[narrator] this time on master distiller...
Y'all gonna make us some historical liquor.
A rye whiskey recipe developed by george washington...
Rye is a cool grain, man.
...In the largest distillery of its day.
One of the more difficult challenges of this whole show, so far.
[narrator] this revolutionary american spirit
is a right of passage for backwoods shiners.
Man, that's some clear stuff.
I'm scared right there.
And its multiple distillations
challenge even the most skilled modern distillers.
Oh, wow! That's not good at all.
Oh [bleep]! Oh [bleep]!
[narrator] across the country, a handful of amateur distillers
are heirs to a centuries-old tradition.
Some operate on the legal side,
other practice their craft beyond the reach of the law.
Now they'll face off to earn their place in america's liquor making legacy.
Need to try to clean some of this up.
Judged by three legendry moonshiners...
I think I'll keep my comments to myself.
That'd be a first.
[narrator] they'll go head to head in a series of challenges...
[tim] if they mess this up,
they've pretty much done washed out.
I don't count anybody out.
[narrator] ...To determine who has what it takes...
That is a clean-cut, stripped rye.
[narrator] ...To be named master distiller.
It's gonna be a hard decision.
[digger] men, welcome to master distiller.
Y'all gonna make us some historical liquor.
George washington rye.
[narrator] rye whiskey, a peppery grain based spirit
perfected in colonial america
where farmers took advantage of rye's ability to thrive
the cold climate of the north.
When the british cut off access to caribbean molasses
for making rum during the revolutionary war,
distilleries turned to the reginal favorite.
And rye whiskey's popularity exploded with the revolution.
Captivated by the spirit,
george washington opened a distillery at his mount vernon estate,
featuring his own rye whiskey blend.
Made from 60% rye,
35% corn,
and 5% malted barley.
At its peak, the five still operation
churned out 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey a year.
The largest of the new nation.
It didn't last long.
Washington died a few short years after opening
and the distillery was destroyed in a fire in 1814.
But his whiskey recipe was kept alive by shiners in the backwoods
for almost a century.
Today, the restored mount vernon distillery
employs the same colonial era techniques
that made the founding father's rye an american classic.
While most modern rye whiskey is sold oak aged
to mellow the bite,
washington's white rye gets its signature smoothness
through multiple distillations.
And making it has become a moonshiners' right of passage.
All right, guys, I guess you can see you're not in the woods anymore.
This is kinda like, big city, bright lights.
Hopefully, you can make us a mash
that's gonna make us a rye whiskey that's gonna be close to george washington's.
[mark] you gentlemen are gonna be
distilling your mash three times.
You're gonna need all the volume you can get.
What you got at stake here, boys,
is a run of your signature liquor in a major distillery.
You got three hours, count yourself lucky.
Everybody else gets one, but because of the grain build in the mash,
y'all get three hours.
And that three hours, starts now.
[digger] we expect nothing less than perfection from each and every one of you.
We want a tough decision on our hands.
[narrator] rye is dense grain with a thick husk
that must be ground and cooked to break down starches
and allow for fermentation to occur.
While the distillers will use the same proportions
of rye, wheat and barley for their mash bill as george washington,
the quality of grains and how they prepare their mash
will determine the flavors and volume of alcohol
they're able to product over three separate distillations.
Peg leg, tell me about that nickname, brother.
Lost my leg after a car accident.
It don't look like it's held you up any.
Nah, it doesn't bother me, I haven't stopped since then.
It's been 25 years.
My name is stan wisniewski and I'm from raritan, new jersey.
Okay, this is luna. Got her name 'cause of the moon.
-So, it's moonshine. -[bike revs]
I work for a research company so I have a background in
mixing and weighing things out. What can work, what can't work together.
I've been stilling for quite a long time
and I learnt through trials and tribulations.
Chocolate rye, the yeast is working,
eating up them sugars in there.
What it feels like when you're mashing in,
it excites me. You're bringing something to life.
But how it comes out at the end, you don't know till the end.
Ah! Good stuff. Nice and bitter.
