Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton lived and died by his ‘shine, or at least so the legend goes. This man, a noted modern bootlegger, is said to have committed suicide back in 2009 “rather than report to federal prison after being convicted of offenses related to moonshine production.” His brand and legacy live on, however, in the form of Tennessee distilling operation Popcorn Sutton Distilling. They’ve been focused on just white whiskey to this point, which is something we don’t normally cover, but now a barrel aged, whiskey-like brown spirit has emerged which piqued our interest enough to tell you about it.
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READ THE STORYThe new Popcorn Sutton Barrel Finished, according to those behind it, was created in nod to the thought that Sutton himself ‘would sometimes ‘barrel finish’ some of his finest small batch product to later share at special events or to give as gifts.”
In more practical terms, this brown spirit takes the base Popcorn Sutton Original Small Batch Recipe and ages it in the hills of Cocke County, Tennessee. Here it is “finished for more than three years in new American oak casks with a hearty #3 char” before being bottled at 92 proof.
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“Today is a proud day for us,” said John Lunn, Master Distiller, Popcorn Sutton Distilling, in a statement. “Not just because we’ve created a unique, high quality barrel finished spirit which I believe people will truly enjoy, but because of what it means for carrying on the Popcorn Sutton legacy. It also marks our entry into the craft segment of an exciting and evolving brown spirits category.”
Now you may be wondering why this isn’t called whiskey. This is, according to Lunn in an interview he did with the Knoxville News Sentinel, because his brown spirit “doesn’t meet the definition the federal government has for whiskey. In this recipe, we add sugar before fermentation.” It must instead be from all grain.
