Master Distiller (2019–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - Prohibition Edition - full transcript
[jeremy schwartz]
this time on
master distiller...
It's the original
american spirit,
first one ever made.
[jeremy] applejack.
The og alcohol that kicked off
moonshining in america.
Secret recipe, it's salt,
sugar, saw dust.
[jeremy] distilled in
a backyard
process called jacking...
-[jon] I've done
jacking before.
-Whoa.
This was always called
the poor man's distillation.
...And made safer to drink
in a second high-proof run.
I hope you know
what you're doing.
Gives it a little extra...
I like a little extra
eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
[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.
[mark] that has got some
alcohol in it with the proof.
Judged by
three legendary moonshiners,
they'll go head-to-head
in a series of challenges...
[tim] get your hammer,
bust that ice up.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna
do about that?
[digger]
you better juice it up.
...To determine who has
what it takes...
[tim] he's got more
little packs
than anybody I ever seen.
...To be named
master distiller.
[tim] that'll be
a 3.2 explosion.
[jon] whoa, whoa.
Oh, hell!
It just collapsed.
In the name of sense,
that's 120 proof.
That means [beep]
just got real.
[mark]
oh, mother of pearl.
[digger] guys, welcome.
We're gonna find out
which one you all is
the master distiller.
What you're gonna win
is your bragging rights,
of course,
but you're
gonna get a limited run
of your particular liquor
in a major distillery.
We're here to make
some applejack.
Me and old mark,
we've had a jar or two
of that in our time.
[mark]
we damn sure have, bud.
They say that an apple a day
keeps the doctor away.
There is a good chance
that a jar of applejack a day
will keep the undertaker away.
Applejack is an original
american spirit.
First one ever made.
Now, tickle,
tell us about it.
Applejack was
first made in 1698
by a scottish immigrant
named william laird.
There is nothing more american
than applejack.
As a matter of fact,
george washington
loved it so much,
he asked robert laird
for the family recipe.
"hey, mind if I get that?"
applejack is traditionally
about 86 proof.
The name applejack comes
from the process of making it.
Jacking is when you freeze
the fermented cider
and then you remove the ice.
That will concentrate,
not only your alcohol,
but your flavor and now,
it's having a resurgence.
And the rest of the country
knows something we in the
backwoods has always known.
This right here is one
mighty fine liquor.
All right, guys, time to build
your mash. You got one hour.
Your time starts...
Now.
Get busy.
This part right now,
they're really nervous.
Hell, I'm nervous.
Tater looking
pretty good already.
He's out the gate,
everybody else trying to
figure out where they at.
My name's benny mcclure,
from sevierville, tennessee.
My nickname's tater.
I'm just a
old-fashion hillbilly.
I'm a third-generation
moonshiner, bootlegger,
hustler.
Now, here's my little still.
I've made pretty much
any kind of brandy
you can think of.
There's another barrel of it.
But, my applejack brandy,
it's pretty daggone good.
My prized possession, got
all the apple
that you'll ever want.
I'll put this apple brandy
up against anybody's.
[laughs]
I'd like to win because
the old ways are dying out,
but the more traditional,
original ways
of making moonshine
are the best.
Uh-oh, tater's getting ready
to blow his up.
Jon, I've been calling you
jonny. Jon, do--
do you prefer one
or the other?
-Jon works.
-Jonny appleseed.
Jonny appleseed.
-I'll take it,
new nick name.
-How about that?
-[laughs]
-yeah.
I'm jon paso and I'm
from cleveland, ohio.
Many people have called me
a renaissance man
and I guess that label
does apply.
I'm a real estate investor,
an upcoming
children's book author.
I'm a professional brewer.
I've got my own
hot pepper cross
that I've been developing.
I am a reiki master.
It's a form of
energy medicine.
One would say that I'm
an applejack of all trades.
I'm just centering myself.
I've been distilling since
about 2007, and
I feel like I can win this
competition 'cause I bring
this extra character of love
and umami to the spirit.
-[mark] fire in the hole.
-[tim] stand back.
Haircut coming up.
-[digger] now is that apples?
-[ivy] apples.
-I'd say you brought your
stuff already chopped up.
-Yeah.
I only have an hour to go,
so, have to make it work
as best as possible.
Yup.
My name is ivy williams, I'm
from fort lauderdale, florida,
and I'm a baker.
Cookies, yum.
I actually taught myself
to moonshine.
My baking background helps me
in developing my recipes.
Sometimes I can
incorporate ingredients
that people wouldn't
normally use.
Molasses and corn.
I made this out of muscadine,
mango and hemp.
And this one is rosemary.
Mmm.
Even though I'm self-taught,
and I've only been distilling
for three years,
how I distill will bring
a different element to
this competition.
I think she's got something
special up her sleeve.
Oh, I'll guarantee it.
What in the world
is going on, tater?
I'm just trying to get
my apples worked up.
-Okay.
-That way,
they'll cook up better.
Get a better flavor in it.
I choose the mellow apples.
Like the golden delicious
just about too ripe to eat.
It just makes a more
smooth drink
and more palatable.
And what do you got
in the pot here?
A little bit of apple cider.
[tim] little bit,
about 10 gallons.
You're gonna need a bigger pot
in a minute.
Hey, ivy, I see you're puttin'
some sugar in there.
Yeah, I have white cane sugar
and brown sugar.
Oh!
The brown sugar with
the molasses in it
gives it
a little extra something.
And then
you got the apple juice.
[ivy] apple juice and apples.
It looks pretty good already.
Thank you, thank you.
[tim] how you doing, jon?
Pretty good, tim.
Look like you got a lot
of apple juice.
[jon] when I've done
applejack before,
I've done just straight juice
and cider
and I found that brings out
the best flavors.
[mark] you're not actually
gonna put any solids?
Not for fermentation.
I'll warm it up, so that
it dissolves the sugar
that I'm gonna add to boost
the alcohol content,
oxygenate everything,
throw it into the fermenter
and that's my yeast.
Oh, you speaking some
hard terms there.
-[laughs]
-you're a well-educated
distiller, it sounds like.
I know a thing or two.
[tim] oh, here we go look,
secret recipe there.
Salt, sugar, saw dust.
No, it's just brown sugar
and white sugar.
It's more of
an old-fashioned flavor.
Older flavors has
better taste to me.
All this new stuff, it seems
to be just blah, blah, blah...
[digger] what you got going
in there, jon?
Dark muscovado sugar,
high molasses content.
That's the new modern--
modern stuff.
[jon] that dark
muscovado sugar
is gonna balance that
bright crisp apple front-end.
[digger] ten minutes folks.
Looky here now.
Ivy, what is that?
Peach cider.
-Peach and applejack?
-Yeah.
I'm not a traditionalist
at all
with my applejack recipe.
You gonna make "pachlejack,"
ain't you?
It gives it a little extra...
-That's all right.
-Yeah.
I like a little extra
eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
peaches compliment apples, so
it smooths it out, uh,
like a woman.
[digger] two minutes, guys.
What you got there, ivy,
turbo yeast?
-Yes.
-Mine's about ready
for yeast.
He's got 45 pounds of apples
and the sugar in there,
that's gonna
be 150% proof.
[mark] you makin' me
a starter, jon?
[tim] he's got
more little packs
than anybody I ever seen.
[digger]
what kinda yeast you using?
[jon] a blend, 116 and 118.
[tim] that'd be
a 3.2 explosion.
My yeast blend is going
to boost the alcohol.
He's got a measuring spoon.
[digger] five, four,
three, two, one.
Step away, guys.
Y'all are done.
Very interesting.
We're looking forward
to tasting this.
Your mash is gonna sit here
for five days. Ready or not,
it's gotta be put in the
freezer and froze.
All right, guys, head on out.
[jeremy] once the yeast
is active,
the apple mash ferments
for five days
as the microbes convert
the sugars
into ethanol
and carbon dioxide.
By choosing the right yeast
to sugar concentration,
a skilled distiller should
be able to reach
10 to 12% alcohol by volume.
Welcome back, guys.
Your mash,
hopefully, it's worked out.
Early americans used to
ferment their apple cider
in the wintertime,
and they would
freeze distill it.
[digger]
you all got 30 minutes
to strain your mash out,
and ready to freeze.
Your time starts...
Now.
Good luck.
[mark] it's gonna be good just
to see the different flavors
from the three different mash.
[digger] different ciders,
different apples,
different sugar.
Different sugar amounts.
-[jon] it's pretty dry.
-[tim] is it?
Yeah, got some
tartness though.
We'll see how that comes
through the still.
I felt completely happy
with the fermentation.
I was trying to ferment it out
and really dry--
get a lot of alcohol.
[tater] mine's kinda sweet.
Smells real good.
[jon] can I try yours, tater?
Yeah, I got plenty left.
[laughs]
-I probably got
15 more gallons.
-You do.
[tater] kinda sweet.
-But it ain't got
a lot of sticky left to it.
-Just a little hint.
Yeah. What do you think
your abv was?
Twelve? Ten?
Hell, I don't know.
I'll bet it'll make liquor.
-I know that much.
-[laughing]
fifteen minutes, guys.
-You wanna taste it?
-No.
I'm gonna smell it though.
I noticed most shiners taste
their mash, but I never do.
I normally let my nose
lead me
when I'm baking
or making my spirits.
-Mind if I try yours.
-No problem, feel free.
I'm curious with that
peach in there.
-Mmm, oh, ivy that's good.
-[laughs]
-what do you think? Yeah?
-That's good.
Two minutes, guys.
They should get
them tops on them.
Five,
four,
three,
two,
one. Step away, guys,
y'all are done.
Ready or not, it's gotta be
put in a freezer and froze.
After the 24 hours, is
y'all are gonna come back,
do a little old-fashioned
freeze distillation.
