I've seen a whole lot of things, but I ain't never seen that.
[narrator] This time on Master Distiller...
Tequila and mezcal.
A moonshine of Mexico.
[narrator] Trade agreements dictate these spirits can only be made in Mexico.
I may have found me a new friend.
[narrator] But outlaw distillers follow their own set of rules.
Is that like a machine?
I didn't even think that was possible.
[narrator] Now...
Throwing back to kicking your butt.
[narrator] Three craftsmen bring a uniquely American flair
to a 500-year-old recipe.
It's gonna be tough.
[all laughing]
[narrator] But only one will make a name in the red hot market
for agave-based spirits.
Only one of these stands up to be a Master Distiller.
[narrator] Across the countr a handful of distillers
are heirs to a centuries old tradition.
Some operate on the legal side.
Others practice their craft
beyond the reach of the law
-[Tommy] Cook it, man. -I got you.
[narrator] Now, they'll face-off to earn their plac
in America's liquor making legacy.
[Mark] His liquor's gonna cloud up like bad iced tea.
It's already clouding up.
[narrator] Judged by three legendary moonshiners...
[Andy] There's like no alcohol in here.
[Digger] Yeah, he's done for.
[narrator] They'll go head-to-head in a series of challenges..
Two are playing chess, one is playing checkers.
[narrator] To determine who has what it takes
to be named Master Distill.
"You are the next Master Distiller."
I like that.
All right, guys. I wanna welcome you all to Master Distiller.
By the time this is all said and done,
we're gonna know which one of y'all is the next Master Distiller.
Now, along with your bragging rights you get with that,
you're gonna get limited run of your liquor in a major distillery.
That's awesome in itself.
You're gonna be making agave-based spirit
inspired by the mezcals of Mexico.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
Agave spirits have been popular here
since even before the border between the US and Mexico existed.
[Tickle] In Mexico, where these magical liquors were born,
agave-based spirits are classified as mezcals.
The most popular type of mezcals in the world is tequila.
There are 166 different species of agave.
They can be used to make mezcal.
But only one of them,
the blue weber agave
can legally be used to make tequila.
The core of the agave plant is pressed.
The sap is extracted
and cooked down to produce a high fructose spirit
that ferments into an alcoholic mash
known as "musto."
And now the agave spirit is easy to source in the US
distilleries and home distillers
are taking a crack at the agave spirit.
Adding their own American twist
to this traditional Mexican liquor.
We're gonna make it a little bit more challenging for you.
You've gotta make your mash in the woods.
So, y'all guys follow me.
Well guys, as you probably already know, I spent some time in Mexico.
And I've seen the guys make mezcal.
Now, you know, I'm a firefighter, I stop the fire.
I don't start the fire.
This part of the process is what makes
the smoky part of mezcal.
This has been done for hundreds of years.
And it is tough.
Show me what you're made out of.
You're gonna have one hour.
And your time starts now.
I gotta get out of these.
Cozy.
[Tim] Mr. Mr., what's going on there?
Was it too hot for you?
I don't wanna be getting messy,
-so I had to prepare for it. -Yeah.
-I've already got a nickname for you. -Uh-oh.
You high maintenance.
-Oh, man. -[all chuckling]
My name is James Jones.
But everybody calls me Mr. Mr.
Because I'm twice the gentleman.
I'm gonna take you into a journey
into my abode.
The thing that separates me from everybody else here,
I got swagger, I got style
and I do street shine.
I'm from Northern California
No one place in particular.
'Cause planet Earth is my turf.
Don't let the smooth taste fool you,
I'm a renaissance man.
You might find me hang gliding one day.
Do barefoot yoga in the snow
Break bricks on my stomach.
Wrestling alligators.
Those are the things that I like.
I have a eight gallon pot still with a thumper.
I have a reflux still
for my higher content alcohol.
My interest in distilling started from a very young age.
My mother, I used to see he
making plum wine.
I was learning the craft.
And I felt a... a love for it.
I believe the complexity of mixing and blending different things
brings about music.
You just take your time and sip it and say, "Wow!"
It's like a beautiful song.
I got some nature in my water.
Yeah? There you go. You're outside.
[Tommy chuckles] We'll call it flavoring.
Hi, my name is Tommy Shin.