You can make that same formula every time,
and sometimes it just doesn't work out the way you want to.
Is that your rye grain that's in that bucket, lorenzo?
Yes, sir.
Thought I'd cook my corn first.
You know lorenzo, he works in a distillery.
My name is lorenzo alvarado
I'm from fayetteville, arkansas.
For the past six years, I've been in the distilling industry
working commercially.
I've dedicated my life to making this a career
and I've enjoyed every bit of it.
Learning the process, there's been some failures in between there,
but there's been a lot of success too.
I have a lot of whiskey knowledge, I've made a lot of whiskey in my day.
I'm playing in familiar ground.
I definitely feel comfortable in this challenge.
Winning master distiller would mean
bragging rights, bragging rights,
uh... And bragging rights.
Big travis, he's up in north east tennessee.
You can look at him, and he's a country bumpkin.
Oh, yeah.
My name's travis shipley. I'm a plumber. I come from gray, tennessee.
I've been distilling three years by myself
but it started back with my great-grandfather
and my grandfather since I was 12 years old.
I'm old school. I believe in copper pot,
copper still, traditional liquor.
It's where it started at, that's where it should be at today.
My dream is to keep producing good liquor.
If I can become a good legal distiller,
so be it, if not, then...
I'll keep on the bad side of the law.
-[tim] looks like he's putting it all in the pot. -Whoa.
My recipe, I'm just old traditional rye.
Barley, corn... I was feeling pretty confident with it.
Going in this thing, we got three guys that really know what they're doing.
[lorenzo] my mash bill was pretty standard.
But I wanted to use a malted rye instead of a malted barley.
-Rye is a cool grain, man. -It gives it a hell of a flavor.
[lorenzo] yeah it really does.
I play with a lot of different grains,
and kinda know what to expect with their flavor profile,
their temperatures,
so don't be afraid to do something different.
[tim] what's he putting in there? Is that apples?
Orange peel.
-Orange peel? -Mm-mmm.
George washington rye, it's tasty.
Then I decide to do my own thing
and I add some botanicals to it.
There's gonna be orange peels, cloves and palmetto honey.
-Is that molasses, or extract? -A little bit of honey.
Sweeten the batch up a little bit.
It comes out beautiful. It's a nice flavor and taste.
I'm sure nobody's doing what I'm making.
Damn, peg leg, you got a big ol' bowl of oatmeal.
[stan] yes, I do.
I used this malted grain
but I'm going into the competition using this flaked rye
which I've never used before,
but it really shouldn't mean any difference.
Once that yeast gets in there,
-it'll bring it down. -That's a lot better than it was.
-I was worried there for a little while. -So was I.
[narrator] in washington's day mash was left to ferment in wooden tubs.
Once fermented, the mash was distilled in the single pot copper still
to produce a raw base spirit.
The resulting alcohol was re-run a second time
to purify and refine the rye flavor.
Producing the common whiskey sold to taverns.
The best washington rye was distilled a third time
to produce a small batch high end whiskey
worth two times the price.
All right, boys, we'll see y'all in five days.
But while each additional distillation increases the whiskey's value
it comes with the risk of stripping the spicy rye flavor
from washington's signature mash bill.
Welcome back, men.
Time to run your mash.
All that's at stake here today
is who picks the still parts, first, second or third.
Four hours, gentlemen.
Your time starts now.
Gonna be interesting.
[narrator] just like at mount vernon,
distillers will use identical single pot stills
without a thump keg to run their fermented mash.
The one with the clearest, best tasting base spirit
will win first pic of new copper still parts
for the second run,
to create a common george washington rye whiskey.
[lorenzo] so, looking at my mash, I was really happy about it.
All of the grains seemed to have gelatinized like they should have.
Travis is struggling over there.
[travis] my bag fell down in through the tunnel.
[mark] hope you don't burst your bag.
[travis] I had to pull it out.
-Ripped the bag... -[mark] if fit falls in, it against the heat,
it's gonna scorch and burn
and taste like ass.
Few grains got in there, but you just gotta push through it,
and wipe it off and keep on going.
