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Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (October 5, 1946 – March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina,[1][2] he grew up, lived and died in the rural areas around Maggie Valley and nearby Cocke County, Tennessee.[3][4][5] He wrote a self-published autobiographical guide to moonshining production, self-produced a home video depicting his moonshining activities, was the subject of several documentaries, including one that received a Regional Emmy Award, and is the subject of the award-winning biography and photobook The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton.[6]

Key Information

Sutton died by suicide in March 2009, aged 62, rather than report to federal prison[7] after being convicted of offenses related to moonshining and illegal firearm possession. Since his death, a new company and associated whiskey brand have been named after him.

Moonshining career and rise to fame

[edit]

Sutton had a long career making moonshine and bootlegging. Sutton said he considered moonshine production a legitimate part of his heritage, as he was a Scots-Irish American and descended from a long line of moonshiners.[3] In the 1960s or 1970s, Sutton was given the nickname of "Popcorn" after his frustrated attack on a bar's faulty popcorn vending machine with a pool cue.[3][4] Before his rise to fame at around 60 years of age, he had been in trouble with the law several times, but had avoided prison sentences. He was convicted in 1974 of selling untaxed liquor[3][8] and in 1981 and 1985 on charges of possessing controlled substances and assault with a deadly weapon, but received only probation sentences until the 1985 arrest, after which he served time in the Craggy Correctional Center in Asheville.[9][10] In 1998 his roadside store in Maggie Valley, NC was searched by state agents, who seized a moonshine still and sixty gallons of moonshine, and Sutton was again placed on probation with a suspended sentence.

Sutton then wrote a self-published autobiography and guide to moonshine production called Me and My Likker, and began selling copies of it in 1999 out of his junk shop in Maggie Valley.[2][11][12] The New York Times later called it "a rambling, obscene, and often hilarious account of his life in the trade".[2] (A woman named Ernestine Upchurch, with whom Sutton had been living in the 1990s, later said she helped write the book.[13][14]) At around the same time, Sutton produced a home video of the same title and released it on VHS tape.

He was a short, skinny fella, who always wore his hat – that was kind of his claim to fame, his hat that he always wore. And his bib overalls – he always wore bib overalls. Even when he came to federal court, he was wearing bib overalls. He was a friendly fellow, and of course every time you would talk to him, he would say, "Ray, I've run my last run of moonshine, I'm not gonna do it anymore, I'm just getting too old to be doing this stuff."

— Radio reporter Ray Snader on "Popcorn" Sutton, 2009.[15]

His first appearance in a feature film (that was not self-published) was in Neal Hutcheson's 2002 documentary, Mountain Talk, as one of various people of southern Appalachia featured in this film focused on the "mountain dialect" of the area.[9][16] Sutton next appeared in another Hutcheson film that would become the cornerstone of his notoriety, called This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make. Filmed and released in 2002, the film quickly became a cult classic and over time drew the attention of television producers in Boston and New York.

In 2007, a fire on Sutton's property in Parrottsville led to firefighters discovering 650 gallons of untaxed alcohol there, for which he was convicted and put on probation again by Cocke County authorities.[8]

Sutton was featured in the 2007 documentary Hillbilly: The Real Story on The History Channel.[4] The source footage from the 2002 documentary was also re-worked into another Hutcheson documentary, The Last One, which was released in 2008 and was broadcast on PBS. It received a 2009 Southeast Emmy Award.[9][17][18]

In March 2008, Sutton told an undercover federal officer that he had 500 gallons of moonshine in Tennessee and another 400 gallons in Maggie Valley that he was ready to sell.[8] This led to a raid of his property by the ATF, led by Jim Cavanaugh of Waco siege infamy.[19][20] In January 2009, Sutton, who had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison for illegally distilling spirits and possession of a firearm (a .38-caliber handgun) as a felon.[2][8] Sutton, 62 and suffering from a long illness that his doctors had failed to diagnose, asked the U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer to allow him to serve his sentence under house arrest, and several petitions were made by others requesting that his sentence be reduced or commuted, but this time to no avail.[19] The judge noted that Sutton was still under probation in Tennessee at the time of the federal raid, and said that putting a man on probation again after being convicted five times of various crimes would not serve the community interest.[8] He said he had considered a harsher sentence of 24 months, but had decided on 18 months after considering Sutton's age and medical condition.[8]