[jeremy] the process
for freeze jacking,
or freeze distilling
applejack,
begins by straining
the fermented mash,
then placing it in
frigid temperatures.
At 32 degrees, water freezes,
forming an ice cap on top
of the mixture.
But since alcohol has
a lower freezing point,
it concentrates at the bottom
in a liquor
that's been jacked.
The result is an apple brandy
called applejack.
You guys head out. We'll get
these in the freezer for you.
[ivy] thank you.
-[mark] we'll see you
in some 24 hours.
-24.
[jeremy] coming up,
three mashes go into
the deep freeze,
and one distiller
gets iced out.
Somebody's got to go home.
Welcome back,
lady and gentlemen.
You strained your own
applejack mash,
and you froze your mash.
Now, it's time to do it
like the old days.
Get your hammer,
bust that ice up
and bring us a good jar.
Applejack.
[mark] the winner today,
which has the best jar
of applejack on the table
gets first choice
of still parts.
And at the end of that,
you gonna run it for us.
We're looking forward
to tasting it.
You got 30 minutes
to chip the ice off,
bring us a jar of that liquor.
Your 30 minute starts... Now.
You know, this was always
called the poor man's
distillation,
'cause it was for somebody
who couldn't afford a still.
-That's cold cold,
right there.
-[tim] yes, it's cold.
[mark]
that's bringing new arthritis
out in the fingers.
[digger] looks to me like
tater took that glass down
in that bucket
just far enough to
run over the rim.
[tim] yeah, you wanna get
the alcohol up to the top.
[tater] I've always made
apple brandies
and then freezed it
and make it applejack.
I've pretty much got it
down to science.
[mark] ivy put
a peach in hers.
Yeah, she has
peaches and apples.
[mark] that may be
the reason hers
is a little different color.
Yeah, it's a pretty
honey color.
Different approach.
[mark] she's dipping
her strainer down in the
bucket and getting it out.
This distillation process
is completely different
from what I normally
do at home.
They didn't ever no applejack
made in florida.
-[ivy] no, it's hard
to get down there, too.
-Yeah.
Ooh-wee, that ice is moving.
At home, I produced
an amazing applejack
'cause I researched it
and learned everything
I could about it.
-I've done jacking,
cleveland winters and...
-Yeah.
-...And freeze it
a couple times.
-Yeah.
Ten minutes, guys.
[jon] halfway
to the good stuff.
Hmm.
Well, here you go, fellas.
Right, wrong or indifferent.
All right, buddy,
we'll be to get you all
in a little bit.
[tim] bring it in here, ivy.
Here you go.
Ah! Looks good.
-Good luck.
-[tim] all right.
All right, gentlemen.
-Here we go, enjoy.
-[mark] all right, boss.
-Thank you.
-[digger] good luck.
Thank you.
Let's get busy before
they get hot.
This is jonny appleseed.
Jon didn't use any solids.
Cider and juice.
Oh! Yeah.
I smell little
alcohol in there.
Mine was pretty frozen solid.
So, what I was straining off
was exactly what I needed.
[digger laughs]
it's a tiny bit dry.
It's dry. Finished real good.
But, there's absolutely
no apple flavor in here.
-No, it's finished.
-It's all alcohol.
I think if he'd have called
his fermentation two days ago,
where I've got alcohol
plus I got flavor,
we'd be looking at
a whole lot better drink.
How about you, tater,
are you a little nervous?
Yeah, a little bit.
All the liquid was on top.
So I figured
just go with that.
Let's try tater out here.
That's got
a real nice nose on it.
That's appley appley.
On our account.
Just a mash ready to distill.
I'm just wanting
to put it in the still
and make some liquor
out of it is what I--
-you're itching to run.
-Yeah.
Let's see what
ivy's tastes like.
She put a peach or two
in her mash.
[tim] it looks
a little peachy, don't it?
I never try mine
until the end.
Really?
I just use my nose and
how it looks and shakes.
That taste more the way
I think it should.
Yeah, it's got a little sweet
taste to it.
You can pull that peach
out of it, too.
It's right there at
the back end.
Well, in taste profile,
I think ivy has got it.
I don't know if that
will hurt her
during her distillation
or not.
May not have
the alcohol content.
I think jon
and tater is went
farther into their
fermentation because
theirs is nowhere near
as sweet as ivy's.
We're judging this on
the way it tastes right now.
I'm in the boat with
you fellas.
All right, guys, welcome back.
[tim] jon appleseed.
A lot of alcohol there.
I think you're gonna make
a nice distilling when
you get done with it.
Thank you.
But it is light on
the apple flavor,
simply because I think you
didn't use any apples.
But if you get your hands
on a thumper
you may transfer over
some apple flavor
during the distillation.
[tim] ivy, because you put
the peaches in it,
it has a phenomenal
taste profile.
What did you think about
the taste profile?
I haven't tasted it.
What do you mean
you haven't taste it?
I never taste it
until the end.
-Really?
-Yeah.
That's either a big gamble
or a lot of confidence.
[digger]
or a powerful nostril.
Nonetheless, you have
the sweetest drink,
so your fermentation may not
be completely done.
And that may come back
to haunt you in the still.
Yeah.
Tater, you put a lot
of apples in there.
I mean, it comes
right through the taste.
But, you went deep
into your fermentation
and we got a lot of alcohol
in there.
All right, guys,
the upside here is
nobody's going home.
[digger] there's just
a pecking order of
the still house
to pick your parts.
Ivy, you're going first.
[jon] ah.
Tater,
you're number two
and, jon, number three.
You ain't out the race,
but you're just bringing up
behind them.
Make sure you got
everything you need.
We got a tour guide for you.
Tickle!
How's it going, fellers?
[tim] well, we got
three contestants, tickle,
and all three of them
need a still.
All right, y'all come on.
We'll see if we can't
rustle up some still parts.
Y'all are here to pick
your still parts.
What's important is to make
sure all your fittings fit
and take extra parts
if you need to.
And, ivy,
you're up first, ma'am.
You got five minutes,
starting now.
How's it coming in there?
[ivy] uh... Tryin' to
work around.
This still house is like
body parts laying everywhere.
And I have to put this body
back together.
It's like, oh,
where's the head,
where's the neck,
where's the arms?
-Two minutes, ivy.
-Two minutes?
-[tickle] yes, ma'am.
Two minutes left!
-Aah!
If I had maybe
a minute or two more,
I could have
definitely made sure
that fittings are gonna fit,
'cause you never really know
until it's time
to tie it all together.
All righty.
[grunts]
ivy has not only a still,
ivy has a kitchen sink.
All right, tater,
you got five minutes
starting now!
[tater] there was plenty
of stuff in there,
some that I didn't know
what in the world
I'd do with it.
But I'm kinda stuck
in the way I do things
at my own place.
I'm not hearing any sound.
I'm wondering if tater
didn't fall asleep in there.
Time to wake up
and put a still together!
I'm tryin', I'm tryin'.
Got my pot, my gas, my arm,
got my doubler, the worm.
Got all the components,
I think, that I'll need.
[tickle] you got five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
All right.
Jon, you got five minutes
to see what you can't
frankenstein together.
Starting now.
[tickle] he's kicking around
in there right out.
There's the gaskets.
Going third
to pick still parts,
I am worried that
there's not gonna be
everything there for me.
-One minute, jon.
-All right.
Anybody got
an extra small gasket?
I'm missing that in here.
Yeah, I got it.
[tickle]
tater says he's got it.
All right, open her up.
Here we go.
Shotgun condenser.
All right, y'all.
Let's get all these
still parts back
and run out some
high octane applejack.
I completely
forgot something.
I realized I forgot something.
I didn't have the thumpers,
and I was planning on having
that apple flavor
come back out
once I run it
through the thumper.
That's okay.
I'll deal with it.
[digger] all right, guys,
it's time for y'all
to show them
still building skills.
We want it complete,
ready or run.
You got one hour,
starting now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] I see y'all got a lot
of parts over here.
I hope you can figure out
how to put it together.
[tater] it's kinda
nerve-racking
'cause it ain't the same stuff
as I'm used to using.
[tim] jon, I'm concerned
about you.
You only have two items
over there.
You don't have a thumper.
It's gonna be a challenge,
but I'm looking forward to it.
You know, you got a still
and a shotgun condenser,
I hope you know
what you doing.
[jon] I hope so, too.
We'll find out.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna
do about that?
It's still a little short.
The equipment here
is completely different
from what I normally use.
So, it's gonna be a challenge,
but it's not anything
that I'm afraid of.
Hopefully, you won't need
your cutting board.
[ivy chuckles]
I think I'm good.
I'm complete.
I'm done all I can do.
[mark] y'all ready to make
a little liquor?
-Yes.
-Hot damn!
All right, guys.
Four-hour run time.
We need a jar of your best
clear liquor on this table.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[mark] sadly, at the end
of this round,
one of you will be going home.
When they're ready
to distill this,
we'll get an all together
different flavor
and we're gonna
have a clear jar.
Fire in the hole.
[tim] I smell fried tater.
[ivy] whoo! Be careful.
Start getting it heated up.
Jon's over there
cutting apples still.
[digger] getting ready
to put them down
the sack, I'd say.
Getting that apple flavor
without a thumper,
my backup plan
is to hang the fruit
in the still itself.
I want that vapor touching
every possible
molecule of that apple.
Now, as that distillate
comes up,
it's gonna hit that bag
and drag flavors
right out of those apples.
It's a good theory
if he can make it work.
I'm not quite used to
that particular still setup,
so this is a very big
learning experience for me.
It's got water in it,
but it's not running.
I'll run it.
-[mark] whoa!
-[digger] whoa!
-Oh, hell!
-[ivy] be careful.
[digger]
whoa, it just collapsed.
-[tim] cut the pump valve.
-Oh, hell!