I'm 67-years-old,
from Nehalem, Oregon.
I was in the entertainment industry.
I worked for a company that designed the sets
and stages for all the major rock and roll bands.
I've been with Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith,
The Stones, Elton John.
If you've got a favorite ban
the odds are that I've worked for them sometime
over the last 20 years.
I've been distilling for approximately six years now.
We have ignition, Houston.
And I make a batch a week.
We've been bonding over tequila.
Do get kind of excited when I make it.
It's like running with the band,
you never know what's gonna happen.
-Stick your finger in it. -Oh, man, nice.
Oh, that's really... that's nice.
This is the big time here.
There's some big boys I'm going up against.
But I don't like to finish second.
You're the first loser.
What's in that little tub there on top of the water bucket?
-Yeast food. -Yeah.
Oh, newts, huh? You got the newts already?
[Andy] Yeah. It's a little different for me.
I usually make fruit brandy.
My name is Andy Garrison.
I'm 36-years-old from Portland, Oregon.
I am a professional distille at a small boutique craft distillery
making fruit brandy and whiskey.
That's our local peaches. We make all these products only once a year.
When the fruit is in season.
And then we wait until the fruit is back.
I got interested in distilling maybe 15 years ago.
I was an accountant.
Got really into home brewing
And one thing led to anothe
and eventually, I quit my jo
and just sort of went full steam into distilling.
This is a malt whiskey. I think it probably still has
four or five more years in the barrel.
I probably make about 40 different spirits a year,
split between fruit brandies, whiskies, liqueurs.
And I think,
one asset I have going into the competition
is this is what I do everyday
and this is how I make my living.
And for me, that's just really a big advantage.
Time check.
You're about halfway. You got 30 minutes left.
[Tommy] Well, jeez.
I'm just about done.
What you need to do is just stay basic.
Weber blue agave nectar and yeast.
The agave spirit in general is documentable back in 1521.
Peasants have made it.
That's where I come from.
-You're just heating it up. -[Tommy] Yes.
I'm looking for 110 degrees.
-[Tim] Okay. -That way the water will blend with the syrup
and will all become one.
I decided to go with a Jalisco blue agave,
amber agave,
light agave.
[Tim] What is going on over here?
[Mr. Mr.] Dates, cranberry and your favorite...
-I know you love these peppers, man. -[Tim] Ooh, yeah!
It's an injustice not to include
all the multitude and millions of ingredients.
I'm gonna let the agave take front stage,
but the symphony is doing its thing.
[Tim] Andy, what you doing here?
I'm mixing up some warm water
and black agave.
So, you got a full pot there.
Takes longer when you get it full.
[Andy] I think this is about where I need it to be.
I know the agave syrups
can be a little bit low in some nutrients
that the yeast really need to thrive.
There are some nutrients I'm going to add
to build back in that profile.
My little watch here says you got about five minutes.
Hey, Mr. Mr., you know, your burner is still cooking away.
Thank you, sir. Appreciate that.
[Andy] Just keeping an eye out for you.
I hope you done did all you can do.
Well, I think the mashing is done.
All right, let's get on out of here.
Mezcal is the moonshine of Mexico.
So, I'm bringing you guys
to Cocke County, Tennessee.
It has proclaimed to be
as the moonshine capital of the world.
I'm honored to be selling my spirit.
Your critique was deeply appreciated.
[Mark] I've never been a big drinker of it.
But I'm really excited about judging your mezcal run.
We'll do our best in gearing you up to speed.
That's the good thing about doing this.
There's never been one yet
that I didn't learn something from the contestants.
[exclaims]
[Digger] Time for a little mezcal.
That delicious agave spirit...
inspired by the mezcals of Mexico.
[Tim] Nobody is going home.
It's just putting you in order to go into the stillhouse.
You have four hours.
We want your best agave spirit in the jar.
Y'all done before four hours passes.
Not four hours and one second.
Your four hours begins...
Now.
All of 'em used an agave base, but they added stuff to it.
[Mark] I seen what looks like some kind of berries in Mr. Mr.'s
Normally, they go for the alcohol first.
But I want to make sure I have my flavors.
[Tommy] Just tasted my mash
It's a go.
Oh, it's a long way down here.
