You can make vodka out of about anything.
[jeremy] this time on master distiller.
Lots of different kinds with lots of personalities.
-[jeremy] vodka. -That smelled like home.
[jeremy] the secret to surviving
icy russian winters...
[tim] it's like moonshining,
except they got potatoes and we got a lot of corn.
[jeremy] ...Is now america's most popular spirit.
That is what I expect out of a bottle.
[jeremy] and making the best jar of a liquor
that's famous for having no flavor...
I'd say that's about vodka status right there.
[jeremy] ... Could be the holy grail of high-proof distilling.
You knocked that out the park.
[jeremy] 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.
[scott] think you're gonna get enough out of it?
[thomas] I just need enough of the good stuff.
[jeremy] judged by three legendary moonshiners...
Three different things going on.
[jeremy] ...They'll go head-to-head
in a series of challenges...
-Honestly... That's good liquor. -Yeah.
[jeremy] ...To determine who has what it takes...
You gotta risk it to get the biscuits.
[jeremy] ...To be named...
-He may be the one to watch in this, right? -He may be.
[jeremy] ...Master distiller.
It'll be an interesting contest, tim.
[melancholy music playing]
[digger] hey, guys. Welcome to master distiller.
I'm digger manes, tim smith,
and my best buddy right down there,
mark wayne ramsey.
You all are here today to make us some vodka,
tater squeezings.
We're looking forward to it.
[jeremy] vodka, a spirit so neutral,
its name derives from the russian word for water.
First used as a medicine
in eastern europe during the middle ages,
vodka became a favorite of 16th-century
home distillers, who made it
from anything fermentable, from wheat to potatoes,
to keep warm in freezing winters.
It wasn't until the end of the 18th century
that advancements in distillation
increased the purity and brew,
creating the spirit we know today.
In 1917,
immigrants fleeing the russian revolution
brought their staple spirit to america.
After exploding in popularity
in the 1970s,
vodka finally surpassed whiskey in 2003
as the most-consumed liquor
in the united states.
Its neutral flavor makes it a popular base
for cocktails.
But any vodka drinker will tell you,
no two brands taste the same.
That's because vodka's clean,
subtle taste profile is honed
through multiple distillations.
The true test of a distiller's skill
on a still.
If we name you master distiller,
you're gonna win your bragging rights
and a limited run of your liquor
at sugarlands distilling company.
I spent some time in poland.
Vodka is their number one product, really.
It's like moonshining, except they got potatoes,
and we got a lot of corn.
Depending on how you work it,
you can make vodka out of about anything.
We're looking for that homemade,
polish-style vodka that rolls right off of your tongue.
It'll be a challenge to you,
there's thousands of them out there.
But we're excited about seeing the skills
that you bring to display here.
You got one hour to mash in.
After that time, we'll ask you to step away from your kettles.
And it's time to go. One hour, starting now.
[jeremy] while most commercial vodkas
use a grain-based mash,
vodka can be made from any base.
Distillers will mash in their original vodka recipes
to create a mash that can ferment
in only five days,
and yield enough alcohol
to last through the entire competition.
Three different things going on.
That just shows up what happens
in different parts of the country.
Yup. The way they learned to do things.
And that's gonna be neat if they come out of the gate,
and all three of them have that neutral taste.
Yeah. You really want vodka
to taste like whatever you put in it.
-[digger] yeah. -[tim] right.
Not what it's made from,
-not like moonshine. -Right.
So if we need to borrow sugar, shawn,
-we can get it from you? -We can come to you?
Yes, sir. You got it, man.
Hey, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I got extra corn if you need it.
-I appreciate that. -You know, shawn,
he's kind of... Stays to his self over there.
He may be the one to watch in this, right?
He may be. He may have a little trickery
-going on over there. -[chuckles]
my name's shawn rigsby.
I'm from springfield, ohio.
I'm a mechanic by trade, but I do a little distilling.
I stay busy. I just do what I love, and that's part of it.
Let's do like a circle here.
And this is my thumper that takes all the beating.
People see me, they just assume
I'm some dumb hillbilly that don't know much, you know.
But I know more than I should.
And I know I make a damn good jar of liquor.
Clear as a bell, son.
In my family, there's bootleggers and distillers.
My grandfather, in eastern kentucky, he would make liquor,
and he would turn his porch light on
when he had liquor, and people would come down.
When he was out, he'd flick the light off.
And then there's me. I've been doing it
off and on for probably 10 years or better.
I don't run a big distillery
like some of these guys, so winning master distiller
would, you know, open up a lot of opportunities for me.
We'll give it hell and see what happens.
Well, I went with the normal, with wheat,
uh, corn, and distiller's malt.
And I did a little bit of a different corn,
it's not your normal sweet corn.
It's bloody butcher corn from pennsylvania.