Death and memorial services

[edit]

Sutton killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning on March 16, 2009, apparently to avoid a federal prison term due to begin a few days later. His wife Pam, whom he had married about two years before his death,[12][15] returned home from running errands and discovered her husband in his green Ford Fairmont (which was still running) at the rear of their property in Parrottsville, Tennessee.[21] Mrs. Sutton said, "He called it his three-jar car because he gave three jugs of liquor for it."[3] His daughter said he had told her in advance that he would die by suicide rather than go to jail, adding that he had "the strength to die the way he lived: according to his own wishes and no one else's."[22][23]

Sutton's body was initially interred at a family graveyard in Mount Sterling, North Carolina. However, on October 24, 2009, it was relocated to his property in Parrottsville, and a private memorial service was held. His body was carried to its new resting spot by horse and carriage. Sutton's memorial grew in spectacle as country music singer Hank Williams Jr. flew in to pay his respects. A small memorial was also held for close friends and family.[24]

A conventional grave marker was used at the head of Sutton's grave, reading "Marvin Popcorn Sutton / Ex-Moonshiner / October 5, 1946 / March 16, 2009".[25] He had also prepared a footstone in advance for his gravesite, and for years he had kept it by his front porch and had kept his casket ready in his living room. The epitaph on his footstone reads "Popcorn Said Fuck You".[15][26]

[edit]
  • Neal Hutcheson produced the documentary This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make in 2002.
  • Neal Hutcheson produced the television documentary The Last One, which went on to win a regional Emmy.[27]
  • Sutton's long-estranged daughter Sky Sutton wrote a self-published book in 2009 entitled Daddy Moonshine: The Story of Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (ASIN B0027MNMC2)
  • Singer-songwriter Hank Williams III sings about Sutton in the song "Moonshiner's Life" on his 2010 album Rebel Within[28]
  • Some of the prior Hutcheson documentary footage of Sutton was used in the 2011–12 season of the Moonshiners television series produced by Discovery Channel
  • A brief photographic book about Sutton was released in 2012 – Popcorn Sutton The Making and Marketing of a Hillbilly Hero, text by Tom Wilson Jester with photographs by Don Dudenbostel (72 pp., Dudenbostel Photography, March 7, 2012, ISBN 978-0615585130)
  • Another Hutcheson documentary about Sutton was released in 2014 called Popcorn Sutton—A Hell of a Life[1][29][30]
  • A biography, memoir and photobook titled The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton was released in 2021 and won the Outstanding Book/Independent Spirit Award from the 2022 Independent Publishers Book Awards and a 2022 National Indie Excellence Award, and was the grand prizer winner of the 30th Annual Writer's Digest Book Awards.[31][32][33][34]

Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey

[edit]
A bottle of the namesake whiskey (c. 2013)

On November 9, 2010, Hank Williams Jr. announced his partnership with J&M Concepts LLC and widow Pam Sutton to distill and distribute a brand of whiskey named after Sutton that was asserted to follow his legacy.[35] Dubbed "Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey", it was marketed as having been produced on stills designed by Sutton using his secret family recipe and techniques Sutton entrusted to former Supercross professional Jamey Grosser of J&M Concepts.[36] Country music stars attending the launch event included Martina McBride, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Zac Brown, Josh Thompson, Kentucky Headhunters, Little Big Town, Colt Ford, Montgomery Gentry, Jaron and the Long Road to Love, and Lee Brice.[37] According to press reports, Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey would be initially distributed in Tennessee and throughout the southeast.

