a higher proof 71.
I don't know how she did it with so many jars,
but I think she must have picked that one out of the first jars
that come out where maybe keith and daniel,
you all did some blending and that may have
took down the proof a little bit.
So you will have a long ways to go to catch up.
[mark] but what you have to keep in mind here is what kind of
still parts do you need to assemble to get your proof where it needs to be.
[dagger] keith, you're number three in the line.
Daniel, you're number two. Nicole, you're number one.
Tickle?
[tickle] what's going on?
I've got three candidates here and they need to get some more still parts.
Hey, I'll tell you what, we got this.
-Y'all come on with me. -There you go.
[narrator] coming up.
[nicole] what in the hell?
Nicole, are you second guessing yourself?
You got one hour.
That's all we have left?
You know, that's when the monkey gave the football back,
but the problem was nobody really wanted to touch it.
All right.
We are here to pick your still parts.
Y'all know what y'all have got to do with your liquor,
so pick these parts accordingly.
Nicole, you are up first.
You're going to have five minutes starting now.
[nicole] I have to bring up the proof a lot.
So any time that you can add more rectification,
you can bring up the proof a little bit.
So a column is the best way to do that.
Y'all better hope she don't get everything.
[daniel] yeah.
Because if she gets everything,
then you better hope she's nice.
Nicole, you've got three minutes.
Oh, it's really getting noisy in there now.
Yeah. Here we go. Here we go.
Oh, there you go. She's swapping some stuff out.
I won't take it all from you guys.
All right. Five, four, three, two, one.
All right, nicole. That is your time. Hopefully, we're good.
Daniel, you've got five minutes.
Your time starts right now.
I'm going to get a thumper this time
just to make sure I can get that proof up and also maybe
some of those aromatics will get in there.
All right. Okay.
Doubler, condenser. I see three big parts,
but I don't see anything else.
Are you finding what you need in there, daniel?
I'm feeling good. I'm grabbing stuff.
-[tickle] you're grabbing stuff. -You're grabbing stuff.
Well, okay.
I will let you know that's a step in the right direction, daniel.
Let's see what we got going on.
Okay. Your time's up.
We'll let keith have a shot at whatever you left him.
Yeah. You're going to have five minutes
and your time starts right now, brother.
[keith] I was shocked,
when they told me I was at 35.
I knew that I was lower than what I was expecting.
But I didn't think it was 35.
[tickle] all right, let's see what else keith's got here.
-I got what's left. -You got what's left?
Is there anything else in there?
[nicole] nice. You got everything.
I still see a few still parts.
Are you sure you don't want them.
-You've got time. -Might as well, right?
The worst thing that can happen is somebody else needs it.
It doesn't matter if you know what it is.
-Put it in the box. -Right.
Somebody else might. It's not that hard, keith.
-There's three parts in there. -Right.
All right.
-[keith] are you good? -I'm good.
All right.
Y'all do the best you can to grab all that stuff.
We're gonna head back in here and see
if we can get these things put together.
-All right. -[tickle] all right.
-All right, fellas. -All right.
They have got all kinds of goodies
to build some stills with.
I can see that.
If they can't make it with that, they're out of luck.
We'll see you.
[tim] well, we've seen what you can do with your recipe with a simple still.
Now we're going to get a little bit more complicated,
but I have to say y'all have bought
the most parts from the still house
that we've ever seen.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you put together.
You've got one hour starting now. Good luck, guys.
Everybody got a still pot.
Yeah. Nicole, what's the plan?
Not sure yet. I'm just trying to figure out how to get here to here now.
You going to use that thumper?
Do you want it? Yeah, if you don't need it.
My biggest concern is the proof.
Initially I wasn't going to run a thumper, but now I got to roll the dice
and work with a thumper even though I'm unfamiliar with it.
I'll figure it out.
Guys, you're 30 minutes in, halfway down.
[nicole] what in the hell?
[tim] nicole, are you second guessing yourself?
You're overlooking something very simple.
There's got to be a way to get to here to here.
[keith] you can move this over there.
-Just go straight down? -Yeah.
Wow, wow.
Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees, can you?
Keith, thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm ready.
[daniel] nicole, she got that column which
is the one thing I knew would help my proof.
So I looked at it, I say, "okay, I'm going to get one of those too."
guys, you got ten minutes. [nicole] I'm happy with mine.
We're just waiting on daniel, see where he lands.
It's a makeover for sure.
He's got this thing set up over there like a rocket ship.
I just hope it doesn't blow up.
[daniel] it's a different looking critter, isn't it?
It would be my first time running
a thumper like this.
It is a risk because I've never done it before,
but I feel pretty confident in where I'm at.