With bloody butcher corn,
it gives it just a little bit different--
like a spice flavor to it, not like a rye,
not that dominant,
but just a little bit different.
All grain, uh, no potatoes?
-No potatoes. -Now, this is a contest,
not time to be experimenting.
-Oh, I know. -Oh, don't burn your water.
Well, I don't plan on it.
[laughs]
thomas, he's a young kid,
works in a legal distillery.
Not used to running this type of equipment.
-He's confident in himself in a real quiet way. -Yeah.
My name is thomas williams.
I'm a distiller in helena, arkansas.
I've been distilling for about two years now,
and my father asked me to help him run
the new business he was starting.
It is a craft distillery in the delta
using all locally farm-grown grains,
mostly from our own family farm.
Turning homegrown grains into something
completely different is definitely
one of the rewarding parts of it.
My dream for the distillery
is to open a second location
all by myself, and having a bunch
of my signature recipes be the landmark of that.
[upbeat music playing]
winning master distiller would be a great head start on that dream.
-Mr. Thomas. -Yes, sir.
What you cooking, sir? From arkansas.
Got some sweet potatoes and corn,
-both grown in the delta. -Sweet potatoes and corn?
I got my corn over here.
[tim] oh. So you got it ground up pretty fine.
-Yup. -I like that.
You brought all this from home?
-I did. Family farm. -Yeah?
The combination of sweet potatoes and corn
has proven to be a very unique combination
that I've gotten some great feedback on,
and it has a very smooth flavor to it.
Gotta have marshmallows, or prawns on top of it. You'll be good.
Okay.
[mark] I think scott fancies himself
more a backwoods distiller.
But, you know, he's a school teacher.
Well, in his day job, you know.
[tim] when I was going to school,
I didn't think about my school teacher being a moonshiner.
You never know what they do when they leave the books behind.
We are what we are only when no one is watching.
My name is scott moore.
I live in chattanooga, tennessee.
For a living, I'm an educator and a football coach.
I've been distilling about three years.
What got me started was watching mark, tim, and digger.
Just wanted to see if I could do what they do.
In my family, there were people that made it,
so, you know, being able to continue on
and do that is a big deal to me.
I make vodka. Most people say,
"man, that's good. That's some of the best I've had."
it's pretty tasty.
I've got a bachelor of science,
so being able to look at how things are made
and how the makeup of chemicals and compounds
is huge, to be able to break things down and look at how they work.
Winning the master distiller would really help me have the confidence
to move forward, to look into opening my own distillery.
I didn't know if y'alls were gonna have paddles or not,
I brought my lucky one.
So if you lose, you gonna throw it away?
I might, or make another.
[laughs]
[suspenseful music playing]
[scott] my signature recipe for vodka
is pretty traditional. It's corn-based.
It's got some wheat in it
to kind of help soften it a little bit.
-Talk to me there, scott. -Yes, sir.
Tell me what you're cooking, here.
Uh, a little corn, a little wheat.
-Corn and wheat. -Yes, sir.
I got some malted wheat and malted barley
to help it out a little bit.
-No potatoes? -No potatoes.
Nothing else.
And where did this corn come from?
A friend.
Is this tennessee corn?
I don't know where he got it.
But you know how it is,
you don't ask a lot of questions
about where stuff come from. [laughs]
okay.
It'll be an interesting contest.
Your time's up, men.
Step away from your barrels.
We'll see you boys in five days,
and we'll get that first run out of the way.
-Sounds good. -[digger] thank you.
-[mark] see you, guys. -[tim] good job.
All right, men. Welcome back.
You noticed your mash barrels in here.
We've checked it out, it's ready to run.
Your version of vodka, that's what we wanna see.
I'm a big fan of vodka,
and there is lots of different kinds with lots of personalities.
There's grain-based, potato-based.
Hopefully, you're gonna make us something good,
with some good characteristic personality
of where you are from.
We're simply gonna judge on taste alone today.
The favorite will get first pick of still parts
at the stillhouse.
But one jar in four hours.
Your time starts now.
[jeremy] for the first run,
distillers will produce a base for their vodka
at a minimum of 90 proof,
to showcase the flavors in their signature mash.
In the second distillation,
they'll refine the base spirit
into a true vodka for elimination.
They're mash cleared out good,
uh, every one of them.
[tim] and thomas got a totally different recipe over there,
so I'm really excited about that.
He reminds of the guys,
you know, in poland.
They got their own unique thing from home,
so I'm pretty sure
it's gonna be very different
to any of these two guys here.
[thomas] finally seeing and smelling my mash
for the first time.
I did get the flavors
and characteristics
that I'm used to and what I was expecting.
I was pleased. It looked and smelled good.
I think my mash was, uh, good.
I would've liked to have had a little bit more,
um, alcohol in it.
