Legal moonshine growing industry in East Tennessee

By summer, Cocke County may be home to what its owners say will be the largest pot still whiskey operation in the United States.

Popcorn Sutton Distilling operates a Nashville distillery that produces about 1,500 cases of liquor a month. But, if all goes as planned, the company will soon have a Cocke County distillery that produces 20,000 to 30,000 cases a month, said Jamey Grosser, a partner in the enterprise.

“We hope to be producing by August,” he said.

Photo by ANN RICHARDSON

Popcorn Sutton Distillery/Special to the News Sentinel Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey.

The Popcorn Sutton operation will join other distilleries that have appeared in East Tennessee since the state Legislature eased restrictions on distilleries in 2008. Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg was the first to appear, opening in 2010. Since then, the Gatlinburg Barrelhouse has also opened.

Popcorn Sutton Distilling opened in Nashville, but Grosser said the plan all along was to open a distillery in Cocke County, where Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton ran his illegal moonshine operation for years.

“Luckily, we have had some success with the small distillery,” Grosser said of the Nashville operation. “We sell every drop that we make.”

Grosser said the popularity of entertainment like the Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners TV program and documentaries on moonshining show that there is a growing interest in the folklore of illegal whiskey.

“Popcorn was a modern-day folk hero,” he said.

Grosser also believes that, since the recession there has been a movement away from more fancy, expensive entertainment and toward things simpler and more homegrown, including booze.

Grosser, who said he was Sutton’s moonshining apprentice, said he and Sutton were friends and business partners. Sutton committed suicide March 16, 2009, just days before he was to report for an 18-month federal prison term after being convicted of brewing whiskey illegally.

It struck some as a cruel twist of fate that Sutton would end his life just months before Tennessee relaxed its laws on distilling liquor. It seemed that if only he had done his time he could have gotten out and been able to start producing his product legally.

What people don’t realize is that Sutton was aware of the impending change in the law and he and Grosser were planning a company to produce liquor after the change, Grosser said.

This made Sutton’s suicide even more of a shock, Grosser said.

Photo by Andy Armstrong

Popcorn Sutton Distillery/Special to the News Sentinel The late moonshiner Popcorn Sutton, in an undated photograph, is the namesake of the Popcorn Sutton Distillery, which plans to expand its Nashville operation with a much larger distillery in Cocke County.

“Looking back, I remember he would say ‘I’ll die before I will go to prison.’ I told him, look, it’s just 18 months and then you can go back to making liquor,” Grosser said.

Grosser is a former professional Supercross and Motorcross motorcycle racer who said he got interested in moonshine culture and met Sutton while trying to do some research in East Tennessee. The two became friends, Grosser said.

“He knew his moonshining days were winding down and my motorcycle racing days were over,” he said.

Grosser has also been involved with marketing and energy drink companies. Grosser, Sutton and Sutton’s wife, Pam, began planning a distillery in Cocke County, Grosser said.

The partnership now includes country music performer Hank Williams Jr.

The Cocke County distillery is planned in the former Falcon Products building on the West Highway 25/70 corridor. Grosser said work is under way to prepare the building. The plan is to produce test batches of liquor in late June or July and hire about 15 or 20 local residents during the first year. The operation will have up to 50 employees by the second year. Grosser said there will be retail sale of products on site and the public will be able to tour the operation.

The company will also work on increasing its distribution, Grosser said.

“We are really only in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas, but this will allow us to spread distribution throughout the United States and the world.

In Gatlinburg, Ole Smoky is enjoying considerable growth, said Joe Baker, a partner in that operation. In 2012, Ole Smoky sold nearly 100,000 cases of its six moonshine flavors, a 200 percent increase over the previous year. That netted the company the title of Rising Star from the Beverage Information Group.

“We have seen tremendous growth year over year and now we are selling in almost all 50 states,” Baker said.

The company has 156 employees and a production facility and warehouse under construction.

Baker, Tony Breeden and Cory Cottongim are partners in the operation. Baker’s wife, Jessi Baker, Charles Edwards and Virginia Cottongim are owners of a Gatlinburg Barrelhouse, a separate business.

Gatlinburg Barrelhouse owners could not be reached for comment, but the distillery produces Davy Crockett’s Ole Coonskin Tennessee Whiskey, Fire Tower Cinnamon Bourbon Whiskey, Chokin’ Chicken Tennessee Vodka and Cooter Brown Blended Whiskey.

Ole Smoky Distillery offers six products: Original Moonshine, White Lightnin,’ Moonshine Cherries, Apple Pie Moonshine, Peach Moonshine and Blackberry Moonshine. There are also six seasonal flavors.

Popcorn Sutton Distilling produces one product, Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey, which Grosser said is made using Sutton’s original recipe. However, the company’s website offers recipes for six drinks using their product, from Popcorn’s Southern Sweet Tea to American Margarita.