On October 25, 2013, Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. filed suit against the distiller of Popcorn Sutton's whiskey, claiming that the newly redesigned bottle, with its square shape, beveled shoulders, and white-on-black label, too closely resembled their own.[38] The lawsuit said that the design "...is likely to cause purchasers and prospective purchasers of the product to believe mistakenly that it is a new Tennessee white whiskey product in the Jack Daniel's line." The suit asked that all current existing bottles be taken off the market and that all profits from the sales of those bottles be handed over to Jack Daniel's. The lawsuit was settled in 2014 with undisclosed terms,[39] and as of May 2016, the Sutton brand's bottle design has been substantially changed. The brand now uses a clear, round bottle with a smaller label.[40]

In 2014, Popcorn Sutton Distilling opened a new distillery in Newport, Tennessee, the county seat of Cocke County.[41] Copper stills for the facility were made by Vendome Copper and Brass in Louisville, Kentucky.[42] The CEO of Popcorn Sutton Distilling is Megan Kvamme.[39]

In March 2015, it was announced that John Lunn, who had until then been master distiller of George Dickel Tennessee whiskey since 2005, would be joining Popcorn Sutton Distilling as its new master distiller.[39] In July 2016, it was announced Allisa Henley, long time employee and Master Distiller at George Dickel, would join John Lunn at Popcorn Sutton Distilling.[43]

In December 2016, the Popcorn Sutton Distillery was sold to the Sazerac Company. The sale included only the distillery, not the brands, which are owned by Popcorn Sutton Distilling LLC, which is based in Ohio. Lunn and Henley and the other employees of the distillery became employees of the Sazerac Company.[41] At the time of the announcement, it had not been decided whether or not the Popcorn Sutton brands would continue to be produced under contract by the distillery.[41]

References

[edit]
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Popcorn Sutton

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from Grokipedia
Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (October 5, 1946 – March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner renowned for producing high-proof corn whiskey using traditional copper still methods in defiance of federal distillation and taxation laws. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, Sutton relocated to Cocke County, Tennessee, where he honed his craft as a third-generation distiller, distributing untaxed liquor locally and gaining notoriety for its potency and clarity despite repeated law enforcement interventions. Throughout his career, he faced multiple convictions, including federal moonshining charges in 1975 and 2008, alongside felonies for drug offenses and assault, which resulted in probation, fines, and eventual imprisonment terms he often evaded through appeals or defiance. Sutton self-documented his lifestyle and techniques in a book titled Me and My Likker and a DVD film, preserving Appalachian distilling folklore, though his 2008 conviction led to an 18-month federal sentence that prompted his suicide by vehicle exhaust fumes in Parrottsville, Tennessee, ten days before reporting to prison. Posthumously, his widow commercialized his recipes through legal Popcorn Sutton Distillery, perpetuating his legacy amid ongoing debates over cultural heritage versus regulatory enforcement in moonshine production.

Early Life and Background

Birth and Family Origins

Marvin Sutton, known as , was born on October 5, 1946, in , a small Appalachian in Haywood . His parents were Bonnie Sutton and Vader Sutton, who resided in the remote rural area, where poverty and self-reliance shaped local livelihoods. Sutton's family traced its roots to the of western North Carolina, including areas around Hemphill, with generations tied to the region's traditions of and informal distilling practices amid economic hardship. He later described his heritage as steeped in bootlegging, viewing moonshining as an inherited craft passed down through kin, though specific ancestral distillers remain undocumented beyond oral accounts. This background reflected broader patterns in Appalachian communities, where federal revenue agents' enforcement during and beyond reinforced clandestine family enterprises.