[Digger] You think that's something,
wait till you try to get back up.
How you doing, Andy?
You know, I don't know.
I had a lot of worry about ferment.
Thinking, you know,
what's the worst possible thing that could happen...
And then, it happened.
There's, like, no alcohol in here.
Just needed a little bit longer.
[Tim] Tell me about your mash here.
I have some concerns about it fermenting completely.
'Cause I wasn't sure how my nutrient balance was.
I don't think you've fermented.
You might have to pull a rabbit out the hat to make that work.
[Andy] Just got no alcohol to work with.
There's no coming back from it, really.
[Mark] Yeah, he's done for.
[Tim] How're you doing, Andy?
[Andy] There's, like, no alcohol in here.
He feels like he didn't add enough nutrients in it
to start the yeast.
I have to turn something in.
So, I'm going to run some
raw mash through it. Keeping me in the competitio
Nobody's going home this first round.
But if he can get his mash jumpstarted,
then Andy's still very much a contender.
Andy.
I'd like to offer you my mash.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
We were talking about that over here.
That slop...
that's in the bottom of every mash barrel.
That is the best nutrient on the planet.
-You're welcome to some of mine, too. -Okay.
-Thank you, guys. -No worries. Yeah, I got you.
It is a competition.
In theory, I can just put it back in.
It should react. Yeah. Boom!
And bring it back to life.
[Andy] But that is who they are.
You know, they're good peopl
And I think, a lot of people involved in distilling and moonshining
are the same way.
[Digger] How do you feel about it now?
I think, maybe I lost the battle,
but the war is not yet over.
It's kicking off.
Now I'm going back to kicking your butt.
[Mr. Mr.] Which jar are you on?
[Tommy] Seven.
[Mr. Mr.] Ooh, man!
I'm already going on four.
But the taste is getting good.
It's smooth.
-It's not... It's not too... -Oh, yeah.
-That tastes a little, like, lower. -But...
I kinda...
-Hits the spot. -Yeah.
[Mr. Mr.] I know the proof was low,
but I was more really concentrating on the burst of the flavors.
This is an art.
Planet Earth is my turf.
But my roots is in Virginia.
-[Tim] Virginia? -Yes.
-How about that? -Yeah, you know a little something about that.
-I know a little bit about Virginia. -[Mr. Mr. chuckles]
Men, one hour left.
They gave him his mash, he's using everything.
And getting the trub off the bottom of it.
Or slop as we call it.
When it cools down, he'll dump it in there.
When it gets down to bath water warm,
it should take off like a rocket.
We only get two to really be concerned with.
Oh, yeah. I'm good.
I'm good. I'm shutting it down.
[Digger] Now, Tommy down there,
he is about to cut his run.
[Tommy] When I shake it and I read it,
I think I got the pick of the stillhouse.
I honestly do.
Guys, you got right at 30 minutes left.
Y'all need 'em?
Well, y'all can chase on out and go get you a drink down by the creek.
Let's start with Andy's still.
Okay, well, this is Andy.
-There looks no alcohol in there. -He's a little cloudy there.
You can't, like, visibly see the scars.
-[all chuckling] -But I'm sure I'll retain them.
It's got an agave note on it.
[Tim] That's got a nice aroma to it.
Andy did a good job.
'Cause he's got plenty of flavor.
-There's just no alcohol. -[Mark] Flavor's nice, there's no alcohol.
You got something to work with.
I think he does. I definitely think he will, the next time we see him.
[Tim] Tommy.
[Mark] I'm telling you, that's a clear jar right there.
-Tommy's on the money with that proof I do believe. -Yeah.
I know that I make good enough tequila for me to drink around the house.
But we'll have to see if it flies out here.
Doing what it's supposed to. It goes down your throat
and just spreads out and warms up.
Mexican moonshine. Damn!
I may have found me a new friend.
[Tim] Mr. Mr. Let's see what are we looking at.
-Mmm. -Mmm.
Now, I'm surprised, he don't have no alcohol
'cause his mash was really good.
[Mark] He said he was simply trying to get the flavor,
he'd deal with the proof later.
See, it's step one now.
-He does have-- -He does. Yeah.
He does have another run.
If he can get this proofed before it needs to be
and maintain this flavor, he's got something.