[jon] it formed a vacuum.
-You have to pull it out.
-[tim] better cut
the pump valve.
He got his water cut off?
Shotgun condensers
are the greatest thing,
except once water goes
the opposite direction...
-Yeah.
-...It starts pulling it
back down the hill.
Okay.
Created us a vacuum.
But, as soon as
you put air on it,
and blow it back out,
-that's when it's gonna work.
-Yup.
-There it goes.
-[tim] there it goes,
there it goes.
It's popping out.
There you go.
We're just gonna have to start
this ball game over again.
We can get thrown
curve balls left and right
but I got my eye
on that prize.
[digger]
guys, you got three hours.
Now, it's time to get serious.
-[jon] the run has begun.
-[ivy] yes, it has.
-[mark]
tater's runnin' liquor.
-It's looking good, tater.
You got stuff coming out.
[tim] he's filling
that jar up fast.
[tater] what was
the proof they said
they was wanting us
to try to hit on this?
-[ivy] 80.
-86 or higher.
-86 or higher?
-Or higher.
[tater] to have mark,
digger and tim say
positive things about
my applejack
makes me feel confident,
but I'm gonna try to get
the proofage that
they's looking for.
[digger]
tater knows what he's doing
and I'm assuming
jon does, too.
But I'ma believe
old ivy's done taken notes.
Well, she won
the cold challenge.
I'm happy about the feedback
from the prior round,
but the judges felt mine
was gonna be
on a little weaker side.
[digger]
you better juice it up.
It's getting.
My next step is just
to correct my proof.
Ivy put copper mesh
in her thump arm.
-[mark] that'll up the proof
a little bit.
-But it strips flavor.
[tim] yeah, I'm not
too fond of that.
Guys, two hours left.
[tim] how's yours
dong over there, jon?
-Are you trickling?
-Coming out.
-You got her coming out, ivy?
-[ivy] there she goes.
[jon] all right!
Damn, that's still hot.
[beep]
-you got a second?
-Yeah.
-Smells pretty.
-Good.
Have a little swig.
[tater] well,
it smells pungent.
God damn.
[jon laughs]
-[tater coughing]
-that's good proof.
[grunts]
[beep]
[jon] yeah,
that's got alcohol in it.
You daggone right
that's got alcohol in it.
You can always make
the proof lower.
Sometimes,
it's really difficult
to make it higher.
Ivy, you've been
doing the spoon test
-on a spoon?
-Yes.
Check my alcohol
content in it.
Proof up there?
-A little bit higher than 80.
-Okay.
-But you know, it's...
-Okay.
-...Between that range.
-Well,
you gotta play
with the taste profile.
Yeah, we'll see what happens.
[digger]
have you tasted it yet?
No, not yet.
[mark] I can't get over
she don't never taste
nothing till it's done.
This right here
works real good,
you don't need to taste it.
You don't need to,
but you just want to.
Oh, hell yeah.
I'd say about a half a jar
and I'll be done.
All right, tater,
talk to me, man.
What you doing over there?
I'm about ready
to shut her down.
You gonna shut her down?
You gonna do some blending?
I think it's gonna
be a mixture
of number four
and number three.
I'm pretty stoked about
the flavor and the proofage.
Hmm, I gonna say
that there's around 90.
Whoo!
Okay, that's bity.
[ivy chuckles]
[coughing]
-how you doing, jon?
-[slurring] I think
I'm getting drunk.
-Yeah? Okay.
-[ivy laughs]
did the taste enhance?
Yes, it did.
And hanging those apples
in there did it?
Yup. Just, uh, trying to do
some blending here to
get you guys
the best of the best.
One of the things I was
concerned a little bit about
was that there was
a little cloudiness.
So, I just did a water test
and if it luges
where it's still cloudy,
that means we still have
some of those heads in there.
All right, guys,
you got 45 minutes left.
I'm going with that.
Oh, yeah, got some
good bubbles.
Just a tinge cloudier
than I would have liked.
You tempering?
If I temper it more,
I'm gonna lose that apple.
I believe I'm gonna
quit right there.
You're satisfied with that?
[tater] it is what it is.
But there y'alls goes.
You head on out there
to that little bar.
All right, then.
Thank youse.
[jon] well, I think that's it.
As happy as I can be.
I hope you guys enjoy.
-All right.
-We certainly will.
-Good luck.
-Thank you, jon.
Thank you.
This here's the one.
[tim]
that must have been good,
it's a half jar.
-Wow.
-I mean, it's not a full jar,
but it's a good jar.
-[diggers]
that's all that matters.
-Yeah.
We'll be to get you soon
as we reach a decision.
Thank you.
Good luck, ivy.
You guys are putting up some
good competition,
all right, that was
some good shine.
-Mr. Potato head.
-That'll be tater.
They said first to try to hit
around at least 86
on the proof.
I think I'm gonna come in
a little lower.
[digger] one of the best beads
we've seen on a jar.
[tim]
that is a good bead.
[digger] he's right in
the neighborhood of 100.
Let's hope it tastes
like something.
It's got a good
apple nose on it.
-[digger] that's very good.
-Not fiery.
Got just a little bit of that
bite to the apple
to give you on the back end
then it goes away.
[tim] the taste throws me
a little flip there.
-It's the difference in
the apples maybe.
-[mark] well...
...It's not cheesecake.
Pretty tasty drink of liquor.
-Jon.
-Jonny appleseed.
Mine still had
a couple of issues.
But, you know, I overcame,
and I'm happy with
the end result.
That's a little cloudy
[digger] little tinge to it.
[tim] a little bit
light on proof.
That may equate up
-to better flavor.
-It might.
I put jon on 90.
I've proofed mine
down just a little bit.
It's got a bite to it though.
-Whoa!
-Well, that's...
Smells a little bit like
rubbing alcohol.
That's what I was gonna say.
It's got a metal smell to it.
[mark] smells a little
like heads, don't it?
Yeah.
I believe he smeared
his heads in there
when he was tempering.
Little fierce.
He might have got
his jaws mixed up.
-I don't know what it is.
-Maybe.
Bless his heart.
But jon did hang some
apples in his cap.
-He did.
-He did.
To get on good flavor.
I wanted that flavor,
and that bite, I'm okay with.
What about you, ivy?
How do you think
your proof did?
I think my proof is between
the 80s and the 90s.
[tim exhales]
whoo, now, that's high.
That's high
in the name of sense,
that's 120 proof.
-[digger] or a little lower.
-[tim] yeah,
we're looking at...
...90, 105 and 120.
Oh, mother of pearl.
-118.
-Okay.
Fair enough.
It's gonna be hot.
But will it taste good?
-Maybe, maybe not.
-Uh, well...
I mean, you can't
hardly even smell it.
No, that's not harsh
for high-proof liquor.
Yeah.
-[mark] damn.
-It's fiery on the tongue.
Little fiery
on the back there
-but it's--
-it goes away.
It goes away.
It's pretty daggone smooth
for being 118 proof.
I think them peaches
is in there.
[digger]
absolutely love the flavor.
But, she didn't get
her proof right.
If that was proofed down
to about 90,
that would be really good.
It's gonna be something
for them to judge it.
I mean, to pick one or two
out of the three.
Personally, myself, I wish
they'd hurry up
and kill the dog
and get it over with,
so to speak.
Then, we're all
in agreement, right?
I think we're all rock-solid
at this point.
All right.
Go get them, digger.
Y'all gave us a hard job.
But, unfortunately,
somebody is going home.
[tim] ivy, good clear jar.
Even though I know we calling
it an applejack,
I still taste those peaches.
But, your proof is very high.
I think if you proofed it
down a little better,
your flavors would have come
to the front a little better.
Okay.
[tim]
tater, when you open that lid,
you smell apple,
and you taste it.
Proof is really spot-on.
All in all, job well done.
Jon, good proof.
Great job recovering from
your condenser.
When you hanged the basket
of apples in still itself,
and I think that did transfer
over some apple flavor.
You did have a little bit
of cloudiness.
I believe you got a little
parts of heads in it
-when you were tempering.
-Okay.
They all had
a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
They all had
a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
That would be jon.
Inexperience will let you
smear your heads
when you're tempering
if you ain't careful.
That bought you a ticket home,
brother. I'm sorry.
It's all right,
thank you very much.
No, thank you, jon.
[jon] it's a bummer
to be going home first,
but even just to be here,
god, what an honor.
-That ain't no fun.
-It's awful.
But, cream rises to the top.
Here you all are.
Your next step's
a little different.
You going to take
that liquor there
and age that up
real pretty on some chips.
[tim] blending the alcohol
is one thing
but when you start
to putting this wood in it,
you can change that
taste profile tremendous.
I use chips all the time.
[jeremy] rapid aging
applejack
involves steeping
with charred oak chips.
As the chips sit in the jack,
the caramelized sugars
in the wood
impart sweetness
and enhance the apple flavors.
And the carbon
in the charred wood
filters out tannins
and sulphites.
The effect is similar
to barrel ageing,
except the greater
surface area of the oak chips
speeds up the process.
Resulting in a richer,
deeper flavored applejack
in a fraction of the time.
[tim] you can mess it up
really easy.
You can put the wrong amount
of chips
or wrong type chips,
in 24 hours,
it won't be the same good jar
that you started with.
So, be careful.
[digger] you got one hour.
Get your liquor on chips.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] we want it to look good
and taste good.
[mark] what are you going
for in yours, ivy?
I don't know.
[digger] can you tell
by smelling those chips
how deep they're charred?
-Yes.
-That's really and truly
all you need to know.
[ivy] in ageing with
the oak chips,
I used a combination,
dark toasted and mid toasted.
Hopefully, my nose is gonna
lead me in
the right direction.
She wouldn't be so happy
to be blessed with that nose
if she had spent
much time around you.