Uh, I try to be a little bit more traditional
with vodka and not use lot of sugar, so...
I knew there wasn't gonna be that much alcohol in it.
But, we're gonna make an adjustment there.
Shawn's, he had a little bit of grain on top
but nothing to worry about.
It tastes really good.
[shawn] after seeing and tasting my mash,
yeah, it's ready to run.
I feel very comfortable running this still.
It is exactly what I would be doing at home.
-We're good. -[jeremy] coming up...
That's a cadillac right there.
[jeremy] it's backwoods techniques...
Every time it passes through one them sight glasses, his proof goes up.
[jeremy] ...Versus modern technology.
So you're thinking the blastoff to the moon.
[jeremy] a midwestern shiner,
a young legal distiller
and a moonshining school teacher
are running a base spirit.
The first distillation of their own vodka recipe.
[scott] here we go, we're dripping.
Oh, yeah.
I got money coming out of the pot now.
[scott] think you're gonna get enough out of it?
[thomas] we'll see.
[digger] two hours, men.
You're halfway there.
[thomas] I just need enough of the good stuff.
[shawn] looks like we're heading the right direction, boys.
As far as tempering goes,
I used a little bit of spring water
and I also mixed some jars.
I need another bottle of water.
I am used to using a hydrometer
and some tech to help me figure out what proof I'm adding,
kind of where I wanna be.
This is a new territory for me.
Proof's still way up there.
I do normally proof with a hydrometer
and, um, I think that kind of threw me off a little bit.
I proofed earlier on without one.
Um, but it's been a while since I have,
so that kind of played with it a little bit.
I should tell you to add water. I'm just waiting on it to clear.
Five minutes, fellers,
we're getting to the end pretty quick.
[mark] I believed that's it, boys.
-That's it. -Here comes shawn
-bringing his in. -All right.
[tim] looking like a clear jar.
There you go.
This is the one.
-Is that the one, thomas? -There you go.
-It's the one. -All right, buddy.
All right. There she is.
That's the one.
Oh, cloudy, a little less cloudy...
-And here-- -still a little less cloudy.
-Shawn, from ohio. -[digger] that's shawn.
-I hope they look past that... -Yeah.
-The cloudiness. -No, yeah.
You know what I mean?
-Honestly... That's good liquor. -Yeah.
Yeah. No doubt.
Nice and crisp.
-[digger] yup. -Good proof.
Clear. I mean, really that one's got everything
that we asked them to bring, every time.
All right, we got mr. Scott here.
Smell and taste of mine was okay.
I was a little concerned about when I added that spring water,
the look of it. But I was pleased with it.
[tim] just a little bit cloudy.
I'm not sure how he got that cloudiness in there,
but I guess when you're--
it ain't harsh on the nose.
No, it ain't bad on the nose.
[digger] the taste isn't horrible, there's just not a lot of it.
-It's weak. -It's just weak.
-It falls apart. -Weak.
-But it is a first run. -Right.
So we can't call the dogs yet.
So far, both of these guys have something to work with.
Yeah, we wanna move on to mr. Thomas.
[thomas] I think the flavor profile
could either be a hit or a miss.
They'll either like it or they'll hate it.
There's a definitely a different smell in that.
[tim] what is going on here?
-[mark] thomas' is not unpleasant. -It don't smell horrible.
It's just real light. And I don't think
it's very much proof at all.
Yeah, there's no doubt right there.
Because, I mean, scott does have a little bit
of character to it but he just watered it down.
That's why both of them are so cloudy.
Shawn used just a splash of water
-to even-tempered it all. -[tim] yeah.
And these other guys, I think...
I think they panicked.
[mark] I think that the majority of people
has never ever tempered
a jar without a hydrometer.
They, you know, they depend on the hydrometer
-instead of what they know. -Yeah.
I think I'm good. You good?
I'm right there. I'm riding with mark.
[suspenseful music playing]
[digger] before we go any farther,
I wanna... I wanna ask a question, and I want an honest answer.
How many of y'all have ever tempered a run of liquor
without the assistance of a hydrometer?
No.
Once or twice, early on.
Uh, that's really what-- all we needed to know.
Shawn, yours, I taste a little earthy.
I guess it's the wheat, right?
Is that what it was? You had wheat in there?
Yes, sir. Yeah, wheat and a little bit of corn.
Real good job, uh, clearest jar on the table.
I think you hit it good on the proof,
about 90, something like that.
You got a tiny bit tinged on your... On your tempering,
but not bad.
Thomas, I think you put
a little bit too much water in it.
Your proof fell well down.
But then again, it's a base.
It's where you gonna with it.
[mark] you've got plenty to work with.
Other than your proof being where it is,
it's a good drink.
It hits the nose real pleasant.
You got your sweet potatoes in there,
so I think you're gonna have a good flavor profile.