I got to see my mash for the first time.
It was pretty thick, looked like oatmeal.
They're running their mash as their first run.
If they mess this up, they're pretty much done washed out.
Rye is finicky, it's tough,
and it take a lot of care and concern.
You know, a really, really small flame.
Patience. I mean, the patience of job.
Temperature's climbing good now.
-[lorenzo] where you at? -About 140.
About 165-170, it should start.
Get off that throttle a little bit, you ain't running no race.
When I first started the run, I was setting hat temperature around 135-140,
and it started getting drips.
Maybe I lied, lorenzo.
-It coming over? -Yeah.
-Little dribbles. -Oh, yeah.
You ready to rock n' roll over there?
Oh, wow.
-That's not good at all. -[lorenzo] you puked.
Oh, [bleep]. Oh, [bleep]!
Oh, wow. That's not good at all.
Oh, [bleep]. Oh, [bleep]!
-That's scary. -There's mash
just shooting straight out the worm.
Let that clear up. Do you see that?
Yeah, I did. Started puking.
Better turn yours down.
[travis] yeah, it just started puking, and the temperature shot from
120-130 to it's up about 190 now.
It's what we call puking over.
I mean, we see it all the time.
[narrator] when too much heat is applied to a pot still,
connected directly to the condenser
it can cause the mash to boil over into the worm.
This "puking" results in cloudy liquor.
Until the heat is reduced and the alcohol vapor
can clear the worm of residual mash.
You know, it's a delicate balance to keep your pot running where it needs to,
but still builds you enough pressure to over the bill
to get your vapor over into your column.
Calmed back down now.
Everything's smoothing back out a little bit.
It ran couple of jars, and straightened right out, cleaned up.
Just throw it back into the mash and use it for second distillation.
Men, you're two hours into your run. Halfway there.
We're having a little vapor coming out.
It's probably 'cause the mash is so thick.
Oh, interesting.
He's got smoke, he's got mash. All right.
So, working with open flame was a little bit of a curveball to me.
My past is more working with steam.
Steam is a little bit more forgiving.
It's making me double check my stuff,
making sure that, you know, I'm doing everything that I can...
To get a good run.
All right, I'm ready. It's coming out
clear.
Here she comes.
That's a good little stream too.
Get peg leg to run, and we'll be good to go.
[narrator] to judge the base flavors from the mash,
distillers only have to find the best jar of drinkable ethanol
in the heart of the run.
As the rest of the base spirit will be re-distilled
to create a common whiskey fit for a colonial tavern.
[stan] I got some drips.
He likes to run it slow... I mean, drip, drip, drip, drip.
Nice drip is all you need on that still.
I've run thick batches before of mash,
and you take them up very slow
but I was a little nervous.
There ain't no alcohol in there.
I get the first jar coming out
and there's no alcohol in it, tastes like water.
Yep.
-[travis] it's pure water? None at all? No alcohol? -No alcohol at all. So...
-That don't make no sense. -Did you reserve any mash?
[stan] it's just a lot in, I couldn't get much more outta there.
There's a lot in there.
-I don't know, man. -Run it through, and see what happens.
[sighs] really sucks.
I didn't make any cuts for the first run.
No heads or tails kinda cuts.
I felt good about it.
All right.
-[tim] coming out clear now? -Oh, that's coming out.
[mark] oh, there you go.
Like spring water, 'cause I was expecting
three or four jars to come out real, real cloudy
because of the mess that it made inside of the worm.
But, once it straightened up, it started running better.
I felt very, very, very confident.
Hello, mr. Travis.
Bring it in here, big t.
Hmm, nice. Pretty. Clear.
After the first jar, I started getting water.
I brought everything up extra slow
and went to like four jars.
And it was till all water.
Here comes peg.
There's my jar.
All I got was green water coming out.
So, I'm taking myself out of the competition.
Peg leg, that's pretty honorable, buddy.
Why compete against guys when I'm running water.
It's just the right thing to do.
I see a lot that tells me a story.
Why don't you tell me your story.