[digger] I don't know why
I'm friends with him.
Tater, I see you got
a little tub of chips
you brought from home.
[tater] yeah.
It's a white oak.
Grows everywhere
around here.
I char it to my specs.
I do a lot of ageing.
So, I'm pretty confident
in that order of the business.
Did you notice
the chips he was using?
-Dark, dark, dark.
-Yeah.
[tim] ivy, are you gonna
go back and use
some of your other product
there to blend?
'cause your proof
was real high.
Yeah, I'm gonna fix that.
To correct my proof,
I'm gonna bring it down
a little bit
using the tails.
Looky here.
Here we go.
Tater's has done startin'
to turn a little color,
and that's how fast they work.
[digger] oh, yeah.
Well, fellers, I believe
I've mashed it up
all I can.
All in and all done.
-There it is.
-All right.
-We'll let the
experienced settle it.
-That's all we ask for.
You can head on out.
-See you shortly.
-Good luck, ivy.
[ivy] same to you, tater.
So, here is the jar.
Enjoy.
All righty.
Well, you head on out there
with tater,
you won't see these jars again
for 24 hours.
-Good luck.
-Have a good one.
Thank you.
[digger] welcome back, guys.
You see three familiar faces,
we've got new face
down here at the end.
Pleasure to meet you.
I'm lisa laird.
Ninth generation
of the laird family
and we are the oldest
distillers in
the united states.
We've been distilling
applejack for 241 years,
and I'm really excited to see
what both of your
applejacks taste like
after you've aged it.
Lisa, she's
the leading authority
in applejack in the world.
It meant a lot for me
for her to be here and judge.
[mark]
at the end of this round,
one of you would be
master distiller.
All right, guys, make any
adjustments you need to.
And I suggest
you do a good job filtering.
You can let a little wood
slip through
if you're not careful.
You got 30 minutes
to get us a good jar
on the table,
the pick of your litter.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
Oh, yeah.
[digger] pretty amber color.
Honey color.
Ivy's is definitely closer to
probably about our 3-year-old.
[digger] damn,
tater's is clear.
You can't even see it.
[tater] does that look better?
I just have a little deeper,
richer color, yeah.
Tater's over there,
his is a little bit darker.
So, it'd be, you know, higher,
probably about five, six,
you know, my higher
aged statement brandies.
So, how's yours
look to you, ivy?
[ivy] it looks very pretty.
[tater] oh, it is. Ain't it?
[ivy] what about yourself?
[tater] mine's just
a little dark.
To me I had a little
too much color in it.
More than
I like to have in it.
So, you really did
some rapid aging there
with the--
at least with the color.
I don't know,
I may have overdone it.
Just looking at it.
Yeah, you can definitely
over oak, for sure.
Too much of
the wood characteristics
and you start
to lose the apple.
Now, ivy, yours is
a little bit lighter in color.
I didn't use that much.
Just a little.
[lisa]
just a little bit. Yeah.
[ivy] I was happy
with the rapid aging.
It was very light.
I didn't really wanna
overpower it with the oak.
Can we use some
of our clear spirits
to cut into this?
Absolutely.
To maybe back the wood
out of it.
I think that is
a safer option.
I've been at it for 15 years.
Ivy is really catching up.
So I better step my game up.
[mark] uh-oh.
Ivy is actually tasting.
She is to that point.
That's the first time
I've seen ivy
taste anything during
this competition.
That means [beep]
just got real. Tater,
you better buckle up.
[tim] buckle up, tater chip.
[ivy] I feel really good
about my jar.
I'm happy with this nice
caramel apple flavor
also with the little
hint of peach.
She had a happy face, digger.
-Yeah.
-I'm pretty happy.
[lisa] that's
a confident woman.
Here you go, enjoy.
[digger] all righty.
We'll come get y'all when
we reach a decision.
Thank you.
-Good luck.
-[mark] good luck, ivy
thank you so much.
[tater] ivy's new to the craft
but she's got
a good nose for it.
And she's a good distiller.
So, you know, it may be me
that goes home.
Who would ever know?
It is what it is,
that's all I can do with it.
Well, it looks mighty fine.
Right, wrong or indifferent,
that's all I can do with it.
I'll come get you when
we get that decision made.
All right, then, thank y'all
for letting me do it.
-Yes, sir, good luck.
-[lisa] good luck.
[jeremy] coming up...
But, unfortunately,
we can't have
two master distillers.
If y'all don't mind,
I'd like to interrupt
-just one minute.
-[ivy] what?
I think that applejack was
stumbled upon in this
neck of the woods
when somebody made hard cider
and they left it outside.
And they came out
they said, "damn,
my cider froze."
-so they just scooped
the ice out of it.
-Absolutely.
I'm certain that's probably
the way that came about.
Well, back
in the colonial days,
there was a lot of
freeze distillation.
Not everybody had stills
so they were--
if you were of
the good baptist faith,
and you happen to
wanna make you a drink,
as long as nobody saw
you at the liquor store
or had you with it,
it was no harm, no foul.
Legal. Legal.
Didn't get caught.
Those jars look really good.
It's gonna be
a tough decision.
[tim]
ivy is the closest to me.
Look at the clarity
on that thing.
[digger] I've experimented
with chips for years,
and I'm really surprised she
got that good of color
out of that little,
tiny bit of chips.
-[tim] proof is up.
-Good bead.
Yeah.
-So you happy?
-I think I did pretty good,
but I tempered it down
a little bit.
-I didn't wanna go too much.
-No.
It's got a very nice
fresh nose.
You can smell, smell that oak.
You get a little bit
of the oak, not too much.
But you definitely get
you still get that apple.
Very smooth for
the proof that it is.
Really nice.
I think ivy does have
more of a green apple taste.
Mmm-mmm.
Ivy, she actually added
some peaches.
Well, it's not technically
applejack then
if she put peaches in it.
It's a fruit brandy.
Applejack has to be
100% apples.
[tim]
bit of trickery going on.
This is backwoods applejack.
So, we're not gonna
hold them to
the same government standards.
That's true,
you're the moonshiners,
so you don't really follow
all the regulations.
-So... [laughs].
-[laughing]
all in all, I think I did...
I did my best.
How do you think you did?
Ah, I'm picky about mine.
It wasn't
really up to par the best
I've ever done,
I don't think.
[lisa] tater's just
by the color,
it looks for five
even up to six years,
but if it's in a barrel...
Uh, versus ivy's closer to
a two, three-year aging.
[mark] that may be
a problem for tater's,
it may be too oaky.
That's a great bead.
What are we at, 100, tim?
Pretty close to 100,
nice color.
-I'm ready to taste it.
-[lisa] I'm ready.
Come on!
Kinda scares me that
lisa is judging
what I've been doing,
you know.
'cause she's seen
the best there is.
That's a different nose,
total different nose.
You're definitely getting
the wood notes.
[tim] now,
after I've tasted it,
my notes change,
[lisa]
you just get a nice balance.
It improves
after you taste it.
-I'm picking up...
-[digger] very good drink.
...The baking spices now.
Yeah, it's a different apple.
More like a pie flavor.
Yep, that will definitely
happen. The longer you age,
you're gonna get more of
a caramelized baked apple
type flavor
and you're gonna
get some of that spice
from the wood.
I tried to add a little more
of my clear to
flatten it up.
It's was a little too oaky
for me.
I wanna tell you,
they're both excellent.
Lisa, now,
you're the expert here.
One has a little bit more of
the aging characteristics
and the other one's a
little bit younger, fresher.
So, comparing apples
to apples. [laughs]
yeah, it's not apples
to apples.
We came here to compete but
I just wanted to meet
other moonshiners.
I'm real glad that
I got to meet you.
Cheers!
Are we all rock-solid?
Yes.
[digger] welcome back.
Y'all probably gave us one
of the hardest deliberations
that we've had in the history
of this show.
One was just a wee bit better.
[lisa] so, ivy,
beautiful applejack
that you created.
Little fresher apple
on the nose,
had beautiful flavors and
aromas all through the finish.
Color's a little bit lighter,
the taste profile is
right on the money.
And I think the peach actually
gives that little sweetness
in there.
And, tater, you was
very concerned
that you had got way too oaky.
It was spot on.
A lot of apples.
Tater, yours was aged
a little bit more,
so we had more of
that baked apple flavor.
Had a beautiful nose as well,
nice finish.
And I have to say,
I would be honored to serve
either one of your applejacks
at my home.
[digger] all right, guys.
We wish we could make
two master distillers,
but, unfortunately, we can't.
Tater, you're the
next master distiller.
-Well, thank y'all.
-Congratulation, old buddy.
You also win a limited run
of your applejack
at sugarlands
distilling company.
[tater] getting my liquor
on the shelf's
gonna be exciting.
My family will be
proud of me for it.
[ivy] I'm so happy for tater.
Fifteen years of working on
your craft like that
and you finally get
your validation
is unbelievable.
All right, guys.
If y'all don't mind,
I would like to interrupt
just one minute.
Ivy, I wanna welcome you
into the moonshiner family.
Oh, man, what?
[mark] how about that?
[ivy laughs]
you got a coon pecker now.
-How about that?
-Man. Thank you, tater.
I always wondered how
I was gonna get one of these.
-Oh, man!
-That's pretty awesome
right there, tater.
[tater] she deserves it.
People's gonna think
I've got a damn heart.
You just got
a thumping gizzard.
[ivy] coon peckers,
they're a symbol of being
an official moonshiner.
I'm official now.
Now, ivy, you've got talent.
I can see that there's big
things in your future.
Thank you.
And thank you most of all,
because it meant more from you
than it did these three.
It was my pleasure.
[digger] damn,
that was tiny bit hurtful.
Congratulations, tater.
this time on
master distiller...
It's the original
american spirit,
first one ever made.