At the end of day, you're gonna put
something on the table that these guys
are gonna have to be worried about.
Scott, yours has got of a special, uh,
special nose on it.
Tangy on the nose, I like that.
Pleasant taste, again,
just a little low alcohol content.
But somewhere along the line when you made that cut,
I think you should have picked up
a little higher a jar for us. It would've been clearer
and a little bit higher proof.
So your proof fell short, too.
But again, you know, this is just step one.
[digger] that being said,
tim's got you lined up here of who gets to go
to the stillhouse, one, two, three.
It was pretty easy. Pretty simple.
Uh, shawn you're number one.
Scott, you're number two,
and then thomas you're number three.
Tickle?
You call me?
Well, my buddy tickle here standing by.
-He's got his truck ready. -All right, y'all,
y'all ready to go get some still parts?
Yes, sir.
We're taking your alcohol away from you
just for your environment's sake.
[jeremy] in the 19th century,
vodka made the leap from home distilled remedy
to world-renowned liquor
with the invention of the column still.
While column stills use fractional distillation
to produce the clean, high-proof commercial vodka
we know today.
Backwoods shiners rely on thump kegs or doublers
to further refine their distillate.
Using parts from the stillhouse,
contestants must choose
between the classic or modern method
to purify their base spirit into a classic vodka.
And that's when I learned,
never crank up belt sander while holding a cat.
-[laughter] -okay. Gentleman,
there's some mighty interesting parts in there.
Shawn, you're up first, right?
Yes, sir.
You got five minutes. Head on in there.
[shawn] I'm just doing the same thing I always have.
-Just a pot, thumper and a worm. -[tickle] two minutes left.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
-Are you good? -We'll find out.
[tickle] all right, scott. Three minutes.
I wanna probably run with a similar system,
something I'm familiar with.
I feel more comfortable doing that.
Using the other stuff that's traditional,
vodka stuff is not something I've used,
so I'm not really comfortable with it.
I don't wanna get something and mess everything up.
-[tickle] are you good? -I think so.
And then we'll send thomas in.
Three minutes, thomas. Three minutes.
[thomas] this column might look
a little bit more complicated,
but to me, it's easier and less complex
than what these guys are running.
Thirty seconds, thomas.
If it was me, I'd be bringing the stuff out.
Ten seconds. Okay.
It looks like you grabbed
everything and the kitchen sink.
Great strategy.
I believe I would've done the same thing.
-That's a pretty apparatus. -[tim] yeah.
[digger] all right, men, it looks like everybody's
got their still ready to go.
We'll go straight in to making some vodka.
We want a good jar with palatable proof
on our table in less than four hours.
Time starts now.
[jeremy] for the elimination round,
distillers will rerun their base spirit
to produce a clean high-proof vodka
with only the subtlest flavors
of their original mash ingredients.
Thomas' is the one I'm excited to see.
This column that thomas has put on,
it's got some extra plates in it where it's gonna put
a little bit more resistance
in that alcohol vapor traveling up.
Every time it passes through one them sight glasses, his proof goes up.
[tim] that's what we're looking for actually.
[digger] and then, by the time it comes out,
you're getting some of the finest high-proof vodka
you can get out of there.
That's a cadillac right there.
[dramatic music playing]
[digger] they've got to remember,
they brought low-proof liquor to the table last time.
They got to get that proof up, they got to learn
to train that eye at that bead.
[shawn] yeah, I like to get a little more pure, you know.
I wouldn't mind dropping about five points
less than where I was at.
Maybe put it at 85, somewhere around there maybe.
[tim] thomas is going in over here.
Strategy going in is
now that I know the taste is there,
I can find focus on the proof.
Need some help, bud?
Uh, if you don't mind.
[tim] I'm really excited to see thomas run that still.
Running that still right there compared to these
is like having a turbo booster.
-There you go. -[tim] that is a still
right there that's gonna produce
some real fine... [continues indistinctly]
[mark] scott's got some good-looking mash left over up there.
Kind of had to run pretty similar to what I did.
I just kind of messed it up a little bit proofing it.
Proofing is correct though.
Fire in the hole.
[thomas] I wanna get as high as a proof that I can,
so trying to keep it in that column as long as I can.
-I'm at 140 already. Yeah. -140?
If I didn't know any different, I'd say you're in a hurry.
[laughs]
I mean, I barely got a flame.
-Yeah. -[shawn] you and me both.
Yeah. I'm about 120, so.
Getting some in there.
-Getting somewhere? -Getting some drops.
Really?
Not a lot, just a little bit.
Temperature shot up pretty quick.
-Where you at? -175.
One-seventy-five? Holy.
-Real clear. -[jeremy] coming up...
It hits the tongue hard.
[jeremy] the finished vodka
puts one distiller on ice.