We're all riding on the same bus.
-I'm good. -I tell you what, I'll go get them,
and I'll meet y'all back in there in the stillhouse.
[Tim] All right, guys. Nobody is going home.
It's just putting you in order
to go into the stillhouse.
Andy...
You do have some taste now.
You do have a base.
[Digger] You're still in the running, son.
We know what went on. Everybody does.
It happens to everybody. It happened to me.
If anybody it ain't when they're making liquor, beer or wine,
they're lying to you.
Tommy, nice clean jar.
You know, it tastes really traditional mezcal.
The agave spirit that you distilled,
you can really taste it.
-Thank you. -You get a lot of flavor.
-A lot of flavor. -Thank you.
Proof's spot on. I'm gonna say you're 95 to 105.
-That's some work. -That's what I thought.
-It's what a mezcal's supposed to be. -Thank you.
-Mr. Mr. -Yes, sir.
You had a really, really powerful flavor in there.
Carried through really well.
Broke right into all the fruits you got in there.
And then, it went flat because lack of alcohol.
You have the taste profile that you're looking for.
Raise the proof up and no doubt, you know what you doing.
All right, guys. Now, we just got you in order
to go to the stillhouse.
Starting with Andy. You'll be number three.
Tommy.
Tommy, you'll be the first one.
-Mr. Mr., you'll be number two. -Yes, sir.
[Tim] And that's where I gotta call my buddy, Tickle.
Tickle!
How's it going now?
[Tim] Well, we got some guys here that made us some agave-based spirits.
All right, fellas. If y'all ready to go to the stillhouse,
y'all come on with me.
-Good luck. men. -Good luck, gentlemen.
I'll try not to lower my donkey.
And I promise you, that right there is
why you never feed a raccoon peanut butter out of your hands.
[all laughing]
[Tickle] All right, gentlemen. We're at out stillhouse pick.
Now, you're gonna have three minutes
to pick all your still parts.
Tommy, you're up first.
Starting now.
It goes by quicker than you think in there.
I'm gonna go up there and pick the same still that I'm running on right now.
Are you finding anything, Tommy?
-Not yet. -Well, that's not a good sign.
[Tommy] That's the same one I have at home.
And my philosophy is, if it's not broke, I'm not gonna fix it.
I don't see no gaskets in here.
-[Tickle] No gaskets? -Oh, I got 'em. I found 'em.
I'm gonna get what I want.
Run what I know.
And hope for the best.
All right, no thumper, no nothing.
You still got little bit of time left.
-[Tommy] I'm good. -[Tickle] All right. Okay.
-Mr. Mr. -[Mr. Mr.] Yes, sir.
You are up.
And your time starts now.
Now that I'm comfortable with my flavor profile...
it's time to like, put some fire in and make some fire, yeah.
That sounded like a thumper to me.
Am I correct?
No, no, no.
I've got plenty to work with.
I got flavor, I got enough to produce alcohol.
-[Tickle] You got one minute left in there, Mr. Mr. -[Mr. Mr.] All right.
So, I'm... I'm good.
All right, have you got what you need?
All right.
-Well, you finished with time to spare. -All right.
[Tickle] All right, Andy. You are up.
And your time starts...
Not yet.
Now.
All right, Andy.
Go in there and clean house. See what you got in there.
Just in case you didn't know, Andy, the pot is the big one.
Uh-huh.
I'm still here participating.
It's 'cause they kinda reached into the depths of their heart
and pulled out a sludgy handful of yeast to give me.
[Tickle] Two minutes left. One minute has elapsed.
[Andy] But it is a competition.
You know, we're all competitive people. We all want to win.
[Tickle] All right, fellas. If you got everything you need,
let's head on back in,
so y'all get these stills put together.
Oh, by the way, Andy, you gotta use all of that.
[all chuckling]
[Tickle] All I can say,
is if they can't build three stills with what they got, there ain't no hope for them.
[Digger] I hope you got everything you need.
You're gonna have one hour to build us
a still that functions properly and is safe.
Your one hour starts...
Now. Good luck, men. Get with it.
Mr. Mr. and Tommy's are exactly the same.
Try and get this gasket right here.
They're eliminating the thumper out of there, that's it.