Nickname and Early Influences

Marvin Hedwin Sutton, known professionally and personally as Popcorn Sutton, was born on October 5, 1946, in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, a small rural community in the Appalachian Mountains. His parents, Bonnie and Vader Sutton, were hardworking mountain folk whose Scots-Irish ancestors had settled in the region generations earlier, fostering a tradition of self-reliance and illicit distillation amid economic hardships. Vader Sutton, a bootlegger himself, introduced Marvin to moonshining techniques during his childhood, passing down skills rooted in family heritage and the practical necessities of rural life where legal alcohol production was limited or unaffordable. Sutton earned his enduring nickname "" in the 1960s or 1970s following a fit of in a bar, where he attacked a faulty popcorn vending with a pool cue, damaging it irreparably; accounts from friends and locals consistently attribute the moniker to this incident, which occurred possibly in Del Rio, Tennessee. The event encapsulated his volatile temperament and disdain for malfunctioning machinery, traits that later defined his public persona as a rugged, unyielding Appalachian figure. Early influences on Sutton included the cultural isolation of Cocke County, Tennessee—where he spent much of his youth—and the intergenerational expectation of producing homemade liquor as a means of economic independence in an area marked by poverty and limited opportunities. His father's operations, conducted in hidden mountain stills, provided hands-on education in fermentation, distillation, and evasion of authorities, shaping Sutton's lifelong commitment to the craft despite repeated legal risks. This upbringing in a bootlegging lineage, combined with the Appalachian ethos of defiance against external regulations, instilled a deep-seated identity tied to moonshining as both heritage and rebellion.

Moonshining Career

Entry into Moonshining

Sutton acquired the skills of moonshining from his and grandfather during his upbringing in the Hemphill community of , continuing a tied to Scots-Irish ancestors who were avid . His 's subsistence farming in rural Appalachia, marked by self-reliance through hunting, foraging, and distilling, provided the practical context for these inherited techniques. At age 16, Sutton began distilling moonshine independently, producing an inferior product he later dismissed as "shit liquor." By age 20, he had committed to moonshining full-time, viewing it as both a cultural inheritance and an economic necessity in a region where legal opportunities were limited and federal whiskey taxes fueled local defiance. This early immersion aligned with broader Appalachian practices stemming from Scotch-Irish settlers' corn-based distillation methods.

Production Techniques and Reputation

Popcorn Sutton utilized traditional Appalachian moonshining methods, starting with a corn-based mash consisting of , , , , and malted . The process involved cooking the in boiling to gelatinize starches, cooling it, then adding , malt, and for over several days. occurred in buckets or barrels, producing a wash that was distilled in copper pot stills, often outdoors and exposed to the elements to mimic historical conditions. Sutton's emphasized potency and purity, yielding up to 160 proof through multiple runs and precise temperature control. He discarded the initial "heads" fraction—containing from corn —to avoid , a practice rooted in empirical trial-and-error rather than formal chemistry. His avoided to minimize risks, focusing on corn for authentic flavor, and employed a technique for consistency in subsequent batches. Sutton earned a reputation as a master distiller and cultural preservationist, viewed by locals as embodying Scots-Irish Appalachian heritage against federal alcohol regulations. His moonshine was prized for its high proof, clarity, and robust corn taste, distinguishing it from inferior "crying" or "divorcing" varieties he critiqued. Admirers regarded him as the "king of moonshine," a folk hero whose outlaw persona and self-taught expertise amplified his legend, though authorities saw his operations as illicit evasion of taxation.

Operations and Economic Motivations

Sutton conducted his moonshining operations primarily in the remote backwoods of Cocke County, Tennessee, centering his activities around Parrotsville, where he relocated for favorable terrain and local tolerance. He employed large copper stills, operating three at a time with capacities of 800 gallons for two and 1,750 gallons for the third, enabling batch productions of hundreds of gallons of untaxed whiskey. In a March 2008 raid, authorities confiscated 850 gallons of finished moonshine alongside these stills, which had capacities up to 1,000 gallons each, underscoring the industrial scale of his setup despite the artisanal pretense. Another seizure in 2007 yielded 37 half-gallon jars, while federal charges stemmed from an offer to sell nearly 1,000 gallons, and a later bust involved 1,700 gallons, reflecting periodic high-volume outputs supported by 1,100 gallons of sour mash in one instance capable of yielding about 130 gallons of distillate. These operations were economically driven by the scarcity of legitimate employment in Appalachia's rugged, isolated economy, where moonshining served as a survival trade for families facing chronic poverty and limited opportunities. By age 20, Sutton had transitioned to full-time production, distributing hundreds of gallons at a time via bootleggers to evade detection and maximize reach. He supplemented income by selling half-gallon jars directly to tourists for $25 each from his Parrotsville property, capitalizing on his growing notoriety as a cultural icon. This direct sales model, combined with bulk underground distribution, provided substantial cash flow untaxed by federal authorities, aligning with his stated motivation of personal independence and rebellion against government liquor taxes that he viewed as punitive overreach. Sutton persisted in these high-risk activities despite repeated arrests—spanning convictions in the 1970s through the 2000s—because the profitability outweighed legal perils in a region where alternative livelihoods were scarce, and moonshining doubled as a badge of Appalachian self-reliance. He rejected overtures to legalize his craft, citing distrust of regulatory burdens that would erode margins and autonomy, even as fame from media exposure boosted ancillary earnings from merchandise like VHS tapes and books. This economic calculus, rooted in tax evasion's allure and the trade's romanticized profitability, sustained operations until his 2009 sentencing loomed as an existential threat.