[jeremy] applejack.
The og alcohol that kicked off
moonshining in america.
Secret recipe, it's salt,
sugar, saw dust.
[jeremy] distilled in
a backyard
process called jacking...
-[jon] I've done
jacking before.
-Whoa.
This was always called
the poor man's distillation.
...And made safer to drink
in a second high-proof run.
I hope you know
what you're doing.
Gives it a little extra...
I like a little extra
eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
[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.
[mark] that has got some
alcohol in it with the proof.
Judged by
three legendary moonshiners,
they'll go head-to-head
in a series of challenges...
[tim] get your hammer,
bust that ice up.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna
do about that?
[digger]
you better juice it up.
...To determine who has
what it takes...
[tim] he's got more
little packs
than anybody I ever seen.
...To be named
master distiller.
[tim] that'll be
a 3.2 explosion.
[jon] whoa, whoa.
Oh, hell!
It just collapsed.
In the name of sense,
that's 120 proof.
That means [beep]
just got real.
[mark]
oh, mother of pearl.
[digger] guys, welcome.
We're gonna find out
which one you all is
the master distiller.
What you're gonna win
is your bragging rights,
of course,
but you're
gonna get a limited run
of your particular liquor
in a major distillery.
We're here to make
some applejack.
Me and old mark,
we've had a jar or two
of that in our time.
[mark]
we damn sure have, bud.
They say that an apple a day
keeps the doctor away.
There is a good chance
that a jar of applejack a day
will keep the undertaker away.
Applejack is an original
american spirit.
First one ever made.
Now, tickle,
tell us about it.
Applejack was
first made in 1698
by a scottish immigrant
named william laird.
There is nothing more american
than applejack.
As a matter of fact,
george washington
loved it so much,
he asked robert laird
for the family recipe.
"hey, mind if I get that?"
applejack is traditionally
about 86 proof.
The name applejack comes
from the process of making it.
Jacking is when you freeze
the fermented cider
and then you remove the ice.
That will concentrate,
not only your alcohol,
but your flavor and now,
it's having a resurgence.
And the rest of the country
knows something we in the
backwoods has always known.
This right here is one
mighty fine liquor.
All right, guys, time to build
your mash. You got one hour.
Your time starts...
Now.
Get busy.
This part right now,
they're really nervous.
Hell, I'm nervous.
Tater looking
pretty good already.
He's out the gate,
everybody else trying to
figure out where they at.
My name's benny mcclure,
from sevierville, tennessee.
My nickname's tater.
I'm just a
old-fashion hillbilly.
I'm a third-generation
moonshiner, bootlegger,
hustler.
Now, here's my little still.
I've made pretty much
any kind of brandy
you can think of.
There's another barrel of it.
But, my applejack brandy,
it's pretty daggone good.
My prized possession, got
all the apple
that you'll ever want.
I'll put this apple brandy
up against anybody's.
[laughs]
I'd like to win because
the old ways are dying out,
but the more traditional,
original ways
of making moonshine
are the best.
Uh-oh, tater's getting ready
to blow his up.
Jon, I've been calling you
jonny. Jon, do--
do you prefer one
or the other?
-Jon works.
-Jonny appleseed.
Jonny appleseed.
-I'll take it,
new nick name.
-How about that?
-[laughs]
-yeah.
I'm jon paso and I'm
from cleveland, ohio.
Many people have called me
a renaissance man
and I guess that label
does apply.
I'm a real estate investor,
an upcoming
children's book author.
I'm a professional brewer.
I've got my own
hot pepper cross
that I've been developing.
I am a reiki master.
It's a form of
energy medicine.
One would say that I'm
an applejack of all trades.
I'm just centering myself.
I've been distilling since
about 2007, and
I feel like I can win this
competition 'cause I bring
this extra character of love
and umami to the spirit.
-[mark] fire in the hole.
-[tim] stand back.
Haircut coming up.
-[digger] now is that apples?
-[ivy] apples.
-I'd say you brought your
stuff already chopped up.
-Yeah.
I only have an hour to go,
so, have to make it work
as best as possible.
Yup.
My name is ivy williams, I'm
from fort lauderdale, florida,
and I'm a baker.
Cookies, yum.
I actually taught myself
to moonshine.
My baking background helps me
in developing my recipes.
Sometimes I can
incorporate ingredients
that people wouldn't
normally use.
Molasses and corn.
I made this out of muscadine,
mango and hemp.
And this one is rosemary.
Mmm.
Even though I'm self-taught,
and I've only been distilling
for three years,
how I distill will bring
a different element to
this competition.
I think she's got something
special up her sleeve.
Oh, I'll guarantee it.
What in the world
is going on, tater?
I'm just trying to get
my apples worked up.
-Okay.
-That way,
they'll cook up better.
Get a better flavor in it.
I choose the mellow apples.
Like the golden delicious
just about too ripe to eat.
It just makes a more
smooth drink
and more palatable.
And what do you got
in the pot here?
A little bit of apple cider.
[tim] little bit,
about 10 gallons.
You're gonna need a bigger pot
in a minute.
Hey, ivy, I see you're puttin'
some sugar in there.
Yeah, I have white cane sugar
and brown sugar.
Oh!
The brown sugar with
the molasses in it
gives it
a little extra something.
And then
you got the apple juice.
[ivy] apple juice and apples.
It looks pretty good already.
Thank you, thank you.
[tim] how you doing, jon?
Pretty good, tim.
Look like you got a lot
of apple juice.
[jon] when I've done
applejack before,
I've done just straight juice
and cider
and I found that brings out
the best flavors.
[mark] you're not actually
gonna put any solids?
Not for fermentation.
I'll warm it up, so that
it dissolves the sugar
that I'm gonna add to boost
the alcohol content,
oxygenate everything,
throw it into the fermenter
and that's my yeast.
Oh, you speaking some
hard terms there.
-[laughs]
-you're a well-educated
distiller, it sounds like.
I know a thing or two.
[tim] oh, here we go look,
secret recipe there.
Salt, sugar, saw dust.
No, it's just brown sugar
and white sugar.
It's more of
an old-fashioned flavor.
Older flavors has
better taste to me.
All this new stuff, it seems
to be just blah, blah, blah...
[digger] what you got going
in there, jon?
Dark muscovado sugar,
high molasses content.
That's the new modern--
modern stuff.
[jon] that dark
muscovado sugar
is gonna balance that
bright crisp apple front-end.
[digger] ten minutes folks.
Looky here now.
Ivy, what is that?
Peach cider.
-Peach and applejack?
-Yeah.
I'm not a traditionalist
at all
with my applejack recipe.
You gonna make "pachlejack,"
ain't you?
It gives it a little extra...
-That's all right.
-Yeah.
I like a little extra
eh-eh-eh.
[ivy laughs]
peaches compliment apples, so
it smooths it out, uh,
like a woman.
[digger] two minutes, guys.
What you got there, ivy,
turbo yeast?
-Yes.
-Mine's about ready
for yeast.
He's got 45 pounds of apples
and the sugar in there,
that's gonna
be 150% proof.
[mark] you makin' me
a starter, jon?
[tim] he's got
more little packs
than anybody I ever seen.
[digger]
what kinda yeast you using?
[jon] a blend, 116 and 118.
[tim] that'd be
a 3.2 explosion.
My yeast blend is going
to boost the alcohol.
He's got a measuring spoon.
[digger] five, four,
three, two, one.
Step away, guys.
Y'all are done.
Very interesting.
We're looking forward
to tasting this.
Your mash is gonna sit here
for five days. Ready or not,
it's gotta be put in the
freezer and froze.
All right, guys, head on out.
[jeremy] once the yeast
is active,
the apple mash ferments
for five days
as the microbes convert
the sugars
into ethanol
and carbon dioxide.
By choosing the right yeast
to sugar concentration,
a skilled distiller should
be able to reach
10 to 12% alcohol by volume.
Welcome back, guys.
Your mash,
hopefully, it's worked out.
Early americans used to
ferment their apple cider
in the wintertime,
and they would
freeze distill it.
[digger]
you all got 30 minutes
to strain your mash out,
and ready to freeze.
Your time starts...
Now.
Good luck.
[mark] it's gonna be good just
to see the different flavors
from the three different mash.
[digger] different ciders,
different apples,
different sugar.
Different sugar amounts.
-[jon] it's pretty dry.
-[tim] is it?
Yeah, got some
tartness though.
We'll see how that comes
through the still.
I felt completely happy
with the fermentation.
I was trying to ferment it out
and really dry--
get a lot of alcohol.
[tater] mine's kinda sweet.
Smells real good.
[jon] can I try yours, tater?
Yeah, I got plenty left.
[laughs]
-I probably got
15 more gallons.
-You do.
[tater] kinda sweet.
-But it ain't got
a lot of sticky left to it.
-Just a little hint.
Yeah. What do you think
your abv was?
Twelve? Ten?
Hell, I don't know.
I'll bet it'll make liquor.
-I know that much.
-[laughing]
fifteen minutes, guys.
-You wanna taste it?
-No.
I'm gonna smell it though.
I noticed most shiners taste
their mash, but I never do.
I normally let my nose
lead me
when I'm baking
or making my spirits.
-Mind if I try yours.
-No problem, feel free.
I'm curious with that
peach in there.
-Mmm, oh, ivy that's good.
-[laughs]
-what do you think? Yeah?
-That's good.
Two minutes, guys.
They should get
them tops on them.
Five,
four,
three,
two,
one. Step away, guys,
y'all are done.
Ready or not, it's gotta be
put in a freezer and froze.
After the 24 hours, is
y'all are gonna come back,
do a little old-fashioned
freeze distillation.
[jeremy] the process
for freeze jacking,
or freeze distilling
applejack,
begins by straining
the fermented mash,
then placing it in
frigid temperatures.