I'm gonna run it nice and clean,
get that proof up like the judges wanted,
and I think I'll be solid to win this thing.
Y'all brought your recipes with you.
Now you built your stills the way you want them.
Time to make some slivovitz.
We want you best jar on this table right over here in four hours.
Your time starts now.
You sure you got enough hoses over there, daniel?
Yeah, I think so. There's nine connections in his still.
Everywhere that there's a in,
you know, there's a chance for a leak.
[tim] keith is putting the whole mash in his thumper to get some taste profile.
Very good idea.
[keith] this will be my first time running with the thumper.
So I'm looking forward to trying it out.
I need to get my proof up and I think that'll help.
[daniel] I kept my mash behind so that way I can try my thumper with it.
[tim] talk to me, daniel. How's it going?
Yeah, right now I'm just straining out the plum mash
I still have leftover,
trying to up my proof a little bit more.
[tim] okay. That's a good plan if it works.
[daniel] yeah, we'll see.
All right, guys, you got 3 hours and 25 minutes.
Y'all are making good time.
I should start getting a drip any second. There it goes.
-[daniel] are you getting product already? -[keith] yeah.
How much are you expecting on this one?
[nicole] I think a 110 milliliters of heads.
I'm a nerd and I also am very analytical
and I like to write things down consistently.
It could help me make a decision down the road.
At the end of the day, it's all about sensory,
but I like to have something
else to look back on and you can never have too much data.
Oh, you're leaking at the top by your condenser, by your thumper.
[daniel] that's a problem.
Too many connections.
You got water going everywhere.
[nicole] oh, you're leaking at the top.
[daniel] that's a problem.
There's a lot of pieces, right?
A lot of hoses running here and back and forth.
The water system's so different. Not what I'm used to doing.
You doing all right, daniel?
[daniel] think so.
But I was able to get the hoses together and plug everything in
and tighten everything down
so the flow of the water would continue through the system.
I'm going to cut the depth right here.
Well, I tried it.
Guys, two hours left.
[nicole] come on, little buddy.
Beautiful. That's what we like to see.
I think I'm starting to get close to the end of my heads.
[tim] all right. And my man, keith,
you think you're going to get a little bit above 35 this time?
I hope to get at least 40.
It's still fricking good, fricking sweet right now.
Just to keep you on point, you got one hour.
That's all we have left?
[man] feels very low for daniel.
Yeah, extremely low. Yeah.
[nicole] looks like you got something.
All right. Got some action finally.
I can taste the plums in there.
[nicole] flavor wise, I felt pretty good.
It changed a lot throughout the run and I kept second guessing myself
whether that was tails or not.
But I kept taking really small cuts.
It's good. All right, fellows, I'm done.
-[tim] is that the one? All right. -[nicole] that's the one.
All right. Feel good about it?
[nicole] yeah, I think so. It's pretty hot.
When you hit that bar, you get the first drink today. It's on tim smith.
[tim] I believe keith has decided on one.
-[keith] I found it. -[tim] looks like it.
Got this for you guys.
All right.
[keith] the flavor coming out of there was great.
Proof is important, but the flavor to me is more important.
Daniel, 25 minutes.
Bill, what is he doing over there? I can't see nothing.
-[bill] he's nosing his liquor. -He's nosing his liquor.
He's mixing together.
No, he's just sniffing each one of them and taking a little nose reading on them.
[daniel] I smelled, it and I knew it was a really high quality spirit.
[tim] you think you're going to get it up to 140?
[daniel] I'm going to come close.
-[tim] yeah, okay. With that setup, you should. -[daniel] I was happy.
I got my proof up and I got good flavor and aroma, so mission accomplished.
My friends, I think I got it.
All righty, dan, you set her up there.
Head on out to them other folks, get you a drink on tim smith tonight.
Yeah. All right.
-Run a bill up. -[daniel] thank you.
I'm going to tell you I see three clear jars of distill in here.
That is some clear stuff.
Timmy, we ain't gonna get done if we don't get started.
[tim] all right, let's get keith.
I'll tell you, that is one clear jar right there.
[man 1] yeah, he shook the wheels off of it before
he brought it over here and it got a little oxygen dissolved in it.
[tim] it looks pretty.
[man 1] you got oxygen dissolved in there like that
that shows a lot of water content.
[tim] I don't know if it's even needed.
Can smell it, it's got a good aroma coming out already.
[nicole] you happy with yours?
[keith] I am. I just threw a splash of the tails and a splash
of the spring water in there.
-Good flavor. -Smell like slivovitz to me.
-Wow. -It's good, but it ain't got no alcohol much in it.
