>>> MOUNT AIRY IS KNOWN TO MANY OF US AS MAYBERRY.
AND IF YOU'RE AN "ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" FAN, YOU KNOW MAYBERRY AND
MOONSHINE SEEM TO GO HAND IN HAND.
PRODUCER KATHERINE JOHNSON INTRODUCES US TO A LOCAL
BUSINESS THAT'S DRAWING VISITORS FROM NEAR AND FAR TO GET A TASTE
OF WHAT PUT MAYBERRY ON THE MAP.
>> TAKE A TRIP TO MOUNT AIRY, AND YOU'LL FIND VANN McCOY,
MOUNT AIRY NATIVE, MASTER DISTILLER, AND CO-OWNER OF
MAYBERRY SPIRITS WITH HIS STILL RUNNING AT FULL FORCE.
IT'S A TALENT HE COMES BY NATURALLY AND LEARNED AS A
TEENAGER.
>> MOM CAME IN, AND SHE FOUND HER PRESSURE COOKER ON THE
STOVE, AND I'D FOUND SOME COPPER TUBING IN THE BASEMENT AND HAD
PUTTIED IT UP AND HOOKED IT UP AND RAN IT UNDER THE SINK IN THE
KITCHEN FOR MY CONDENSER AND WAS -- WAS MAKING SOME
MOONSHINE.
SHE SAYS, ARE YOU MAKING LIQUOR?
WELL, I GUESS YOU CAN'T HELP IT.
I HADN'T TOLD YOU THIS, BUT YOUR FAMILY WAS MAKING IT AND SELLING
IT FOR THE PAST 150 YEARS, AND IT MUST BE IN YOUR BLOOD, SO I
GUESS THAT'S WHERE IT'S GOING.
>> WHERE IT'S GONE HAS TRANSLATED INTO A LINE OF
SEVERAL WHISKEYS THAT ARE MAKING THEIR WAY INTO ABC STORES ACROSS
NORTH CAROLINA, ALL PRODUCED WITH SORGHUM, A COSTLY BUT
EFFECTIVE INGREDIENT IN MAKING THIS PRODUCT.
>> THE QUALITY OF THIS PARTICULAR SYRUP, WHICH IS ALSO
GLUTEN-FREE, WHICH IS A VERY INTERESTING SEGMENT OF THE
ALCOHOL INDUSTRY, PRODUCED AND INCREDIBLY SMOOTH PRODUCT.
NOW, WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT IT, WE'RE COMING OUT WITH THREE
CURRENTLY, THE UNAGED VERSION, A CLEAR WHISKEY, IF YOU WILL, A
MOONSHINE-TYPE PRODUCT.
THE SECOND PRODUCT IS AN AGED VERSION OF THAT, SO A MORE
TRADITIONAL WHISKEY PRODUCT THAT'S OAKED, AND WE'RE CALLING
THAT TOASTED OAK.
AND THEN THE THIRD PRODUCT COMES FROM A BLENDING OF THE OTHER
HALF OF OUR COMPANY WHERE WE ACTUALLY MAKE GOURMET BAKING
EXTRACTS.
>> MAYBE WHAT'S AS INTERESTING AS THE PRODUCT IS THE HISTORY OF
THE MAN WHO'S CREATED THEM.
>> I WAS A CONTEMPLATIVE MONK FOR APPROXIMATELY 23, 24 YEARS,
AND LIVED IN SWITZERLAND AND IRELAND AND MINNESOTA AND
WISCONSIN AND QUITE A FEW PLACES, SANG GREGORIAN CHANTS
FIVE HOURS A DAY, AND THREE, FOUR YEARS AGO, MY ELDERLY
MOTHER'S HEALTH STARTED DECLINING, AND I MOVED BACK TO
MOUNT AIRY.
>> TAKE A TRIP TO MAYBERRY SPIRITS, AND YOU CAN EXPECT TO
BE BOTH ENTERTAINED AND EDUCATED ON THE HISTORY OF MOONSHINE AND
MOONSHINE MAKING IN NORTH CAROLINA.
>> WE HAVE A REALLY WONDERFUL TOUR HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA.
WE GO THROUGH THE ALCOHOL MAKING PROCESS.
WE MAKE IT FUN AND ENTERTAINING.
THERE ARE SURPRISES AND JOKES AND COSTUMES AND THINGS LIKE
THAT THAT MAKE IT ENJOYABLE.
YOU GET YOUR BASICS FOR HOW DISTILLING IS DONE THAT'S
INTERESTING TO ANYBODY.
EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT -- NOT A DRINKER, IT'S A FASCINATING
TOUR.
>> AND VISITORS SEEM TO AGREE.
>> HE'S KNOWLEDGEABLE.
HE'S FUNNY.
HE'S ENGAGING.
YOU GET MORE THAN ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING TO TRY AND TASTE.
BUT IT'S JUST -- I THINK IT'S JUST PART OF THE WHOLE REGION.
SO WE REALLY ENJOYED IT.
>> FOR McCOY, THIS OPERATION ISN'T JUST ABOUT MAKING
MOONSHINE.
HE'S COMBINED A SUSTAINABILITY ASPECT BY USING WOOD AND WINDOWS
FROM OLD BARNS AND BUILDINGS TO CONSTRUCT A GOOD PORTION OF HIS
ESTABLISHMENT AND DISPLAYS.
AND IN ADDITION TO SAMPLING MOONSHINE, VISITORS GET THE
OPPORTUNITY TO BROWSE AND PURCHASE THE WORK OF NORTH
CAROLINA ARTISTS AND CRAFTERS BEFORE AND AFTER A TOUR IN THE
DISTILLERY'S SHOWROOM.
THE SPIRIT OF MAYBERRY AND "THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" ISN'T LOST
IN THIS MOONSHINE OPERATION.
>> WHAT'S INTERESTING ON THAT IS, WHILE IN "THE ANDY GRIFFITH
SHOW," THERE WAS THE IMAGE OF DEALING WITH ALL THE STILLS AND
WITH OTIS AND ALL OF THOSE SORTS OF THINGS GOING ON, BUT THERE
WAS ALWAYS A BACKDROP.
>> I THINK OTIS WOULD BE PRETTY HAPPY RIGHT NOW.
>> I THINK SO, TOO.
>> AND McCOY SAYS THE REAL HISTORY OF MOONSHINE GOES MUCH
DEEPER THAN JUST PRODUCING LIQUOR, SOMETHING HE HOPES HIS
SPIRIT BRINGS TO OTHERS.
>> IT WASN'T ABOUT GETTING DRUNK.
IT WAS ABOUT FAMILIES AND FRIENDS GATHERING TOGETHER TO
SHARE A LITTLE SIP OF SOMETHING, TO WARM THE HEART AND THE
SPIRIT, THAT -- THAT MOONSHINE TRICKLING OUT OF THE
APPALACHIANS THAT MADE THE MUSIC SOUND A LITTLE BIT SWEETER AND
MADE THE LAUGHTER A LITTLE BIT MORE JOYFUL.
THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO, IS BRING THAT TO -- TO MAYBERRY.