Prior Arrests and Convictions

Sutton's earliest documented conviction occurred in 1975 on federal charges of manufacturing and possessing an unregistered still, distilling apparatus, and untaxed liquor, for which he received a probationary sentence. He faced additional state-level charges related to untaxed liquor in Tennessee, resulting in a conviction for a felony violation and a sentence of two years' unsupervised probation. In 1980, Sutton was convicted of a felony drug offense and given a five-year suspended sentence. The following year, in Haywood County Superior Court, North Carolina, he was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, though much of the term was suspended in favor of probation. Sutton's record also included a 1985 conviction in for felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, marking his first incarceration as he served a three-year prison term at Craggy Correctional Center. Earlier investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in 1974 had scrutinized his activities for multiple moonshining violations, though these did not immediately yield further convictions beyond the 1975 federal case. He accumulated other arrests in for misdemeanor alcohol violations and faced dismissed charges for , , and additional alcohol-related offenses prior to 2007. These priors, spanning moonshining, narcotics, and , reflected a pattern of defiance against prohibition-era laws intertwined with personal disputes.

2007 Federal Case and Sentencing

In early 2007, federal authorities, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), initiated an investigation into Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton's moonshining operations in , focusing on the production and distribution of untaxed distilled spirits. The probe involved undercover operations, during which Sutton interacted with agents, demonstrating his distilling process and revealing storage of approximately 500 gallons of at a Parrottsville location on March 12, 2008. A subsequent raid uncovered nearly 1,700 gallons of untaxed across properties and storage units linked to Sutton. Sutton was federally charged on March 13, 2008, with multiple counts including manufacturing and possessing untaxed distilled spirits in violation of provisions, as well as possessing and selling , and unlawful possession of a as a convicted . These offenses carried potential penalties of up to five years per moonshining count and ten years for the firearm charge. Sutton, who had prior felony convictions including a 1975 federal moonshining case, was released on a $20,000 bond following his arrest. On April 7, 2008, Sutton entered a guilty plea to the charges in the U.S. Court for the Eastern of , acknowledging his role in the illegal and possession. The plea avoided a but did not mitigate the severity, given evidence of ongoing operations despite Sutton's July 2007 state-level for untaxed possession. Sentencing occurred on January 26, 2009, before U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer, who imposed an 18-month prison term, rejecting numerous public letters advocating leniency based on Sutton's cultural persona and age. The judge noted consideration of a 24-month sentence under federal guidelines but reduced it due to Sutton's health issues and 62 years of age, while emphasizing deterrence for illegal distilling. Sutton was also fined and ordered to forfeit equipment and proceeds from the operation.