At 32 degrees, water freezes,
forming an ice cap on top
of the mixture.
But since alcohol has
a lower freezing point,
it concentrates at the bottom
in a liquor
that's been jacked.
The result is an apple brandy
called applejack.
You guys head out. We'll get
these in the freezer for you.
[ivy] thank you.
-[mark] we'll see you
in some 24 hours.
-24.
[jeremy] coming up,
three mashes go into
the deep freeze,
and one distiller
gets iced out.
Somebody's got to go home.
Welcome back,
lady and gentlemen.
You strained your own
applejack mash,
and you froze your mash.
Now, it's time to do it
like the old days.
Get your hammer,
bust that ice up
and bring us a good jar.
Applejack.
[mark] the winner today,
which has the best jar
of applejack on the table
gets first choice
of still parts.
And at the end of that,
you gonna run it for us.
We're looking forward
to tasting it.
You got 30 minutes
to chip the ice off,
bring us a jar of that liquor.
Your 30 minute starts... Now.
You know, this was always
called the poor man's
distillation,
'cause it was for somebody
who couldn't afford a still.
-That's cold cold,
right there.
-[tim] yes, it's cold.
[mark]
that's bringing new arthritis
out in the fingers.
[digger] looks to me like
tater took that glass down
in that bucket
just far enough to
run over the rim.
[tim] yeah, you wanna get
the alcohol up to the top.
[tater] I've always made
apple brandies
and then freezed it
and make it applejack.
I've pretty much got it
down to science.
[mark] ivy put
a peach in hers.
Yeah, she has
peaches and apples.
[mark] that may be
the reason hers
is a little different color.
Yeah, it's a pretty
honey color.
Different approach.
[mark] she's dipping
her strainer down in the
bucket and getting it out.
This distillation process
is completely different
from what I normally
do at home.
They didn't ever no applejack
made in florida.
-[ivy] no, it's hard
to get down there, too.
-Yeah.
Ooh-wee, that ice is moving.
At home, I produced
an amazing applejack
'cause I researched it
and learned everything
I could about it.
-I've done jacking,
cleveland winters and...
-Yeah.
-...And freeze it
a couple times.
-Yeah.
Ten minutes, guys.
[jon] halfway
to the good stuff.
Hmm.
Well, here you go, fellas.
Right, wrong or indifferent.
All right, buddy,
we'll be to get you all
in a little bit.
[tim] bring it in here, ivy.
Here you go.
Ah! Looks good.
-Good luck.
-[tim] all right.
All right, gentlemen.
-Here we go, enjoy.
-[mark] all right, boss.
-Thank you.
-[digger] good luck.
Thank you.
Let's get busy before
they get hot.
This is jonny appleseed.
Jon didn't use any solids.
Cider and juice.
Oh! Yeah.
I smell little
alcohol in there.
Mine was pretty frozen solid.
So, what I was straining off
was exactly what I needed.
[digger laughs]
it's a tiny bit dry.
It's dry. Finished real good.
But, there's absolutely
no apple flavor in here.
-No, it's finished.
-It's all alcohol.
I think if he'd have called
his fermentation two days ago,
where I've got alcohol
plus I got flavor,
we'd be looking at
a whole lot better drink.
How about you, tater,
are you a little nervous?
Yeah, a little bit.
All the liquid was on top.
So I figured
just go with that.
Let's try tater out here.
That's got
a real nice nose on it.
That's appley appley.
On our account.
Just a mash ready to distill.
I'm just wanting
to put it in the still
and make some liquor
out of it is what I--
-you're itching to run.
-Yeah.
Let's see what
ivy's tastes like.
She put a peach or two
in her mash.
[tim] it looks
a little peachy, don't it?
I never try mine
until the end.
Really?
I just use my nose and
how it looks and shakes.
That taste more the way
I think it should.
Yeah, it's got a little sweet
taste to it.
You can pull that peach
out of it, too.
It's right there at
the back end.
Well, in taste profile,
I think ivy has got it.
I don't know if that
will hurt her
during her distillation
or not.
May not have
the alcohol content.
I think jon
and tater is went
farther into their
fermentation because
theirs is nowhere near
as sweet as ivy's.
We're judging this on
the way it tastes right now.
I'm in the boat with
you fellas.
All right, guys, welcome back.
[tim] jon appleseed.
A lot of alcohol there.
I think you're gonna make
a nice distilling when
you get done with it.
Thank you.
But it is light on
the apple flavor,
simply because I think you
didn't use any apples.
But if you get your hands
on a thumper
you may transfer over
some apple flavor
during the distillation.
[tim] ivy, because you put
the peaches in it,
it has a phenomenal
taste profile.
What did you think about
the taste profile?
I haven't tasted it.
What do you mean
you haven't taste it?
I never taste it
until the end.
-Really?
-Yeah.
That's either a big gamble
or a lot of confidence.
[digger]
or a powerful nostril.
Nonetheless, you have
the sweetest drink,
so your fermentation may not
be completely done.
And that may come back
to haunt you in the still.
Yeah.
Tater, you put a lot
of apples in there.
I mean, it comes
right through the taste.
But, you went deep
into your fermentation
and we got a lot of alcohol
in there.
All right, guys,
the upside here is
nobody's going home.
[digger] there's just
a pecking order of
the still house
to pick your parts.
Ivy, you're going first.
[jon] ah.
Tater,
you're number two
and, jon, number three.
You ain't out the race,
but you're just bringing up
behind them.
Make sure you got
everything you need.
We got a tour guide for you.
Tickle!
How's it going, fellers?
[tim] well, we got
three contestants, tickle,
and all three of them
need a still.
All right, y'all come on.
We'll see if we can't
rustle up some still parts.
Y'all are here to pick
your still parts.
What's important is to make
sure all your fittings fit
and take extra parts
if you need to.
And, ivy,
you're up first, ma'am.
You got five minutes,
starting now.
How's it coming in there?
[ivy] uh... Tryin' to
work around.
This still house is like
body parts laying everywhere.
And I have to put this body
back together.
It's like, oh,
where's the head,
where's the neck,
where's the arms?
-Two minutes, ivy.
-Two minutes?
-[tickle] yes, ma'am.
Two minutes left!
-Aah!
If I had maybe
a minute or two more,
I could have
definitely made sure
that fittings are gonna fit,
'cause you never really know
until it's time
to tie it all together.
All righty.
[grunts]
ivy has not only a still,
ivy has a kitchen sink.
All right, tater,
you got five minutes
starting now!
[tater] there was plenty
of stuff in there,
some that I didn't know
what in the world
I'd do with it.
But I'm kinda stuck
in the way I do things
at my own place.
I'm not hearing any sound.
I'm wondering if tater
didn't fall asleep in there.
Time to wake up
and put a still together!
I'm tryin', I'm tryin'.
Got my pot, my gas, my arm,
got my doubler, the worm.
Got all the components,
I think, that I'll need.
[tickle] you got five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
All right.
Jon, you got five minutes
to see what you can't
frankenstein together.
Starting now.
[tickle] he's kicking around
in there right out.
There's the gaskets.
Going third
to pick still parts,
I am worried that
there's not gonna be
everything there for me.
-One minute, jon.
-All right.
Anybody got
an extra small gasket?
I'm missing that in here.
Yeah, I got it.
[tickle]
tater says he's got it.
All right, open her up.
Here we go.
Shotgun condenser.
All right, y'all.
Let's get all these
still parts back
and run out some
high octane applejack.
I completely
forgot something.
I realized I forgot something.
I didn't have the thumpers,
and I was planning on having
that apple flavor
come back out
once I run it
through the thumper.
That's okay.
I'll deal with it.
[digger] all right, guys,
it's time for y'all
to show them
still building skills.
We want it complete,
ready or run.
You got one hour,
starting now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] I see y'all got a lot
of parts over here.
I hope you can figure out
how to put it together.
[tater] it's kinda
nerve-racking
'cause it ain't the same stuff
as I'm used to using.
[tim] jon, I'm concerned
about you.
You only have two items
over there.
You don't have a thumper.
It's gonna be a challenge,
but I'm looking forward to it.
You know, you got a still
and a shotgun condenser,
I hope you know
what you doing.
[jon] I hope so, too.
We'll find out.
[ivy] now, what I'm gonna
do about that?
It's still a little short.
The equipment here
is completely different
from what I normally use.
So, it's gonna be a challenge,
but it's not anything
that I'm afraid of.
Hopefully, you won't need
your cutting board.
[ivy chuckles]
I think I'm good.
I'm complete.
I'm done all I can do.
[mark] y'all ready to make
a little liquor?
-Yes.
-Hot damn!
All right, guys.
Four-hour run time.
We need a jar of your best
clear liquor on this table.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[mark] sadly, at the end
of this round,
one of you will be going home.
When they're ready
to distill this,
we'll get an all together
different flavor
and we're gonna
have a clear jar.
Fire in the hole.
[tim] I smell fried tater.
[ivy] whoo! Be careful.
Start getting it heated up.
Jon's over there
cutting apples still.
[digger] getting ready
to put them down
the sack, I'd say.
Getting that apple flavor
without a thumper,
my backup plan
is to hang the fruit
in the still itself.
I want that vapor touching
every possible
molecule of that apple.
Now, as that distillate
comes up,
it's gonna hit that bag
and drag flavors
right out of those apples.
It's a good theory
if he can make it work.
I'm not quite used to
that particular still setup,
so this is a very big
learning experience for me.
It's got water in it,
but it's not running.
I'll run it.
-[mark] whoa!
-[digger] whoa!
-Oh, hell!
-[ivy] be careful.
[digger]
whoa, it just collapsed.
-[tim] cut the pump valve.
-Oh, hell!
[jon] it formed a vacuum.
-You have to pull it out.