Buddy, that bought you a jar of "take it home."
[jeremy] a midwestern shiner,
a young craft distiller,
and a moonshining school teacher
are running a base spirit,
the first distillation of their own vodka recipe.
-Where are you at? -175.
Holy.
[jeremy] the two with the cleanest
high-proof jars will move on to the final round.
Kind of the differences between my own personal setup
and what I worked with today are
I don't have as much sheer cooling
that I do back at home.
And the heat source is definitely different.
[jeremy] the pot needs to be hot up enough
for the alcohol vapors to rise
through each bubbler plate in the column,
but not so hot that the vapors push through
without the water condensing
and falling back into the pot.
[thomas] I'm thinking about letting this flame go out for a few minutes.
I don't stick to the norm, I do my own thing.
I mean, my whole thing is
you gotta risk it to get the biscuits.
I jumped up way too high,
I need a timeout.
-[shawn] oh, we got... -[thomas] it's dripping.
Hey, we got a drip.
Just gonna fill this one about halfway up
and see what happens.
Boy, I tell you, that's clear though. I'm...
Yeah?
I guess it's kind of hard not to be with that, uh...
[laughs] my alien contraption?
Okay.
I'd say that's about vodka status right there.
I don't know if it's the corn or the wheat in there
that's pulling it.
[digger] shawn's collecting jars over there.
It's probably not ideal for me to try
to move this table with all these jars on there.
-Oh, probably not. -[shawn laughs]
find a real fast way home,
-if you know what I'm saying. -[scott] yup.
If I figured out what the hell to do.
[tim] and scott's got plenty of jars over there, too.
He got, uh, a bunch of water bottles and stuff too.
I believe he's drinking them.
-Drinking the water bottles? -I believe so.
[scott] these last two or three I like a lot.
What I think I'm gonna do is practice tempering
those first two and then temper the rest of them.
I hope proofing without a hydrometer is like riding a bike.
Now, that the first one's out of my system,
it'll be easier for me here on out.
You already got yours done up?
[thomas] no. Oh, no.
Oh, no.
You're not gonna add a whole lot of water to yours, are you?
No. I'm just seeing how it does.
I put a little bit... And see how it does.
Ten minutes, boys.
Better be putting the finishing touches on 'em.
When I'm tempering, I just wanna use
a little bit of water at a time.
That way, I'll know whether or not it changes the color.
You can always put more water and you can't take none out.
It's a good bead right there.
So I'd say it's about right there where I want it.
Unfortunately, just need a little bit more in there.
You know the thing about it is,
what we're looking for here,
I guess the best way of saying it,
-the least tasty liquor... -The least tasty liquor.
Well, we got one ready to come up.
[mark] yeah, I think thomas is bringing it on up.
-Is that it, thomas? -That's the one.
All right, buddy.
We're down to less than a minute, boys.
Forty seconds.
[mark] bring it in here, big man.
Here you go.
A lot clearer than last time.
Good luck to you, scott.
Uh, this ain't gonna do it, nothing will.
Youse are cutting it close.
-There you go. -Yeah, we got
a whole lot clearer jars than we had the last time.
Oh, yeah. Come on, let's start with shawn.
-Shawn. -All right.
-Look pretty clear. -Maybe a little low
but at least mine's still clear...
-For the most part. -Yeah.
Good-looking bead, though.
I'd say it's probably around 105.
That set the bar pretty high.
I still taste just a little of the grain in it.
Little grain it.
But it's got this sweet note from the sugar.
I'm tasting something else in there other than corn.
Shawn is the one that he said 70%
of his grain build was wheat.
Yeah, it's wheat. You taste it, smell it too.
It's got that dry earthy taste.
It's just like straight moonshine.
It's not... It's not nowhere even close to vodka
on my nose.
-Well? -This is thomas'.
See, I can't even put a number on it.
I just think it's probably
on the higher end of that scale.
Thomas' is a little bit weaker.
Yeah, it just goes.
I was hoping for 100.
[tim] maybe 80, 85.
That ain't real weak.
That's store-bought liquor proof.
Weak, but it ain't horrible.
A little bit better than he was the last time.
-[mark] yeah. -It was a little spicy.
-It's very spicy. -Yeah.
Sure he isn't puttin' any rye in there?
It hits the tongue hard though, don't it?
Yeah, right off the gate, it does.
It's just different.
Then you get that pepper note.
Then that little bit of that sweet potato.
But it spreads out nice.
He's coloring outside the box.
And it's got a nose like you'd expect from a vodka,
more than shawn's does.
Get us another liquor over there, tim.
All right. Here we go.
We got a nice clear jar.
I feel that my clarity was a lot better than last time.
I was making sure it was gonna be better than last time.
-[tim] huh? -[digger] indeed.
That's a nice clear jar right there.