With Andy's mash being what it was,
a thumper may help him more alcohol.
I don't know what he was doing with all that other stuff.
Tickle told him to get everything he can get in there is what happened.
I'm done. We're good.
[Mark] Next step is your flavor run.
Four hours are all you get, men.
We wanna see your best agave spirits
inspired by the mezcals of Mexico.
Your four hours starts...
Now. Good luck, guys.
I really, really hope
that Andy's mash continued to work after it got fired up.
Mash ain't work, no matter how good the still looks.
-[Digger] Exactly. -It ain't gonna produce no alcohol.
How does it taste, Andy?
[Digger] I really, really hope
that Andy's mash continued to work after it got fired up.
How does it taste, Andy?
It's good.
My mash, it seemed to be working,
so I feel happy in that regard.
We got something really good to start with.
We're really gonna taste Andy's for the first time.
This could be a benefit for him.
Uh-oh. Secret stuff.
What's he crunching up over there?
I don't know.
[smashing]
I tasted some agave spirits made from agave syrup.
I was concerned that they didn't really bring flavor of a traditional mezcal.
So, I wanted to bolster that with botanicals.
We see a lot of roots and herbs going in that pot.
Dried limes. They're not oily, they don't have, like, citrus oil.
And I have some smoked chilies.
Sansho pepper.
It has that kinda like citrus-y, black pepper, floral--
[Mark] None of this is to make it spicy.
-You just want the taste profile. -I just want the aroma.
-[Mark] Okay. -Yeah, I just want the smell.
Mr. Mr. is putting everything but the kitchen sink in his still.
[Mr. Mr.] I had a very low proof, so I needed to bring that out.
Here he goes. Some strain coming out.
He's gonna make a tube for it?
But there are few little things that are gonna bring out
that I've never seen here.
The little hanging doo-dads in your cap here.
-Is that... Does those have spices in them? -[Mr. Mr.] Yeah.
It gives a certain floral notes.
Okay, here goes my jar. Putting it in there.
No pulling back.
Mr. Mr. and Andy, they want to change the middle.
They want to change the end
That's fine. I'm not changing.
You told us, you had just a simple, traditional mezcal,
had agave, yeast and water.
You're sticking kinda true to that process.
[Tommy] You bet.
[Mark] That's really the beauty of this contest.
It's agave spirit,
but you each put up your own twist on it.
So, you know, that's how things evolve.
You're cooking, man. Look at you.
[Tommy] I had never double distilled.
So, going into the second run,
I had no clue.
-I'm doing it like you're supposed to. -[Mr. Mr.] Yeah.
[Tommy] I'm liking what's coming out.
-I just hope that... -[Mr. Mr.] Right.
...the proof drops down before I run out of liquid.
[Mr. Mr.] What about you? You ever double distilled?
-For sure. We double distill everything. -[Mr. Mr.] Uh-huh.
Wow, look at that.
I hadn't taken in the full...
-[all chuckling] -[Andy] It's like a work of art.
I got a few other things that I'm going for.
[Andy] How can you have other things?
[Mr. Mr.] You're gonna see. You'll see.
-I like it. -We'll see how I do it.
I've been staring at it the whole time.
I'm on the edge of my seat.
I'm going on a different level right now.
Is that like a machine?
[Mr. Mr.] When you taste my mezcal,
I want you to taste smokines
Because that's indigenous to Mexico mezcal.
You put chips in it, light it, there's a little fan, blows it through that tube.
[Mr. Mr.] I do smoking techniques that are a whole
different vibe from it.
Prior to even using the wood chips,
you get a certain smokiness
But it won't overwhelm the flavor.
The oils and the resins wil adhere to the wall
of the alcohol.
-We never saw that, Tim. -Never seen it.
[Mark] I didn't even think that was possible.
30 minutes, men.
[Andy] 'Cause I strained from just raw mash,
I know I needed to bring the proof up of my spirit.
-[Mr. Mr.] Can I try it? -[Andy] Yeah.
It's good.
And it's got a good proof right as it is.
The thumper really helped bump the proof way up.
We'll see if it deserves to win.
Jury's out.
Have to be careful 'cause they're looking for a clear jar.
So, I don't wanna get ahead of myself.
Guys, you're down to five minutes.