-[tim] better cut
the pump valve.
He got his water cut off?
Shotgun condensers
are the greatest thing,
except once water goes
the opposite direction...
-Yeah.
-...It starts pulling it
back down the hill.
Okay.
Created us a vacuum.
But, as soon as
you put air on it,
and blow it back out,
-that's when it's gonna work.
-Yup.
-There it goes.
-[tim] there it goes,
there it goes.
It's popping out.
There you go.
We're just gonna have to start
this ball game over again.
We can get thrown
curve balls left and right
but I got my eye
on that prize.
[digger]
guys, you got three hours.
Now, it's time to get serious.
-[jon] the run has begun.
-[ivy] yes, it has.
-[mark]
tater's runnin' liquor.
-It's looking good, tater.
You got stuff coming out.
[tim] he's filling
that jar up fast.
[tater] what was
the proof they said
they was wanting us
to try to hit on this?
-[ivy] 80.
-86 or higher.
-86 or higher?
-Or higher.
[tater] to have mark,
digger and tim say
positive things about
my applejack
makes me feel confident,
but I'm gonna try to get
the proofage that
they's looking for.
[digger]
tater knows what he's doing
and I'm assuming
jon does, too.
But I'ma believe
old ivy's done taken notes.
Well, she won
the cold challenge.
I'm happy about the feedback
from the prior round,
but the judges felt mine
was gonna be
on a little weaker side.
[digger]
you better juice it up.
It's getting.
My next step is just
to correct my proof.
Ivy put copper mesh
in her thump arm.
-[mark] that'll up the proof
a little bit.
-But it strips flavor.
[tim] yeah, I'm not
too fond of that.
Guys, two hours left.
[tim] how's yours
dong over there, jon?
-Are you trickling?
-Coming out.
-You got her coming out, ivy?
-[ivy] there she goes.
[jon] all right!
Damn, that's still hot.
[beep]
-you got a second?
-Yeah.
-Smells pretty.
-Good.
Have a little swig.
[tater] well,
it smells pungent.
God damn.
[jon laughs]
-[tater coughing]
-that's good proof.
[grunts]
[beep]
[jon] yeah,
that's got alcohol in it.
You daggone right
that's got alcohol in it.
You can always make
the proof lower.
Sometimes,
it's really difficult
to make it higher.
Ivy, you've been
doing the spoon test
-on a spoon?
-Yes.
Check my alcohol
content in it.
Proof up there?
-A little bit higher than 80.
-Okay.
-But you know, it's...
-Okay.
-...Between that range.
-Well,
you gotta play
with the taste profile.
Yeah, we'll see what happens.
[digger]
have you tasted it yet?
No, not yet.
[mark] I can't get over
she don't never taste
nothing till it's done.
This right here
works real good,
you don't need to taste it.
You don't need to,
but you just want to.
Oh, hell yeah.
I'd say about a half a jar
and I'll be done.
All right, tater,
talk to me, man.
What you doing over there?
I'm about ready
to shut her down.
You gonna shut her down?
You gonna do some blending?
I think it's gonna
be a mixture
of number four
and number three.
I'm pretty stoked about
the flavor and the proofage.
Hmm, I gonna say
that there's around 90.
Whoo!
Okay, that's bity.
[ivy chuckles]
[coughing]
-how you doing, jon?
-[slurring] I think
I'm getting drunk.
-Yeah? Okay.
-[ivy laughs]
did the taste enhance?
Yes, it did.
And hanging those apples
in there did it?
Yup. Just, uh, trying to do
some blending here to
get you guys
the best of the best.
One of the things I was
concerned a little bit about
was that there was
a little cloudiness.
So, I just did a water test
and if it luges
where it's still cloudy,
that means we still have
some of those heads in there.
All right, guys,
you got 45 minutes left.
I'm going with that.
Oh, yeah, got some
good bubbles.
Just a tinge cloudier
than I would have liked.
You tempering?
If I temper it more,
I'm gonna lose that apple.
I believe I'm gonna
quit right there.
You're satisfied with that?
[tater] it is what it is.
But there y'alls goes.
You head on out there
to that little bar.
All right, then.
Thank youse.
[jon] well, I think that's it.
As happy as I can be.
I hope you guys enjoy.
-All right.
-We certainly will.
-Good luck.
-Thank you, jon.
Thank you.
This here's the one.
[tim]
that must have been good,
it's a half jar.
-Wow.
-I mean, it's not a full jar,
but it's a good jar.
-[diggers]
that's all that matters.
-Yeah.
We'll be to get you soon
as we reach a decision.
Thank you.
Good luck, ivy.
You guys are putting up some
good competition,
all right, that was
some good shine.
-Mr. Potato head.
-That'll be tater.
They said first to try to hit
around at least 86
on the proof.
I think I'm gonna come in
a little lower.
[digger] one of the best beads
we've seen on a jar.
[tim]
that is a good bead.
[digger] he's right in
the neighborhood of 100.
Let's hope it tastes
like something.
It's got a good
apple nose on it.
-[digger] that's very good.
-Not fiery.
Got just a little bit of that
bite to the apple
to give you on the back end
then it goes away.
[tim] the taste throws me
a little flip there.
-It's the difference in
the apples maybe.
-[mark] well...
...It's not cheesecake.
Pretty tasty drink of liquor.
-Jon.
-Jonny appleseed.
Mine still had
a couple of issues.
But, you know, I overcame,
and I'm happy with
the end result.
That's a little cloudy
[digger] little tinge to it.
[tim] a little bit
light on proof.
That may equate up
-to better flavor.
-It might.
I put jon on 90.
I've proofed mine
down just a little bit.
It's got a bite to it though.
-Whoa!
-Well, that's...
Smells a little bit like
rubbing alcohol.
That's what I was gonna say.
It's got a metal smell to it.
[mark] smells a little
like heads, don't it?
Yeah.
I believe he smeared
his heads in there
when he was tempering.
Little fierce.
He might have got
his jaws mixed up.
-I don't know what it is.
-Maybe.
Bless his heart.
But jon did hang some
apples in his cap.
-He did.
-He did.
To get on good flavor.
I wanted that flavor,
and that bite, I'm okay with.
What about you, ivy?
How do you think
your proof did?
I think my proof is between
the 80s and the 90s.
[tim exhales]
whoo, now, that's high.
That's high
in the name of sense,
that's 120 proof.
-[digger] or a little lower.
-[tim] yeah,
we're looking at...
...90, 105 and 120.
Oh, mother of pearl.
-118.
-Okay.
Fair enough.
It's gonna be hot.
But will it taste good?
-Maybe, maybe not.
-Uh, well...
I mean, you can't
hardly even smell it.
No, that's not harsh
for high-proof liquor.
Yeah.
-[mark] damn.
-It's fiery on the tongue.
Little fiery
on the back there
-but it's--
-it goes away.
It goes away.
It's pretty daggone smooth
for being 118 proof.
I think them peaches
is in there.
[digger]
absolutely love the flavor.
But, she didn't get
her proof right.
If that was proofed down
to about 90,
that would be really good.
It's gonna be something
for them to judge it.
I mean, to pick one or two
out of the three.
Personally, myself, I wish
they'd hurry up
and kill the dog
and get it over with,
so to speak.
Then, we're all
in agreement, right?
I think we're all rock-solid
at this point.
All right.
Go get them, digger.
Y'all gave us a hard job.
But, unfortunately,
somebody is going home.
[tim] ivy, good clear jar.
Even though I know we calling
it an applejack,
I still taste those peaches.
But, your proof is very high.
I think if you proofed it
down a little better,
your flavors would have come
to the front a little better.
Okay.
[tim]
tater, when you open that lid,
you smell apple,
and you taste it.
Proof is really spot-on.
All in all, job well done.
Jon, good proof.
Great job recovering from
your condenser.
When you hanged the basket
of apples in still itself,
and I think that did transfer
over some apple flavor.
You did have a little bit
of cloudiness.
I believe you got a little
parts of heads in it
-when you were tempering.
-Okay.
They all had
a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
They all had
a little difficulties,
but I didn't see anything that
no one didn't overcome.
But at the end of the day,
somebody's gotta go home.
That would be jon.
Inexperience will let you
smear your heads
when you're tempering
if you ain't careful.
That bought you a ticket home,
brother. I'm sorry.
It's all right,
thank you very much.
No, thank you, jon.
[jon] it's a bummer
to be going home first,
but even just to be here,
god, what an honor.
-That ain't no fun.
-It's awful.
But, cream rises to the top.
Here you all are.
Your next step's
a little different.
You going to take
that liquor there
and age that up
real pretty on some chips.
[tim] blending the alcohol
is one thing
but when you start
to putting this wood in it,
you can change that
taste profile tremendous.
I use chips all the time.
[jeremy] rapid aging
applejack
involves steeping
with charred oak chips.
As the chips sit in the jack,
the caramelized sugars
in the wood
impart sweetness
and enhance the apple flavors.
And the carbon
in the charred wood
filters out tannins
and sulphites.
The effect is similar
to barrel ageing,
except the greater
surface area of the oak chips
speeds up the process.
Resulting in a richer,
deeper flavored applejack
in a fraction of the time.
[tim] you can mess it up
really easy.
You can put the wrong amount
of chips
or wrong type chips,
in 24 hours,
it won't be the same good jar
that you started with.
So, be careful.
[digger] you got one hour.
Get your liquor on chips.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[tim] we want it to look good
and taste good.
[mark] what are you going
for in yours, ivy?
I don't know.
[digger] can you tell
by smelling those chips
how deep they're charred?
-Yes.
-That's really and truly
all you need to know.
[ivy] in ageing with
the oak chips,
I used a combination,
dark toasted and mid toasted.
Hopefully, my nose is gonna
lead me in
the right direction.
