A subculture of distillers across America carries on the backwoods tradition of moonshining. Now, judged by legends Mark, Digger and Tim, America's top legal and outlaw shiners go head to head to see who wins the right to be called Master Distiller.

Master Distiller

Tim Smith

Jeremy Schwartz

Josh Owens

Season 9

Tickle Unshackled

It's Christmas in Appalachia and Tim Smith is 4000 miles away in Alaska making a special delivery to his northernmost customer. In Tennessee, Mark and Digger cook up a plan to make a holiday run of liquor for two legendary shiners from a bygone era.

High Proof Holidays

Moonshine season is on and the shiners must step it up to stay ahead of big liquor and the law. A 100mph wipeout puts Josh's operation in jeopardy, Tim takes a risk on rye, and Mark and Digger are hell-bent on backwoods justice after Mike's betrayal.

Legacy on the Line

Tensions boil over in Tennessee as Mike must answer for blowing up Mark and Digger's still. With Tickle in jail, JT answers the call when two outlaw shiners show up looking for help in the woods. Josh faces more bad news in the form of a bear.

Backwoods Justice

Legal shiner Tim finds himself on the wrong side of the law after son JT spots an agent near a still site. Mike designs a unique still to make high-dollar shine. Mark and Digger make an in-town run and Josh discovers what bears do in the woods.

Wrong Side of the Law

Ten years after Popcorn Sutton's death, his widow reveals a clue that could lead Mark and Digger to a hidden stash. Mike must gin up his brandy game to pay off his debt to Mark and Digger. Donnie and Teresa build a secret still in a Kentucky cave.

Popcorn's Secret Stash

Booted off his backwoods still site, Josh turns to his stock-car racing roots to invent a whole new way of making moonshine. Old-timer JB comes to the rescue as Mark and Digger fall short on a run. Mark Rogers faces a close encounter with the law.

Burden of Proof

When their still site gets compromised, Virginia shiners Henry and Kenny enlist the help of bootlegging legend Amos Law. To pay off his debt to Mark & Digger, Mike runs his still to the breaking point. Tim doubles down on JT and Tickle's double rye.

Breaking the Laws

Midway into the season, America's top moonshiners gather to deal with unfinished business. Mike tells his side of the Mark & Digger feud. Josh reveals scars from his checkered past, and the shiners put their skills to the test in a whiskey showdown.

Mid-season Secret Summit

Mark and Digger's new apprentice proves talent can't be taught. Josh tempts fate converting a new race car trailer into a mobile moonshining masterpiece. Mark Rogers enlists a retired lawman to bootleg 30 gallons of shine into a music festival.

Moonshiner’s Apprentice

As Josh gets set to fire up his hidden mobile still at a biker rally, law enforcement gets wise to his illicit plan. Mark & Digger's backwoods potato vodka hits a sweet spot. Short on payback cash, Mike and Daniel invent a new way to get out of debt.

Hillbilly Ingenuity

Tracking down an old-time bootlegger, Mark and Digger uncover treasures Popcorn Sutton left behind. In debt, Mike and Daniel engineer a split pot still to upgrade their shine, and its price. Patti and David convert pontoons into a bayou still site.

Bootlegger's Bounty

Fast cars collide with backwoods tradition as Moonshiner Josh Owens puts pedal to the metal on the Carolina Dragway. Gasser rules mean vintage cars and parts only, but in skilled hands heritage pays off in horsepower. These gearheads race for glory.

Full Throttle Throwdown

Josh debuts his mobile still at a North Carolina biker rally. In the Great Smoky Mountains, Mike gets burned by a taste of his own medicine. There's a reason Franklin County, VA is the Moonshine Capital of America, and someone there is above the law.

Mobile Moonshiner Madness

Mark and Digger's first run of barrel-aged bourbon gets interrupted by a bear. Scaling up Tickle's double rye tests Tim's backwoods engineering. Mark Rogers builds a malt house to make corn whiskey. In Kentucky, Donnie and Theresa come up short.

100 Proof Heritage

Mark and Digger find a decade-old jar of Popcorn Sutton's shine and vow to re-create their mentor's infamous last run; with help from old-timer JB Rader, they rebuild Popcorn's pot still and recount the antics of Appalachia's most legendary outlaw.

Legend of “Popcorn” Sutton

Moonshiners share their tricks for running shine and how they avoid the long arm of the law. Tim reveals a visit with Tickle behind bars, and Mark & Digger reveal an unexpected twist in their search for Popcorn Sutton's shine, stashed a decade ago.

Unfinished Business

When a dead drop goes sideways, Mark Rogers deploys backwoods justice to straighten out a thief. Kelly's massive sorghum haul puts Mark and Digger's pot stills to the test. Mike & Daniel's clear apple pie has buyers calling from across county lines.

Whisky Deception

A year behind bars, Tickle transfers to Culpeper County, and Tim concocts a plan to get him out. Breaking the shiner code can come at a steep price for Mark Rogers. Mark & Digger's handmade vodka is on a hot streak until a cold snap puts profits at risk...

Free Tickle

Mark and Digger's handmade vodka is on a hot streak until a cold snap threatens their run. For Mark Rogers, breaking the moonshiner code can come at a steep price. Tim Smith risks a big run of Tickle's double rye to put the woods back into his shine.

Breaking the Code

Mark and Digger build a hillbilly hack to save their handmade vodka. Pam may know more than she thinks about Popcorn's lost shine. Nothing but trouble for Josh running a still outside of the woods. Patti and David risk a seaplane bootleg on the bayou.

Hillbilly Hack

Tickle gets out of jail and Tim must keep him busy, but Tickle has ideas of his own. Mark and Digger make a discovery at Popcorn's boyhood home. On a midnight bootleg, Mark Rogers finds having the law on your side doesn't make you any less of an outlaw.

Risky Whisky

Tickle returns to Tim's legal distillery and discovers he's traded one prison for another. Mark and Digger unearth a trove of Popcorn's shine. Josh finds an untapped market at a biker rally, but learns the cost of entry is more than the ticket price.

The Trouble with Tickle

Tickle’s back and funnier than ever after a year in jail; Josh, already in stitches, reveals an unexpected twist to his season, and Mark and Digger uncover how Popcorn’s shine-hoarding ways will pay off for Pam.

Think the days of bootleggers, backwoods stills and "white lightning" are over? Not a chance! It's a multi-million dollar industry. But perhaps more importantly to the moonshiners, it's a tradition dating back hundreds of years, passed down to them from their forefathers. It's part of their history and culture. While this practice is surprisingly alive and well, it's not always legal. Moonshiners tells the story of those who brew their shine - often in the woods near their homes using camouflaged equipment - and the local authorities who try to keep them honest. Viewers will witness practices rarely, if ever, seen on television including the sacred rite of passage for a moonshiner - firing up the still for the first time. They will also meet legends, including notorious moonshiner Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton.

Master Distiller

Seasons16

Season 8 Episodes24

Cast3

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