I was out in the woods malting my rye
and let it go overnight on a blanket and everything,
with some burlap on top, came back the next morning,
it's all over, everywhere.
Looks like a bear got it. I went looking around,
rye right now is hard to find.
Only thing I could come up with was flake dry, which I'd never used before.
Which, probably shouldn't be a difference,
but I guess it was to me.
So, I'm gonna go bear hunting.
[all chuckle]
I'd love to come back and do this again.
Show what I really can do,
and how good my liquor really is.
I expect to see you back in here sometime competing.
I hope so.
-Thank you, peg leg. -Good to meet you, peg leg.
That took more guts than anybody else in here, I'm telling you.
We need to just continue on,
and eliminate as we originally planned.
-Master distiller on the third run. -Yeah.
All right, digger, you can take that on back to your home place there.
Oh, this is lorenzo.
[digger] I can smell it over here.
[travis] how'd your run turn out?
I think it did pretty good.
I got a lot of volume I was hoping to get.
-[mark] that's rye. -It does smell like rye.
I hope he got rye in it.
Oh, yeah. Now, that's really good rye,
and it's not fiery.
Plenty of alcohol.
Smooth. Smooth.
It does weigh, makes you wanna have another run.
Makes good bloody mary in my opinion.
Oh, I'd make a bloody mary so good
-you'd have to lay down to drink it. -All right.
Tavis...
-Pretty clear. -[digger] pretty jar of liquor.
Pretty good on proof too.
At first I was nervous, tank puked out.
My stomach was a-rollin'.
Hmm.
-It's got a little... -There's a little funk there.
-Honestly... -[tim] a little something on the nose, ain't it?
I think that he just, like, this much,
just that much to scorching it a little bit.
It's not a horrible taste.
I'd say, if he didn't quit when he did, he probably would have scorched it.
It actually tastes better than it smells.
[mark] it does. I agree with that, tim.
And this is step one, guys.
It's step one. This guys get to distill this two more times.
They do.
Rye is very, very tricky.
It's best distilled on steam.
This is old fashioned backwoods distilling
george washington style, no thumper,
straight to the condenser.
-It is tricky. -George washington rye challenge
is one of the more difficult challenges
of this whole show so far.
Welcome back, men. We're down one competitor.
Which effectively makes y'all's jobs a whole lot tougher.
And, boys, I'm gonna tell you, these are both
two fine jars of liquor right here.
You both are to be commended.
Lorenzo...
Yours came out real good, real clear.
I think you hit it right on the proof.
Lorenzo, good job. Great on the nose,
finished real well. Job well done.
Travis...
There's a little bit of a
sour note in there somewhere and I think
you were just on the verge of scorching.
When you were ringing that drain bag out,
you were putting more sediment in there.
You were putting more solids, and that gravitates to the bottom.
And I think it was caramelizing.
It hadn't quite scorched yet, but it was getting there.
You can patch that up and get over it.
You still got some more runs to make.
I think you'll be able to pull it out.
All that taken into consideration,
lorenzo, you're going to be the first man to the still house.
It was definitely a great feeling to win the first round,
but I think even more so, it was great to hear the judges' feedback.
Travis, you'd be the second man.
We're not gonna lay no eggs yet. We ain't got the chicken, right.
Now, travis, he's just a little bit slow coming out the gate right now.
[travis] and I had to work a little harder.
I'm representing my family. That's my family's name.
[narrator] coming up...
I swear, the mosquitos around here is big enough to carry off a small dog.
[narrator] ...Two left to double down.
I hope they're bringing us a jar better than the last jar.
[mark] I don't believe lorenzo liked your comment.
[narrator] after a master distiller first...
So, I'm taking myself out of the competition.
[narrator] a backwoods shiner and a legal liquor maker
are continuing on to the second stage of the competition.
To make george washington's famous rye whiskey.
[digger] lorenzo, you're gonna be the first man to the still house,
travis, you'd be the second man.
Time to get your tour guide in here.
Tickle!
-Are y'all in need of my services? -Yeah.
[overlapping voices]
your taxi service is needed.
-[tim] they need some still parts. -Still parts?