Lower proof gives you a better flavor, but to be slivovitz,
it's got to be 100 to 140 and he ain't there.
I'd call that plum brandy. Well, let's move on to the next one. Nicole.
Wow, that's a super clean jar.
-[bill] yep. -[tim] that's probably up 120, 115, 120.
It's in the ballpark of what we're looking for.
[nicole] I'm a little nervous about the proof.
It was as high as I could get it and I know I blended
my fractions right and I know what they're looking for.
And I was debating whether to water down or not. So I guess we'll see.
That's really nice.
Yeah. That's almost like a real intense plum.
Ooh. Yeah, there's some alcohol in that, boys.
Daniel, that's a good looking jar of liquor.
-That is one clean jar. -Yeah.
Wow, we're probably 120.
And that big contraption of a still he put together has paid off for him.
-[tim] and that's a full jar. -Yeah, it's a full jar.
[daniel] I think I got the proof
close enough to 140.
I don't know if I hit 140 by the time I blended.
He's got a different smell.
I get sweet and I get a tiny bit of fire.
Fire in the front end.
And then it follows, nothing, there's no aftertaste.
He's got the proof. Yeah, he's got proof.
[man 2] now I'm telling you, he's--
-it's hot. -That's pretty amazing.
We don't need to place one, two, and three here.
We just got to eliminate one.
[tim] that's pretty easy then.
I'm going to go fetch them.
-Go get them. -All right.
Welcome back, guys. We've reached a verdict.
All I have to say, we had a lot of flavor. Start with keith.
When you put your finished mash back into your doubler,
that really enhanced that profile that we're looking for.
You can definitely distinguish the plum out of there.
Proof might have been lacking a little bit on it, but still had great flavor.
Nicole, crisp clean on the money, high proof.
A lot of flavor, front to end and all in all, a good jar.
-Real good jar. -Thank you.
-Daniel... -Yeah.
...I'm telling you, you pulled a rabbit out of a hat.
I know you were over there sweating.
[daniel] yeah, I was a little bit.
-Just a little, you know? -[nicole] yeah. I saw that.
Fine job, doubled your proof.
It was flavorful, had a great nose on it.
Mad hatter scientist, engineer, whatever.
During a competition, I don't know that that's the time to experiment.
-It's in my nature. -But you did, and it paid off for you.
One of you is leaving here today, but do not leave here
with your tail between your legs.
Keith, we have to see better than 100 proof,
that jar bought you a ticket home.
I'm awfully sorry, buddy.
Being able to bring a jar that the judges liked the taste,
I think is a big accomplishment for a home distiller.
You got nothing to be ashamed of.
Hopefully, I'll get a shot at bringing another jar in front of them someday
because I'd really like to give it another chance.
Now comes the time that you flavored for those spirits,
and we want to see what creativity you come up with.
[narrator] backwoods distillers in eastern europe will sometimes infuse
their slivovitz with fruits and other local ingredients
to enhance the flavor, and honey slivovitz is a best seller.
For this challenge, distillers will create their own take
on an infused slivovitz with their choice of ingredients.
Their goal is to complement and enhance the plum flavor.
Drop your jars off the table and we'll be back here in the morning
to let y'all flavor those spirits.
Congratulations, y'all head on out.
[nicole] thank you.
Welcome back, guys.
As if y'all didn't have enough to worry about, we have a special guest judge.
My name is robert bokuvka.
[robert speaking]
he knows everything about making slivovitz, drinking slivovitz.
Hell, he knows more about slivovitz than
a jackrabbit knows about running.
[robert speaking]
having someone sitting there that actually makes slivovitz
in czech republic means a lot.
You got one hour. Your time starts now.
Both of these folks have done their homework,
they have notes, they're working very methodically.
They're in it to win it.
[nicole] my slivovitz recipe. I want it to be aged so I grab the chips.
American untoasted, plus a little bit
of french oak heavy toast to get some of those toasted flavors.
And then I'm also making a little tea with a little bit of raisins.
And then at the end, I'm gonna add some wildflower honey.
[robert speaking]
[daniel] going to start with french oak because I like the vanilla
and the sweetness, that lighter toast, I'm gonna use some ginger.
Ginger has kind of like this citrusy aroma.
I think pairs well with the plum brandy.
And then a little bit of lime and then for sweetness,
I'm going to hit it with a little bit of the honey.
[robert speaking]
we're 30 minutes in, 30 minutes left.
-[nicole] oh, [bleep]. -Watch out.
[nicole] well, that bursted. Oh, it broke.
Bottom popped off of it.
That throws a hitch in your get along, don't it?