I was aiming for about 95,
but I may have overshot it a lite bit.
-[tim] good. -That's 100, ain't it?
He's pretty close to 100.
Now, if the taste carried over, we'll be good.
That smelled like home.
[tim] yeah. Now we're talking right here.
-[mark] man, that's... -I know where I'm at now.
-I believe... I believe, -oh, yeah.
I believe I'm right there with you, tim.
Yeah, I know where I'm at now.
I was right there when I got me a nose hit.
Honestly, I think that one sets the bar.
-Yeah. -Yeah. It just raised the bar.
-Yeah, maybe shawn-- -scott just raised the bar.
Proof is on it. Taste is on it.
Well, I wouldn't care to sell a truckload of liquor
that tastes like that.
It would mix with anything else
in the world that you like.
And this right here is gonna get complicated.
Thomas and shawn's have made things complicated.
Honestly, shawn's hits my taste profile
more than thomas's does,
but...
That's not to say that I won't like thomas'.
I think it just has a mean bite to it.
For the proof that it is,
-that it's too fiery. -Yeah, that's right.
It's been run too fast, I believe.
Too hard to get it to come through those plates.
But that's what he was saying, that he runs this kind of steel,
so he was trying to replicate
his steel that he had at home.
Just where he boiled it hard
and then that temperature spiked.
And he... He cut it down, I think,
and playing around with the pot too long
before it released any spirit.
I mean, with the equipment he used,
you'd think there'd be a cleaner taste.
[jeremy] coming up, the final round.
You put no pepper in there.
[jeremy] infused with a special sampler.
Hey, I'm sitting in on this.
[jeremy] a young shiner, an up-and-coming distiller
and a teacher moonlighting as a moonshiner
have turned in their best jars
of their own original vodka recipe.
Welcome back, men.
We had a tough deliberation here.
Now, shawn,
that's a good moonshine right there.
Unfortunately, we're looking for vodka,
but still a good drink.
Shawn, I'm tasting that earth,
I'm tasting that wheat, and, uh, myself,
I think you should have cut back on the wheat.
Now, thomas, you know, when looking for a vodka,
sweet tater's probably the place to start.
It ain't a bad option
but, uh, cooling the column
I think has working against you.
Now, yours is a little bit lower-proof again
compared to the other two guys.
You know, you're in the 80-something range there.
Where the other guys, they're closer
to the 100 range.
It was fiery, but now,
for my taste, it's a excellent,
excellent blending of the grain
and the sweet potato.
And, uh, scott over here,
there ain't a whole lot I can say here, brother.
You knocked that out the park.
Now, unfortunately, you know,
someone's gonna go home today.
Shawn, you just...
I believe you brought too much grain to the... To the game
too early here, and yet you got it out, yeah.
That's what we're looking for.
And thomas, um, you know, just...
I think that cooling was your holdup here.
I think it handicapped you pretty decent.
But I get where you're coming from.
When you say something looks familiar, you...
-Right. -You gravitate right to it.
And, uh, unfortunately, buddy,
that bought you a jar of "take it home."
-all right. -Sorry, old buddy.
All right.
[mark] thomas, before you go,
can I ask you something, please?
-Yeah. -Do me a favor,
when you get back home on your equipment,
and you get your chiller working,
send me a damn drink of your vodka
because I'd be honored to taste it.
You got it.
The encouraging uplifting words
definitely helped make me feel not so disappointed.
-Well, thank you all. -It's been an honor to meet you.
[tim] now boys, y'all got tighten up now.
[digger] all right, boys, you know what to do.
You got to button everything up and get ready
for that next run.
You're gonna make us some flavored vodka.
[jeremy] in recent years,
distillers have turned traditional vodkas
flavorless reputation on its head,
adding complex combinations of fruits, vegetables,
and spices during distillation,
and bringing fresh takes on vodka
to a saturated market.
These versatile, modern infusions can reduce
the number of ingredients needed for a mixed drink
or be deluded with tonic water
to create a cocktail on their own.
Using their traditional vodka
and any distill that collected
from the first rounds,
distillers will run their own original
infused vodka recipes that must complement,
not overwhelm the base spirit.
All right, boys.
Infused vodka.
Clear jars. We don't want no mix drink.
We wanted infused in that still.
Four hours is all you got.
That's plenty of time to bring us one good jar.
[tim] I'm gonna give you a little advice.
Be careful because you can have some fruits
or vegetables contradict each other
and you come out with something
that doesn't taste good.
And, uh, at the end of the day,
one of you guys is gonna be a master distiller.
Big-time right here.
Shawn, if scott brings that same jar,
just improved its flavor,
you better have your big-kid britches on, buddy.
Because I'm tellin' you, we...
We'll know at the end of this day
whether he meant to do that
or if it was just a fluke.
So here we go.
Four hours, time starts now.