-All right. -No doubler.
-No doubler? -Don't give them no doubler.
Don't give 'em no doubler.
All right, well, that's gonna limit your still parts.
There's plenty of other stuff in there.
Y'all come on with me and we'll get y'all some stuff.
[narrator] ubiquitous in the backwoods,
thump kegs complete a second distillation during s single run
to increase proof.
But they weren't standard equipment in george washington's day.
Damn, all mighty! I swear, the mosquitoes around here
is big enough to carry off a small dog.
[narrator] instead they ran liquor in the same pot up to four times
to refine the flavors and purify the alcohol content.
Following in this tradition,
distillers must build a single pot still
using parts from the still house for their second and third distillations.
Lorenzo, you have got five minutes.
Going into the still pick, I definitely wanna see the options.
I'm trying to see what's available.
I see he's checking his fittings. That's a good sign.
But I also really like the setup that's put together now.
Two minutes.
The whole thing about making whiskey is to keep it simple.
I think we're there already.
Okay, travis, he left you plenty of stuff in there.
You've got three minutes.
Going into the still house, I'm gonna keep it simple.
He appears to be moving pretty quickly in there as well.
I'm gonna go back with the same setup that I had.
A simple keg, worm, condenser.
[tickle] one minute left, travis.
-You're done? -Yes, sir. I think we're good.
All right. I believe I see every clamp in there,
and you know what, that's a good thing.
Y'all both have a clamp for everything you need.
Welcome back, men. That brings the point here
where we're gonna run a little liquor.
George washington rye.
Now, peg leg took himself out, we all know,
so nobody goes home.
So we decided, maybe there's something y'all need to strive for.
So, we got you all a little bit of cutting edge technology
from 1790, when george washington had been making his liquor.
Hydrometer, and a test jar.
[narrator] hydrometers measure the density of the liquid compared to water
in order to determine alcohol content.
Adopted as the industry standard in 1790,
hydrometers are used at every stage of the distillation process.
From testing alcohol content in a mash,
to the proof of a final bottle blend.
They're especially useful in rye whiskey
to help distinguish the spicy rye bite
from a high alcohol burn.
Giving the winner of this challenge an advantage
heading into the final round.
[digger] four hours, two good jars of liquor,
one from each one of you.
Your time starts now.
[mark] with them not permitted to run a thumper,
that just one less thing for them to worry about.
[narrator] using their new single pot stills
distillers will re-run their base spirit from the first round
to create a flavorful double-distilled common rye whiskey
worthy of washington's legacy.
I hope they bring us a jar better than the last jar.
[mark] yeah, the second round ought to make it better.
-And the next one needs to be even better still. -Needs to better than that.
I don't believe lorenzo liked your comment.
Going into the next round, I'm feeling pretty good.
I have a little bit of mash left...
-[mark] he doesn't have much distilling to do. -[tim] no.
All of it was in those jars.
I didn't make any cuts from the first run, besides what we gave to the judges.
So, my plan for this run
was to use all my distillate, and then I added a little bit of water in there,
just to bring the volume up. I didn't want the pot to get too hot.
Travis, is he putting a straining bag over that other bucket?
[travis] yesterday I turned in a bad jar,
but it's only gonna get better from here.
He learned his lesson about straining with that still bag down in that neck.
[mark] yeah, he putting it in the bucket, not the still.
'cause I don't have a lot more mash left,
I saved the distillate that I ran from my first run to throw in there.
[digger] mason jars are going in this still pot.
Getting rid of the scorching, I need to be slow and steady.
Let the temperature rise up gradually,
it gets rid of all the bad odors.
Time to light them puppies.
-[tim] whoa. There you go. -Fire in the hole.
-[exhales] -good to go, brother?
-Yeah, how you doing? You all set up? -Yeah, bud.
The still design is still a little challenging,
but as a distiller, you should be able to pivot and work on different systems.
Now, dialing it in is a whole other animal.
Two hours into your run, halfway there.
[lorenzo] smells weird.
There was a little funky smell in there.
I could not pinpoint the smell.