If at any point you're ready to turn your jar in, feel free.
-[Tommy] That's about a 100 proof. -Bring it on, boss.
Here you go, guys.
[Digger] All righty.
A clean jar.
-Clean, full jar, that's what we're looking for. -Clear jar.
All right. Here you guys go.
[Tim] That's your pick of the litter?
-I think that's the one. -All righty.
I have to say, Andy, that looks much nicer than the other one.
Mr. Mr. Cleanest jar on the table.
-That is a beautiful jar. -[Digger] That's a fine jar of liquor.
It's got some backbone, too.
He's got all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.
[Mr. Mr.] I feel pretty goo about it.
Definitely improvement over the last time.
-Smells really good. -Yeah, it's good.
Good, rich smell on it.
But not heavily smoked.
[Mark] Wow, I don't know if he put any of that smoke
in that or not.
Or if this was what he was planning
for his next adventure.
Really good.
It's sweet. It's got a little bit of prickly heat
-from the pepper he put in there. -Pepper.
Nothing in there that's unpleasant.
[Tim] Tommy.
[Andy] Tommy, do you think, you'll ever do
-double distilling again? -[Tommy] Nope.
Although, it came out really clear.
It came out really strong.
[Tim] Think he's got high proof in there.
He's got 120 miles an hour, right there.
[Digger] Ain't that nice?
-Yeah. -Whoa!
[Digger] It is high proof liquor, but damn, it don't taste like high proof liquor.
I'm probably more impressed with these two right here
that anything we've ever had to date.
-Don't count Andy out yet. -No.
-Let's try Andy's, we gotta-- -We gotta try Andy's.
[Andy] You know, I definitely feel better...
-[Mr. Mr.] You changed-- -...today than I did the last time.
[Tim] Got a a nice, pretty clean jar.
He's got it all. [chuckles]
[Digger] He's got a fine bead.
[Andy] I'm happy with what I turned in.
It might not taste like they're expecting it to taste.
The botanicals in there,
-I think really build it a little bit. -Right.
But we'll see if it's too much.
Total different notes.
It don't smell anything like these at all,
-but-- -I'm smelling pepper.
Oh, a lot of pepper.
I like... I like pepper.
-And I like a lot pepper... -Yeah.
-But it's a little too powerful for me. -[Digger] It's not balanced.
We've got three really, really good drinks right here.
But unfortunately, there's two of 'em that rise above.
Definitely, two here is riding in a jet.
And the other one is riding in a prop plane.
Two are playing chess, one is playing checkers.
We gotta go in here and deliver some
good news to couple and sad news to one.
I'm telling you.
Outstanding job, every one of you.
Tom...
You kept it simple, you bragged about your recipe.
You said you run this time and time again...
It showed.
Your flavors are off the charts.
Everything, all right there, just punches you right in the throat.
The big high proof bite right there in the middle of your tongue,
just finished off sweet.
-Wow! -[Digger] Outstanding.
Thank you.
Myself, I think it's about ten points too hot.
You know, I'd bring it down,
maybe a 105 or something there.
I think you're about 120.
-Mr. Mr. -Yes, sir.
[Mark] Outstanding job.
Your proof was a little closer to the benchmark 100 mark
that we shoot for.
You had a little more pepper, just a tiny little bit of oakiness in there.
But finished out just sweet as a piece of candy.
Thank you, sir.
-Andy, you my friend, are a magician. -[chuckles]
What else did you have besides peppercorns?
I had some smoked chipotle peppers.
-[Digger] Yeah. -And some dried limes.
[Digger] Everything was right there.
The only negative side that we can see
was the peppercorns were a little too prominent.
I think it took away a little bit of your sweetness
it should have had towards the end.
But what you did was outstanding.
You pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
So, after all the accolades,
it comes the sad time that we gotta cut somebody loose.
[Digger] All right, guys.
So, after all the accolades,
it comes the sad time that we gotta cut somebody loose.
Andy...
Your jar bought you a ticket home, my friend.
I'm awful sorry.
If you do nothing else on this Earth,
you have established yourself as a top-notch distiller.
Cheers. Thank you.
[Andy] This is what I do. This is how I make my living
So, having them think that I'm good at what I do,
I'm good at my chosen, you know, path.