[nicole] I had my tea bags and some water and some prunes
and some raisins that I was trying to heat up
and all of a sudden, I hear this pop.
The bottom completely came out of the jar and I lost everything that I was making.
[robert speaking]
yeah.
[robert speaking]
-yeah. -[robert speaking]
she's gonna live to 100.
-[robert speaking] -nothing like a little liquor to kick you in gear.
[nicole] well, that bursted. The bottom completely came out of the jar
and I lost everything that I was making. We'll just have to start over.
Twenty minutes, guys.
Daniel's in his own little zone over here, ain't he?
I see him with the lime.
[daniel] I'm going to use a lime
because the aromatics of the citrus I think kind of pairs well
with the plum brandy and also to add a little acidity
so when you drink, it's a little more balanced.
I don't think I've ever seen a flavoring this intense.
I mean they're measuring.
They're weighing, they're sipping, they're tasting,
they're pinching, and dubbing.
-I mean it's crazy. Yeah. -Very precise.
That little seal of approval...
I think she's lacking. What's the use to taste it?
I'd drink it.
All right, guys, here we are.
With time to spare. We'll be out to get you in a little bit.
All right.
Good luck, daniel.
[daniel] thanks.
Right now, daniel's got the poker face from hell.
Yeah.
You can't tell if he's liking it, if he hates it.
Absolutely stoic.
He's going to lower the proof 50 milliliters of water.
Think I'm ready. All right. Is that it?
Got it, yeah.
-Good luck to you, daniel. -Good luck.
Let's get some glasses and get started tasting this right here.
-Nicole's first up. -I was dialed in.
I didn't even look over at you.
I was like, I got to get my stuff done.
-I'm on a clock. -[daniel] right, exactly.
-She started at 117. I believe. -She did.
Smells really, really good.
You get your nose there, you smell plum, sweet plum.
[robert speaking]
get the smell.
[robert speaking]
yeah, there's quite a bit of alcohol.
-It's pretty high proof. -I get honey, I get raisin on nicole's.
It's buttery on the finish. I like it.
It tastes great. It tastes good.
[tim] this is good slivovitz.
Let's try ol' daniel's out here, timmy.
Daniel, still 100 proof easy.
It smells altogether different than hers.
-Citrusy. -Citrus, yeah.
Yeah, I get that lime, don't you?
[robert speaking]
I like the taste of it.
Well, it's a lot of ginger and I'm not digging that.
Used a little bit more of the ginger, but it was clouding up
so I didn't want to push it too hard.
Yeah, it's again, for me, it's too much alcohol.
Daniel's is easier on the nose, but it's more harsh on the palate.
Yeah, it's going to be a bad decision because I really like both of them.
-I know where I'm at. -Well, if we're locked in, I'll go get them.
All right.
Nicole, daniel, I got to hand it to y'all.
I've never seen anything more methodical in the history of this show.
It was impressive. Just the meticulousness which you approached
this kind of blew me away.
I'm an old moonshiner, you know, and we don't really do things that way.
But with that being said, daniel, you gave nothing away.
A little trickery went on with you though, you started adding some
different ingredients that for me I think you covered up the plum.
But it tastes really good.
[robert speaking]
oh, really?
[robert speaking]
okay. Yeah.
[robert speaking]
it held together front to back.
The ginger was, like he said, a little harsh, but you could still pull the honey
and the lime out, you know.
Taking everything into consideration, I think it's a pretty marketable drink.
Thank you.
Nicole. Now yours was very, very good.
It was honey forward, hit me right in the crease.
Your fruity flavor comes out on the nose and then you get the alcohol
when you taste it and then on the back of the palate, there we go, we got plum.
So we got plum all the way through.
So all in all, it was a great drink.
[nicole] thank you.
Well, guys, you've heard everything that's been said right here.
Unfortunately, somebody gets cut.
But the master distiller, you're going to win your bragging rights.
Beyond that, you'll win a limited run of your liquor at sugar lands distilling co.
In gatlinburg, tennessee.
Nicole, you're the next master distiller. Congratulations.
-Congratulations. -[nicol] thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
I'm gonna bring everything that I've learned here and bring it back to my students
and hopefully teach them a thing or two about moonshining
and I'm excited to actually have something
that people can buy and put that to my name.
[robert speaking]
see you maybe in the czech republic in our distillery over there.
And congratulations to you and congratulations to you.
You all represented well, did a fine job indeed.
-Knocked it out of the park. -Thank you.
I wasn't named master distiller, but I definitely learned a lot here.
-It was a great experience. -Y'all head on out.
-We'll clean this mess up. -Thank you, guys so much.
-[daniel] thank you very much. -[nicole] thank you.