Almost have that scorched smell in a way.
Like it has to be carrying over, you know?
-[tim] did you strain it? -Oh, yeah.
Something's wrong.
[tim] you're gonna have a very difficult time fixing that.
You can't take bad and make it better.
-[digger] that's not a good sign. -No, it's not a good sign.
Hmm. That's interesting.
[tim] crank it up a little bit?
[digger] I don't count anybody out.
You never know what kinda tricks
somebody's gonna pull out from out their sleeves.
[lorenzo] started checking everything.
Making sure everything that I knew was correct.
Might have to do a little bit of blending here.
I ended up with about four jars of hearts
and there was some notes that were a little bit different.
It's just like right there, right where I want it.
The worst thing you can do in a situation like this
is second guess yourself. Always go with your gut.
There was still a little funk in there that I didn't really like
so I tried to blend, but overall the taste,
everything else was there that I liked.
[mark] ready?
So I ran with it.
-Good, pretty jar. Looks good. -Yeah.
Lorenzo has been distilling for ten years professionally.
I had my work cut out for me.
But that's where our wheelhouse is different.
'cause I've stuck to the backwoods.
It's got a nice smell to that.
Got a little bit of high proof to it.
He's used to steam. I'm used to flame.
Turkey burners, copper stills.
Feel like I've got a little bit of an advantage.
Done, done, done, done.
[digger] bring it in here, travis.
-[digger] good, clear drink of liquor right there. -That's a real clear jar.
-[narrator] coming up. -[tim] some reason, I just don't get the rye.
And then I get some kind of off taste.
[narrator] george washington rye tells no lies.
You get to use the hydrometer.
[lorenzo] it's just like right there, right where I want it.
[narrator] it's a commercial distiller versus a tennessee shiner...
[travis] it's got a nice smell to that.
[narrator] ...In a war to make the best george washington rye whiskey.
The one who brought the best spicy rye flavor
wins a hydrometer to help them blend
to a washington-worthy 80 to 90 proof in the final round.
We've got similarities in everything that we've done.
If I was a judge it would be hard for me to pick.
That's lorenzo. All right, here we go.
Right close to a hundred.
-Pretty nice bead. -That's really good.
Good in the jar.
What's it good when we take it out the jar?
Man, I feel like I had a good run.
The first part I got a little worried
but I think once we got the temperature down then
-overall felt good about it. -Oh, yeah.
Well, that's rye.
I can taste that malted barley there on the end.
You taste it.
Tastes good. You swallow it.
You think it's gone and then it rears its head up
and kicks you in the butt, don't it?
-Oh, god. -[digger] I didn't quite get that.
That lorenzo just set my damn noggin' afire.
Oh, boy.
I don't know about that aftertaste.
Got a little scorch on it.
I don't taste no scorch in it.
Are you tasting it? Are you really swallowing it?
Yeah.
Oh, my god. I don't know about this one.
Think I'll keep my comments to myself.
That'd be a first.
[chuckling]
before we get carried away here,
let's move on to this other one here.
This is travis'.
A lot smoother than the first run.
My proof point, I was shootin' to proof at mid '90s.
Definitely low proof.
That don't smell like any rye to me.
No. That's just an alcohol smell.
There's no grain in it anywhere.
Travis' taste more like rye than I do on lorenzo's.
Lorenzo's got a smell of rye.
Travis' tastes like rye.
I think travis' is a little cooler.
[digger] it's a little cooler, it's lighter proof.
That maybe the word I'm looking for, lighter and cooler.
But it's gotta a little bit closer taste profile
to what I'm looking for in a rye.
If that's the case, I'm gonna go get 'em.
[tim] go get 'em.
[digger] boys, welcome back.
We took a little time on this deliberation.
It was... It was kinda tough.
Lorenzo.
For some reason, I just don't get the rye.
And then I get some kind of off-taste.
[digger] it's not a scorch.
It's something we never, none of us could pin it down.
We didn't get that on the first run.
But we got it on this one.
And travis, yours has a...
Little bit better taste.
On the positive side, I'm tasting rye, but it's weak.