It is pretty meaningful.
Made me feel good.
[Digger] Time's come. Gotta move on to that next challenge.
You look at each other and you know
that's your stiffest competition right there.
[Tim] The last challenge.
You brought your agave spirits alive.
Right now it's in the blanco state,
which means it's clear and unaged.
Next step, you're gonna get 30 minutes to age it.
We're gonna let it sit overnight, you come back
and you can strain it, proof it.
Whatever you wanna do to it.
Because then it would be in reposado state.
Don't you all screw this up. That's too good a liquor.
Y'all got 30 minutes to get your liquor on oak.
Your time starts now.
[Mr. Mr. grunts]
Tommy over here, he's staying traditional all the way from the beginning.
[Tommy] You guys got medium toast French chips right there.
They're taken out off old barrels.
They run 'em through a chipper shredder,
it makes little chunks of it.
He's bringing them chips straight out of the bag,
he's not rinsed them, and he didn't soak them, he's not done anything.
If he didn't rinse them, some of his liquor is gonna cloud up like bad iced tea.
It's already clouding up.
So, I'll filtering it now and I'm gonna put 'em all back in a fresh jar.
And then, I'm gonna rinse the chips and put them back in there.
-Have you used those chips before? -[Tommy] Yes, sir.
[Digger] Did you use 'em just like you're using 'em right now?
Yes, sir.
You never rinse 'em, soak 'em?
I'm about to do that now.
-It's a little too late, ain't it? -No.
He's sitting over there. He's cool as a center seed of a cucumber.
And Mr. Mr., he's brought something new to the table every time he turned around.
Is that tea bags? Are you making us a glass of tea?
[Mr. Mr.] They're oak bags. So I took empty tea bags...
I put the chips in.
Influence it with certain botanicals
that would max this flavor and not throw it off.
And that's why with this one, it's started to turn,
as you can see, more of the reposado.
-Reposado. -I always want it anejo
I want it to be deep and rich
and there will be complexity.
Variety is the spice of life.
You learn something new every day.
Because only a fool knows everything.
Everybody where they need to be?
-Yes, sir. -Yup, I'm good. I just gotta put my senorita to bed.
[Digger] Good deal. Y'all tuck 'em in.
Do what you gotta do.
We'll keep an eye on 'em.
All right, men, welcome back.
You're gonna have 30 minutes.
Polish that up, strain it, filter it, blend it,
whatever you need to do.
If you improve any more than what we've already tasted,
we're gonna be in for a tough decision.
Your 30 minutes start...
Now.
Come on, wake up.
Come on, there you go.
[Digger] I do believe
that Tommy has salvaged that liquor.
He's pulled those chips off after he rinsed them.
Put 'em in a new jar of liquor.
And now, he has crystal clear spirit.
There's a beauty and a simplicity
that I think these judges are gonna understand and see.
How you doing, Mr.?
Oh, I'm doing pretty good here. Almost finished.
That looks exotic.
Thank you.
[Digger] Mr. Mr.
His precision, his attention to detail over there,
second to none.
He's nowhere near traditional where mezcal comes in,
and especially aged,
he's making his own way.
[Tommy] Mr. Mr., I'm amazed by how complicated he makes it.
But it's not. It's a simple spirit.
I just kept my head down and just kept plunking.
Enjoy, guys.
[Mr. Mr.] I would like to give a blessing
to the agave spirits, if I may.
-All right. -[Digger] All yours.
I've seen a whole lot of things, but I ain't never seen that.
I think you're a man of many mysteries and talents.
We're gonna go do a little taste,
a little deliberating.
And we're gonna come back and give you our decision.
Good luck to both of you. Thank you.
[Digger] Bring it! Come on, Timmy.
Well, we got one that's cold and one at room temperature.
Yeah, one that ain't full.
It's 'cause it must have been good.
Well, I hope it is.
Well, get to pouring, let's figure out this now.
Let's look at it here.
Mr. Mr.
It almost looks like a really, really long-time aged whiskey.
[Mr. Mr.] It's nothing to b nervous about.
I won't lie.
I'm not bragging, but I'm telling the truth.
I don't see any reason
why my product
shouldn't stand out.
-I'm picking up a fruity, fruity note. -[Mark] Yeah, real fruity.