Let's go, dude.
Yes, sir.
This is gonna be a really interesting challenge.
I would like to have a little more mash though.
Oh, I ain't touching my mash today.
You getting into yours?
Just a little.
I want no part of it.
Scott brung a great jar last round,
but with infusing flavors in the thumper,
to carry over flavors, that's my thing.
There goes shawn's distilling in.
Shawn adding a little bit of water, not too much.
[tim] scott is using mash in the distillant,
and he's gonna infuse with some kind of fruit.
For an infusion run,
I don't think I'd use any more mash, but...
-It might play out. -[tim] I think he's just
trying to get a little bit more alcohol content,
so he has something to play with.
What's scott pouring in there?
[mark] oh, that's mash, yeah,
-he's pouring in mash. -Yeah.
But he's just pouring in on that.
[digger] I'd put my fruit in there with nothing
but straight liquor.
I don't know that they've got enough to sacrifice.
Well, it looks like scott's chopping up
some fresh pineapple.
Yeah. I can smell it, boys.
It's dead-ripe, too.
[tim] why don't you bring us a slice of that?
[scott] oh, I have something with a little bit of pepper
on the back end, so you get that sweetness,
then a little bit of burn on the back end.
I like a little bit of spice
but everybody does it, so it's a big risk.
[shawn] I'm comfortable more so
with artificial flavorings
than I am actually smashing up berries.
You know, add a little sugar, sweeten it up.
But, I mean, at the end of the day, man,
it's a... It's a ballgame.
You know, and I'm in it to win it.
[tim] shawn, what ya mixing up over there?
It look like you're making a bread or something.
I'm just getting all the juice
and everything out of the fruit.
Yeah. What kind of fruit you got in there?
Uh, strawberry,
added a little bit of raspberry to it.
I don't know how that's gonna come out.
Now, did he drop that bag down in there or hang it?
-He just dropped it. -[mark] he just dropped it in there?
And then tied it up really good and dropped it.
Pure honey right here.
See how it compliments it, and maybe...
Sweetens up instead of using actual sugar.
[digger] here we go. Watch this.
There's that reserve jar of liquor.
Oh, lord.
[digger] that's gonna bring the flavor,
I promise you.
[scott] have you put your bag in your thumper?
I'm not.
I'm fruiting in the bottom.
I put it in... I put one in each.
-Did you? -Yeah.
Well... I've ran a thumper before and I put my mash in it.
I don't... I don't, uh, hang it.
Whether or not that works...
All right, the waiting game begins.
[mark] well, there goes all of shawn's mix.
[tim] shawn's putting all the soup in his thumper.
[mark] yeah.
I don't think that's a bad move.
Hell, the way he mixed it up,
he's wanting the juice out of it anyway.
Yeah, boy.
I tell you, man. I'm gonna run this thing as slow as I possibly can.
Yeah. Yeah, about 110.
But I started it before you, too.
Well, I ain't got nothin' but liquor and water in there.
[scott] oh, yeah.
Preparing the captain's chair.
-The captain's chair? -Yeah.
Well, don't take this the wrong way,
but I hope it's the loser's chair.
You're two hours into your run.
You're halfway there.
[scott] I'm worried about that vanilla though.
What do you think? It's gonna be too much?
Yeah.
Hey, man, you're dripping.
Oh, [bleep].
Little bit of that carry over.
I'm gonna buff it up just a hair.
Well, I think, you know, between both of these guys
we're gonna get something totally different.
[shawn] come on.
The little still that could.
[scott laughing]
[tim] the unfortunate part of this is
one of them is going home.
[tim] moonshiners are about the most knowledgeable
-guys I know. -They're predecessors.
They were chemists and didn't know it.
Popcorn sutton told me if I had a stalled fermentation,
go get me some fresh horse turds
and put them in a tow sack and sink it
to the bottom of my mash barrel.
And he said it will take off.
[man] I learned from the best.
I ain't into bragging or nothin', but you damn sure did.
[digger] all that was good. He was putting ammonia
and nitrogenous waste and feeding the yeast
and making it take off, but he didn't know that.
Popcorn is as any semi-intelligent person,
"my mash has quit working,
I think I'll put horse crap in it."
[digger] here we go.
He got a little drip.
[jeremy] a mid-western shiner
and a moonshining teacher
are going all in
on a run of their signature infused vodka...
Fifteen minutes left in your run.
[jeremy] ...For the title of master distiller.
Their imagination is the limit.
[digger] but you're limited to your market.
-[scott] hot? I told you. -Yeah.
Besides the 150, 60 proof that still is.
Yeah, I'm gonna dumb that down a little bit, see what happens.
You think you'll have enough?
Yeah, I think so. I got...
Once I pull this jar right here, I think I'll be good.
[shawn] still get vanilla and pineapple.