Rye is a very spicy, peppery grain.
Heat and fire is to be expected.
When I first tasted it,
yours had a little smoother taste,
a little easier on the palate,
but very little liquor.
One of you is gonna get this hydrometer,
which I think is gonna give you a little edge
on the next run.
Travis, you were the number one jar.
You get to use the hydrometer.
I'm feeling relieved that I won this round.
It's gonna be a little bit of an advantage having the hydrometer.
You both know where you're at,
this third round will really tell the tale
that at the end of the next run,
only one of you guys can be master distiller.
[narrator] while doubled distilled rye whiskey
made up the bulk of george washington's sales,
batches that were distilled three times or more,
were worth twice as much.
The extra time it took to re-run common whiskey
to create a smoother product
was well worth it for washington.
Since he was taxed only at the capacity of the stills
and not by the gallons produced,
the more top-value whiskey he could distill,
the more profit he pocketed.
Today is the end of the road right here.
You ready to run that last of george washington rye,
that's what we're looking for?
At the end of this four-hour run,
one of you guys is gonna be crowned master distiller.
Four hours.
We want one jar of your best george washington rye.
Your all's time starts now.
[travis] my plans going into my final run,
I saved a jar from my first run
to throw in there as well
as the distillate that I ran yesterday.
[tim] so we got travis adding a whole lot of water.
A tremendous amount of water to his mash.
[travis] ' cause I don't have any mash left,
I used ring water, that's gonna give me a little more volume.
That's a new strategy we haven't seen.
Where it looks like lorenzo's not doing that.
[lorenzo] I think the funkiness came
from the mash that I added to my batch.
In my final run, it'll be no mash, it'll be just distillate.
Did he put any water in his?
[tim] I didn't see him put any water in.
It looks like he's just going with his distillate from last round.
It's gonna clean it up a lot.
Bring that sweetness and spiciness
to the front of the palate.
And should be a good spirit overall.
These boys are serious about it today.
It's much quieter. They're more focused, ain't they?
Concentrating.
-Did you put some water in? -[travis] yeah.
-How much water? -Um, about there.
I feel like I got a little bit of an advantage,
but at the end of the day,
whatever comes out the worm,
that's who's gonna go home master distiller.
But I need to try to clean some of this up, you know,
so I didn't wanna put any water in there.
You didn't do no water at all?
I need to go as high as this thing will let me.
[lorenzo] we are friendly in this competition,
maybe need to be not so friendly for the last one.
-Are we coming out? -Who?
The thing, where we at?
Looks pretty clear from here.
I only need to present one good jar,
so definitely need to bring my a-game.
Okay. I like that smell.
Clean it up some?
Yeah, now we in business.
[narrator] coming up...
It's still a little high.
[narrator] one distiller earns
their presidential whiskey seal of approval.
From where you came, I mean, it's outstanding.
What extra pieces did you have?
I got an extra thermometer.
You got the thermometer that he had.
You wanna change it out? It's there.
Ah, that's good. I like to see them work together.
Little switcheroo-ski. I like to see the celsius.
You know, this is just a challenge.
This will come and go, but friends last forever.
Or they should.
I'm glad you think I'm gonna last forever. Friends last forever.
Yeah. What was it you said?
"a good friend will help you move,
-but a true friend will... -[both] ...Help you move the bodies.
-That's right. -[chuckles]
appreciate you, dude.
Get you a whole jar of heads off there?
-Yeah. -Man, that's some clear stuff.
I'm scared, right there...
Don't sweat the petty things, don't pet the sweaty things.
[narrator] it's backwoods moonshiner versus craft distiller
in the final battle
to master george washington's revolutionary rye whiskey.
You're still running right along there, travis.
Yeah, it's getting pretty close to tails.
[narrator] the jar with the best blend of spicy rye bite
and a smooth sippable proof wins the title.
I see a lot of concentration going on over there.
[tim] I see travis is using the hydrometer now.
I like my drinking liquor about 90, 95.
It's still a little high, so...
The hydrometer will help you with getting your proof in alcohol volume.
