You don't hear much about this kind of man anymore. He was distilling corn into whiskey as a youngster together with his dadback when NASCAR icon Junior Johnson was running his very own white lightning through the mountains of western North Carolina. He kept everything in the process the way it had always been: from the outdoor, copper-tubed still tucked away in the woods to safe-keeping in old cars and barns.
Born in 1946, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton lived in one of the few but self-proclaimed "moonshine capitals of the world," Cocke County, Tenn. He grew up around stills set up in the woods where he chopped an enormous stock of hardwood used to heat the boiler, mostly through the night so they weren't as readily seen, working by moonlight and the light of the fire.
Paying a supplementary tax on what they deemed a "farm product" was unconscionable to the Scots-Irish descendants of the settlers of this land. These folks would be described as libertarian rather than conservative nowadays, since they are extremely guarded about rights and would like to see as little of government as possible. They despised law breaking intensely, and moonshining is illegal, but they had to provide for families in a rural agricultural area were jobs are hard to come by at best and nonexistent at worst. In the Great Depression a great many survived by illegal whiskey production; during Prohibition they truly flourished and expanded businesses, buying cars and building even better barns and stills.
So, the era where Sutton found himself in the last twenty years was a time when many other drugs made their way into manufacture, bringing greater numbers of law enforcement with worsening tempers (the state is 4th in crystal meth production in the nation). Still, he never altered his methods of distilling the corn. He preserved the copper-tubed still heated with hardwood and drove his old Ford Fairlane known as "the three-jug" because he shelled out three jugs of booze for her.
He became quite a superstar as the supposed "last moonshiner" and wrote a book about his exploits. He visited restaurants and bars around Cocke County and western North Carolina. He starred in documentaries regarding the intriguing business he was immersed in.
Sutton had several run-ins with the police, and in the 1970's was arrested for white whiskey production for the first time. He had a few more incidents with the law (not all of them about booze) but in 2007, he sold 50 gallons to an undercover officer and was convicted the next year. The agents found three 1,000 gallon stills on his property, along with guns and ammo, and 800 gallons of white lightning.
His demeanor sank. Throughout the trial, his discussions with friends about whiskey, rare in the first place, turned nonexistent. One of the last photos taken by a close friend outside the courthouse at the time shows him sitting sad-eyed, holding up a middle finger. Worst of all, a plea deal included forfeiting the stills, whiskey and guns, and most of his other property to reduce the sentence from fifteen years to a year-and-a-half.
Sutton received that 18-month sentence in January, 2009, but folks who knew him said he was devastated. After years of telling them that his last run of whiskey would certainly be his last, people believed it this time around. His wife of only a couple years found him in late January, dead by his own hand, in his old Ford. The Wall Street Journal posted an article concerning Marvin's arrest and can be seen online: Popcorn Sutton, Legendary Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey.
Born in 1946, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton lived in one of the few but self-proclaimed "moonshine capitals of the world," Cocke County, Tenn. He grew up around stills set up in the woods where he chopped an enormous stock of hardwood used to heat the boiler, mostly through the night so they weren't as readily seen, working by moonlight and the light of the fire.
Paying a supplementary tax on what they deemed a "farm product" was unconscionable to the Scots-Irish descendants of the settlers of this land. These folks would be described as libertarian rather than conservative nowadays, since they are extremely guarded about rights and would like to see as little of government as possible. They despised law breaking intensely, and moonshining is illegal, but they had to provide for families in a rural agricultural area were jobs are hard to come by at best and nonexistent at worst. In the Great Depression a great many survived by illegal whiskey production; during Prohibition they truly flourished and expanded businesses, buying cars and building even better barns and stills.
So, the era where Sutton found himself in the last twenty years was a time when many other drugs made their way into manufacture, bringing greater numbers of law enforcement with worsening tempers (the state is 4th in crystal meth production in the nation). Still, he never altered his methods of distilling the corn. He preserved the copper-tubed still heated with hardwood and drove his old Ford Fairlane known as "the three-jug" because he shelled out three jugs of booze for her.
He became quite a superstar as the supposed "last moonshiner" and wrote a book about his exploits. He visited restaurants and bars around Cocke County and western North Carolina. He starred in documentaries regarding the intriguing business he was immersed in.
Sutton had several run-ins with the police, and in the 1970's was arrested for white whiskey production for the first time. He had a few more incidents with the law (not all of them about booze) but in 2007, he sold 50 gallons to an undercover officer and was convicted the next year. The agents found three 1,000 gallon stills on his property, along with guns and ammo, and 800 gallons of white lightning.
His demeanor sank. Throughout the trial, his discussions with friends about whiskey, rare in the first place, turned nonexistent. One of the last photos taken by a close friend outside the courthouse at the time shows him sitting sad-eyed, holding up a middle finger. Worst of all, a plea deal included forfeiting the stills, whiskey and guns, and most of his other property to reduce the sentence from fifteen years to a year-and-a-half.
Sutton received that 18-month sentence in January, 2009, but folks who knew him said he was devastated. After years of telling them that his last run of whiskey would certainly be his last, people believed it this time around. His wife of only a couple years found him in late January, dead by his own hand, in his old Ford. The Wall Street Journal posted an article concerning Marvin's arrest and can be seen online: Popcorn Sutton, Legendary Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey.
About the Author:
Whiskey carries an interesting history. There are numerous resources to educate yourself more about making whiskey. You can also check out the article "How To Make Whiskey" to get more details on this rich subject.
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