[Tim] I'm picking up some of that oak.
-And now maybe some vanilla. -Yeah.
[Mr. Mr.] "Mr. Mr.
You are next Master Distiller."
I like that.
Are you expecting some dangerous
animal to appear?
'Cause I see that you have at least three knives on you.
You gotta have it when you go in the woods,
-in case the alligator comes out and you wrestle him. -[Tim chuckles]
I like to wrestle alligators, jump out of planes.
I can't see where those three knives is gonna help you jumping out of a plane.
Jump out of the plane, your chute don't open,
you got one of those knives, you can kill yourself before you hit the ground.
Hopefully, you bleed out before you land.
Save yourself a lot of pain.
I just don't see any damn sense in jumping out of a perfectly good airplane
-as long as it's not having engine problems. -[Mr. Mr.] No.
It's exciting.
If I wanna generate excitement and wrassle something that's deadly,
I just go home and throw some of my wife's clothes away.
[Mr. Mr. chuckles]
It generates the same kind of energy.
[Tim] Mr. Mr.
I'm picking up these cherry notes
and fruity flavors.
That could be coming all the way from his base agave.
He got a lot of cherry on the middle there.
But it's got a bitter coffee end to it.
Let's try that one more time.
-I'm a little bit disappointed. -Just a little.
Because how good the raw spirit was
to where we're at right now.
You know, it's got so many really, really good floral fruity...
-It is. -[Digger] ...notes in there.
Then, there's just a couple in there that just don't fit.
I think he did an exceptional job
with all the hocus-pocus
that he used in his method,
whatever it might be.
But I think he just lost the agave somewhere in the translation.
-Let's taste this one. See, what we got. -Let's move on.
All right, Tommy.
Transparent. Translucent. No floaties in it.
He scared me to death when he put those chips in it first.
Me and Digger looked over and it was cloudy, cloudy.
Usually, you can't get that out.
-He did. -[Mark] He did it.
He did.
I mean, going by the beads, just look.
[Digger] Yeah.
He said he liked where he was at though.
They're gonna see that this is what Tim went down and drank in Mexico
is right here today.
Made by... me.
Well, no nose.
It ain't hardly got any smell.
That's nice.
That's really nice.
That still got that agave spirit.
The agave is still right there,
alive and well in this jar.
That's a reposado...
agave.
I don't know anything about a reposado or a nose mobil,
-but that's nice. -[Mark chuckles]
We asked these guys to make, you know, make their spin
on agave spirit.
You know, only one of these on the table
tastes, looks and feels like agave spirit.
Only one of these stands up to be a mass distiller.
[Digger] Men, sorry we took so long.
Some good drinking went on right there.
Mr. Mr., you have a lot of showmanship
of things that we've never seen before.
Some surprises.
But you're good at it.
It's in your heart.
And those characteristics that you have in you,
you put it in that jar.
-Thank you. -[Tim] Sure did.
-Thank you. -You started out with a beautiful agave spirit.
What you did there was fantastic.
Flavors are really in there.
The only negative I can find was,
I think you lost the agave spirit in there somewhere.
But all-in-all, fine drink.
Thank you, sir.
Tommy...
You said that you're along their lines.
Just stick to what you know.
I think that's what you did.
You started just like Mr. Mr.
A beautiful agave flavor
all through and through.
The only negative I can pull out of your jar
was maybe a few more chips
would have really brought more oakiness
and mellowed it out and really made it beautiful.
You both are outstanding distillers.
It's never an easy job here,
but there can be only one Master Distiller.
Tommy, you're the next Master Distiller.
-Congratulations. -[Mr. Mr.] Whoa, man!
-[Tommy] Yeah! -Right on, man.
Good job.
I don't feel like the Master Distiller yet.
I think it's gonna take a little sleep and...
some time, but I know that I won.
Darn it, I won.
-Mr. Mr., you have nothing to be ashamed of. -Yes, sir.
It was simply the criteria we had to judge.
I will continue to love that spirit.
The complexity and the sophistication of it.
And I will have to elevate my game,
so I can come back
and show you what I really can do.
You guys chase on out
and have a drink with each other's spirit.
-Thank you, thank you very much. -Thank you.
[Digger] Let's go get us a drink.