But at the end of the day,
it comes out to what you run in the still for flavor.
I got it where I want it.
I'm looking forward to tasting the piss out of it.
I'mma let mark taste what he wants to taste,
I just want some liquor.
[mark] I may have misspoke there just a tiny bit.
[lorenzo] I didn't use any tails, I had two different heads
and I had two hearts, so I just kinda played with them.
The mouth feel, the taste,
everything else was there that I liked,
so I ran with it.
-Let's do it. -Let's do it.
I think I put my best foot forward and, um,
put a good jar in front of the judges.
-All right. Good luck. -[lorenzo] thanks, guys.
When I went and set my jar on the table...
A pretty clear jar for you guys.
-Yes it is. -Looks pretty good.
[travis] ...I am just overly excited.
At the end of the day,
I'm here to get my name out and win.
Them bubbles are going away fast.
[mark] little bit lower proof.
[tim] I mean, he had a hydrometer, so if he said 90,
it's probably 90.
I used it on the last jar just to make sure
I was where I wanted to be to turn in to the judges.
I got rye on the nose.
Real strong rye.
It smells spicy, but it's not overpowering.
[digger] right there on the end,
there is that black pepper finish.
Right off the bat, I'mma say
that's the best jar we've tasted so far.
Lot of peppery taste, ain't it?
It's perfect on the tongue, I'm telling you.
This would be lorenzo's.
-Pretty good bead. -[mark] pretty good bead.
Nothing wrong with that.
Pretty high proof.
And I think that's what he was trying to do.
He was trying to get enough high proof to clean it up.
[lorenzo] I feel good about mine.
I did a little blending, uh, a lot of blending.
That smells good.
[tim] smells really good.
[digger] it's not mean on the nose, is it?
That's good start to finish.
-I like that. -[digger] I'm shocked.
I'm shocked too.
Yeah, it's definitely good rye now.
He's done a pretty good job in nailing
the george washington rye.
That is a clean-cut, stripped rye.
I think he got him a jar out of his hearts
and brought it up with a little bit of his
front liquor, his shots,
and I think that paid off for him.
It's gonna be a hard decision.
Really is, them two both are... Those are drinkable.
[clicks tongue] oh, boy.
[digger] welcome back, boys.
Just once, I wish somebody would screw up really bad
and make our job so much easier.
Here's what we came up with.
Lorenzo.
We tasted your liquor and right off the bat, you know, I was just like...
Wow, where'd that come from?
You certainly knew what you were doing
bringing this liquor back up from where it was.
Thank you.
Excellent jar of liquor, young man.
This is a delicious george washington rye.
It smells good, looks good.
It's spicy. The taste profile is perfect.
You did a good job.
Travis.
I like the way you ran the still,
it's good as anybody I've ever seen.
This taste is what I thought
george washington rye would be.
Great job.
You know, I taste rye from the beginning to the end.
Good smooth drinking liquor.
Good, fiery bite on it. You taste it
right front to back, then that sweet finish.
You boys did a damn fine job.
From where you came, I mean, it's outstanding.
Unfortunately, there can only be one master distiller.
In this situation,
there's one that rises to the top.
Travis, you're the next master distiller.
-Appreciate it. -Thank you, man.
[travis] I can't believe I won.
It feels like a dream I'm gonna wake up from any day.
Loved the feedback, honest feedback from every one of you guys.
I have a newfound respect for all the fellas
who are doing it at home or backwoods.
They've definitely inspired me
to look into home distillation.
I've got a friend for life right here.
That's what it's all about, son.
[travis] winning master distiller is gonna open up
a lot of opportunities.
It's gonna change my life
'cause I'm carrying on my grandfather's legacy.
Cut on out and go share a drink together.
[narrator] next time on master distiller...
-That smells like home. -[narrator] ...Vodka.
You can make vodka out of about anything.
[narrator] the moonshine of eastern europe
is now america's most popular liquor.
You got to risk it to get the biscuit.
[narrator] famous for having no flavor at all,
mastering this enigma of a spirit
could be the holy grail of high-proof distilling.