That pepper really got in.
My opinion, what it boils down to,
is how they like the heat
when it hits the tongue from the peppers.
Most people like berries.
You know, so I don't wanna say I played it safe.
But I played it safe.
How do you feel about the taste?
-Is it there? -I think it is.
We'll see.
I'm afraid to add water to it.
Anxious over there...
And overconfident.
They're about right on.
[mark] uh, I mean, they're getting down
to their last few minutes here.
There she is, boys.
Here come big man.
-It's pretty and clear. -There's one.
Good luck, scott.
-Good luck, buddy. -Thank you, all.
-All right. -Nice jar.
-We'll see. -All right.
[tim] good, pretty jar. Good luck.
-Ready? -Get busy.
They looked pretty clear, don't they?
That's really clear.
Hey, what are y'all doing?
Getting ready to take a drink.
I'm sitting in on this.
[tim] I'm glad you was passing by.
You just kind of invited yourself in, huh?
As long as we don't have to drink after you,
-I'm good with it. -[tim] uh, yeah.
All right. We're gonna taste shawn's here.
I'm worried about the flavor, you know.
[mark] it's light on the nose.
It is light on the nose.
It is also a vodka run, so it should be.
-Wow. -I didn't use mash this round.
-Maybe I should have. I... -Yeah.
Yeah. You don't ever know.
[digger] got a little berry essence in there.
Got a little dryness taste.
You could build you a fruit juice cocktail on that.
-[tickle] yeah. But it's smooth. -All in all.
The heat I'm getting is coming in afterwards.
Yeah. This vodka right here
would mix well with a lot of stuff.
[tim] oh, it's nothing wrong with it.
-No. -It's drinking like a cocktail.
Very light.
It's light on the nose
and the berries are light on the taste.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-It's a good drink. -It's good.
It's just not really what I expected.
You usually have to choose one or the other.
The flavor profile or the alcohol.
And I think he did a good job of working
with something unfamiliar
and marrying it together to make a pretty decent drink.
Yeah. Let's move on to scott.
I turned in a clear jar
that had a good nose.
I think I'm close to the proof.
Other than that, I don't know about the taste.
It's got some pineapple.
It's got a real pleasant nose on it.
[scott] definitely got the pineapple smell
and the vanilla.
The pepper didn't really come through, I don't think on mine.
-Wow. -[tim] oh, taste that...
It's in there.
That pineapple initially is so good.
-It really is. -Yeah.
I'm getting pineapple on the front,
and then, like, the pepper in the middle.
I think scott's jar could be labeled as
a perfect bloody mary vodka.
Which is gonna limit your target market.
He knows what he's doing.
He could have complemented this vodka
so many different ways.
All righty.
[dramatic music playing]
[digger] men, welcome back.
You know, we've got to think about things
on the broad spectrum.
We got to look at
can we sell a little bit of this,
or can we sell a lot of it, or will it not sell at all?
That makes it tough sometimes.
We had a really tough decision on this.
These are kind of two opposite ends
of the spectrum and they're both good.
Well, shawn, it's a little light on the nose.
But that is what I expect out of a vodka.
Overall, it's a... It's a good drink.
Well, shawn, yours looks good, taste good,
proof-wise, you did good on the proof.
Thank you.
Well, I don't wanna tell either one it's nothing.
Both of you guys, super clear job.
Your flavor profile...
Is more mixable
with different mixers.
Scott... Clears you on the table.
The last challenge was a perfect jar,
but those peppers. It does taste good.
I just couldn't drink much of it.
I love pepper.
Initially, that pineapple, man, takes your head off,
it's so good.
But I think in the big scheme of things,
yours, if it could be labeled, it would be the finest
bloody mary vodka in existence.
Honestly, I think it would.
But, and part of our job,
we have to consider
the marketability of it.
Now we got two fine drinks right there,
but there can only be one master distiller.
And, shawn,
you're the next master distiller, buddy.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
Winning master distiller
is gonna change my life dramatically.
I'd like to open my own distillery someday.
People now know what I do.
And, well, I guess they're gonna know that I'm good at it.
I feel like my family had a little bit
more confidence in me than I did.
So they'll be happy to know that I won. [laughs]
scott, you made a damn fine showing.
[scott] I was taking a chance on using peppers in there.
It was a big risk and it just didn't pay off.
I learned a lot through the process.
Pat yourselves on the back,
y'all did a damn fine job.
-[tim] thank you, guys. -Thanks.
[jeremy] next time on master distiller.
You got anything that look like that, digger?
No, we wanna make good liquor.
[jeremy] the judges are on the other side
-of the table... -Tim's using a t-shirt.
[jeremy] ...In a rematch to settle the score
for the ultimate bragging rights.
I am 100% confident in that jar.
Sound like a whole lot of bull [bleep] to me.