She wouldn't be so happy
to be blessed with that nose
if she had spent
much time around you.
[digger] I don't know why
I'm friends with him.
Tater, I see you got
a little tub of chips
you brought from home.
[tater] yeah.
It's a white oak.
Grows everywhere
around here.
I char it to my specs.
I do a lot of ageing.
So, I'm pretty confident
in that order of the business.
Did you notice
the chips he was using?
-Dark, dark, dark.
-Yeah.
[tim] ivy, are you gonna
go back and use
some of your other product
there to blend?
'cause your proof
was real high.
Yeah, I'm gonna fix that.
To correct my proof,
I'm gonna bring it down
a little bit
using the tails.
Looky here.
Here we go.
Tater's has done startin'
to turn a little color,
and that's how fast they work.
[digger] oh, yeah.
Well, fellers, I believe
I've mashed it up
all I can.
All in and all done.
-There it is.
-All right.
-We'll let the
experienced settle it.
-That's all we ask for.
You can head on out.
-See you shortly.
-Good luck, ivy.
[ivy] same to you, tater.
So, here is the jar.
Enjoy.
All righty.
Well, you head on out there
with tater,
you won't see these jars again
for 24 hours.
-Good luck.
-Have a good one.
Thank you.
[digger] welcome back, guys.
You see three familiar faces,
we've got new face
down here at the end.
Pleasure to meet you.
I'm lisa laird.
Ninth generation
of the laird family
and we are the oldest
distillers in
the united states.
We've been distilling
applejack for 241 years,
and I'm really excited to see
what both of your
applejacks taste like
after you've aged it.
Lisa, she's
the leading authority
in applejack in the world.
It meant a lot for me
for her to be here and judge.
[mark]
at the end of this round,
one of you would be
master distiller.
All right, guys, make any
adjustments you need to.
And I suggest
you do a good job filtering.
You can let a little wood
slip through
if you're not careful.
You got 30 minutes
to get us a good jar
on the table,
the pick of your litter.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, guys.
Oh, yeah.
[digger] pretty amber color.
Honey color.
Ivy's is definitely closer to
probably about our 3-year-old.
[digger] damn,
tater's is clear.
You can't even see it.
[tater] does that look better?
I just have a little deeper,
richer color, yeah.
Tater's over there,
his is a little bit darker.
So, it'd be, you know, higher,
probably about five, six,
you know, my higher
aged statement brandies.
So, how's yours
look to you, ivy?
[ivy] it looks very pretty.
[tater] oh, it is. Ain't it?
[ivy] what about yourself?
[tater] mine's just
a little dark.
To me I had a little
too much color in it.
More than
I like to have in it.
So, you really did
some rapid aging there
with the--
at least with the color.
I don't know,
I may have overdone it.
Just looking at it.
Yeah, you can definitely
over oak, for sure.
Too much of
the wood characteristics
and you start
to lose the apple.
Now, ivy, yours is
a little bit lighter in color.
I didn't use that much.
Just a little.
[lisa]
just a little bit. Yeah.
[ivy] I was happy
with the rapid aging.
It was very light.
I didn't really wanna
overpower it with the oak.
Can we use some
of our clear spirits
to cut into this?
Absolutely.
To maybe back the wood
out of it.
I think that is
a safer option.
I've been at it for 15 years.
Ivy is really catching up.
So I better step my game up.
[mark] uh-oh.
Ivy is actually tasting.
She is to that point.
That's the first time
I've seen ivy
taste anything during
this competition.
That means [beep]
just got real. Tater,
you better buckle up.
[tim] buckle up, tater chip.
[ivy] I feel really good
about my jar.
I'm happy with this nice
caramel apple flavor
also with the little
hint of peach.
She had a happy face, digger.
-Yeah.
-I'm pretty happy.
[lisa] that's
a confident woman.
Here you go, enjoy.
[digger] all righty.
We'll come get y'all when
we reach a decision.
Thank you.
-Good luck.
-[mark] good luck, ivy
thank you so much.
[tater] ivy's new to the craft
but she's got
a good nose for it.
And she's a good distiller.
So, you know, it may be me
that goes home.
Who would ever know?
It is what it is,
that's all I can do with it.
Well, it looks mighty fine.
Right, wrong or indifferent,
that's all I can do with it.
I'll come get you when
we get that decision made.
All right, then, thank y'all
for letting me do it.
-Yes, sir, good luck.
-[lisa] good luck.
[jeremy] coming up...
But, unfortunately,
we can't have
two master distillers.
If y'all don't mind,
I'd like to interrupt
-just one minute.
-[ivy] what?
I think that applejack was
stumbled upon in this
neck of the woods
when somebody made hard cider
and they left it outside.
And they came out
they said, "damn,
my cider froze."
-so they just scooped
the ice out of it.
-Absolutely.
I'm certain that's probably
the way that came about.
Well, back
in the colonial days,
there was a lot of
freeze distillation.
Not everybody had stills
so they were--
if you were of
the good baptist faith,
and you happen to
wanna make you a drink,
as long as nobody saw
you at the liquor store
or had you with it,
it was no harm, no foul.
Legal. Legal.
Didn't get caught.
Those jars look really good.
It's gonna be
a tough decision.
[tim]
ivy is the closest to me.
Look at the clarity
on that thing.
[digger] I've experimented
with chips for years,
and I'm really surprised she
got that good of color
out of that little,
tiny bit of chips.
-[tim] proof is up.
-Good bead.
Yeah.
-So you happy?
-I think I did pretty good,
but I tempered it down
a little bit.
-I didn't wanna go too much.
-No.
It's got a very nice
fresh nose.
You can smell, smell that oak.
You get a little bit
of the oak, not too much.
But you definitely get
you still get that apple.
Very smooth for
the proof that it is.
Really nice.
I think ivy does have
more of a green apple taste.
Mmm-mmm.
Ivy, she actually added
some peaches.
Well, it's not technically
applejack then
if she put peaches in it.
It's a fruit brandy.
Applejack has to be
100% apples.
[tim]
bit of trickery going on.
This is backwoods applejack.
So, we're not gonna
hold them to
the same government standards.
That's true,
you're the moonshiners,
so you don't really follow
all the regulations.
-So... [laughs].
-[laughing]
all in all, I think I did...
I did my best.
How do you think you did?
Ah, I'm picky about mine.
It wasn't
really up to par the best
I've ever done,
I don't think.
[lisa] tater's just
by the color,
it looks for five
even up to six years,
but if it's in a barrel...
Uh, versus ivy's closer to
a two, three-year aging.
[mark] that may be
a problem for tater's,
it may be too oaky.
That's a great bead.
What are we at, 100, tim?
Pretty close to 100,
nice color.
-I'm ready to taste it.
-[lisa] I'm ready.
Come on!
Kinda scares me that
lisa is judging
what I've been doing,
you know.
'cause she's seen
the best there is.
That's a different nose,
total different nose.
You're definitely getting
the wood notes.
[tim] now,
after I've tasted it,
my notes change,
[lisa]
you just get a nice balance.
It improves
after you taste it.
-I'm picking up...
-[digger] very good drink.
...The baking spices now.
Yeah, it's a different apple.
More like a pie flavor.
Yep, that will definitely
happen. The longer you age,
you're gonna get more of
a caramelized baked apple
type flavor
and you're gonna
get some of that spice
from the wood.
I tried to add a little more
of my clear to
flatten it up.
It's was a little too oaky
for me.
I wanna tell you,
they're both excellent.
Lisa, now,
you're the expert here.
One has a little bit more of
the aging characteristics
and the other one's a
little bit younger, fresher.
So, comparing apples
to apples. [laughs]
yeah, it's not apples
to apples.
We came here to compete but
I just wanted to meet
other moonshiners.
I'm real glad that
I got to meet you.
Cheers!
Are we all rock-solid?
Yes.
[digger] welcome back.
Y'all probably gave us one
of the hardest deliberations
that we've had in the history
of this show.
One was just a wee bit better.
[lisa] so, ivy,
beautiful applejack
that you created.
Little fresher apple
on the nose,
had beautiful flavors and
aromas all through the finish.
Color's a little bit lighter,
the taste profile is
right on the money.
And I think the peach actually
gives that little sweetness
in there.
And, tater, you was
very concerned
that you had got way too oaky.
It was spot on.
A lot of apples.
Tater, yours was aged
a little bit more,
so we had more of
that baked apple flavor.
Had a beautiful nose as well,
nice finish.
And I have to say,
I would be honored to serve
either one of your applejacks
at my home.
[digger] all right, guys.
We wish we could make
two master distillers,
but, unfortunately, we can't.
Tater, you're the
next master distiller.
-Well, thank y'all.
-Congratulation, old buddy.
You also win a limited run
of your applejack
at sugarlands
distilling company.
[tater] getting my liquor
on the shelf's
gonna be exciting.
My family will be
proud of me for it.
[ivy] I'm so happy for tater.
Fifteen years of working on
your craft like that
and you finally get
your validation
is unbelievable.
All right, guys.
If y'all don't mind,
I would like to interrupt
just one minute.
Ivy, I wanna welcome you
into the moonshiner family.
Oh, man, what?
[mark] how about that?
[ivy laughs]
you got a coon pecker now.
-How about that?
-Man. Thank you, tater.
I always wondered how
I was gonna get one of these.
-Oh, man!
-That's pretty awesome
right there, tater.
[tater] she deserves it.
People's gonna think
I've got a damn heart.
You just got
a thumping gizzard.
[ivy] coon peckers,
they're a symbol of being
an official moonshiner.
I'm official now.
Now, ivy, you've got talent.
I can see that there's big
things in your future.
Thank you.
And thank you most of all,
because it meant more from you
than it did these three.
It was my pleasure.
[digger] damn,
that was tiny bit hurtful.
Congratulations, tater.