Rise to Fame

The 2008 Documentary

The Last One is a 57-minute directed and produced by Hutcheson, released in 2008, that depicts legendary Appalachian moonshiner Forrest "Popcorn" Sutton distilling what he claimed would be his final batch of illegal bootleg whiskey in the remote mountains of . The film captures Sutton's hands-on of traditional corn-based using a copper still, emphasizing the secretive craft passed down through generations amid federal prohibitions on unlicensed production. Hutcheson, who first filmed Sutton in 2002 for an earlier project, reworked and expanded that footage into this special to highlight the of moonshining while showcasing Sutton's unapologetic persona and technical expertise in evading detection. Filmed primarily on location near Sutton's home in Maggie Valley, the documentary interweaves scenes of the — including mashing corn, fermenting mash, firing the still, and collecting the high-proof "likker"—with Sutton's candid commentary on his lifelong commitment to the trade despite repeated arrests. It also features fellow J.B. Rader, providing historical context on Appalachia's tradition dating to the , rooted in Scottish-Irish immigrant practices and economic necessities during eras of high liquor taxes and poverty. Sutton's raw, profane narration underscores his defiance of authority, as he declares the run a deliberate act of preservation before potential , reflecting his view of moonshining as an artisanal skill rather than mere criminality. Premiering on South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) in late November 2008 and subsequently airing on PBS affiliates nationwide starting in early 2009, the film earned an Emmy Award for its authentic portrayal of Appalachian folklore and craftsmanship. Its broadcast distribution marked a pivotal escalation in Sutton's visibility, transforming him from a local eccentric into a national folk icon and sparking widespread media interest in his story just months before his March 2009 sentencing in a federal moonshining case. The documentary's unvarnished depiction, avoiding romanticization or condemnation, drew praise for authenticity but also scrutiny over glamorizing illegal activity, with Sutton himself leveraging the exposure to sell branded merchandise and assert his legacy.

Media Exposure and Public Persona

Sutton's media exposure expanded significantly after the 2008 release of The Last One, an Emmy award-winning special that featured him alongside fellow JB Rader, showcasing the and of Appalachian moonshining. This broadcast introduced his persona to a national , emphasizing his in preserving traditional methods amid modern legal pressures. Coverage in regional and national outlets followed, including magazine features that highlighted his life even posthumously, but during his lifetime, it amplified interest in his operations and attitudes. Sutton cultivated a distinctive public image as the archetypal Appalachian : a wiry figure with a long, unkempt , clad in , and known for his profane, boisterous storytelling laced with defiance toward federal authorities. His gruff charm and unyielding commitment to his family's distilling legacy resonated widely, positioning him as a who embodied resistance to perceived government intrusion on cultural practices. Sutton actively promoted this persona through self-published works like his 2009 autobiography Me and My Likker, which detailed recipes and anecdotes, and home videos demonstrating his process, effectively branding himself as an authentic voice of mountain independence. This image garnered admiration from locals and tourists alike, who saw Sutton as a gritty preserver of heritage rather than a criminal, though his multiple convictions underscored the illegal nature of his activities. Media portrayals often romanticized his no-nonsense attitude, transforming prior arrests into narratives of defiance, yet they rarely delved into the economic motivations or risks involved without his own candid admissions. By 2009, as federal sentencing loomed, Sutton's persona had evolved into a , blending notoriety with nostalgia for pre-prohibition traditions.

Death

Circumstances of Suicide

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton died by suicide on March 16, 2009, at the age of 62, via carbon monoxide poisoning while seated in a Chevrolet truck on his property in Parrottsville, Tennessee. Authorities found no evidence of foul play, and an autopsy confirmed the cause as intentional carbon monoxide inhalation from the vehicle's exhaust, with results pending formal release but preliminarily supporting suicide. The suicide occurred ten days before Sutton was scheduled to report to federal prison to begin an 18-month sentence imposed on January 26, 2009, following his October 2008 guilty plea to charges of producing untaxed distilled spirits (moonshine) and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. This conviction stemmed from a 2007-2008 federal investigation uncovering large-scale moonshine operations, including stills and over 1,700 gallons of mash, which violated probation from prior state convictions for similar offenses. Sutton's widow, Pam Sutton, whom he married in 2007, stated that he chose death over incarceration, emphasizing his unwillingness to abandon his independent mountain lifestyle and face the constraints of prison. His daughter similarly attributed the act to Sutton's fierce autonomy, noting his history of resisting authority and prior threats of suicide during legal pressures. Sutton had expressed such sentiments publicly, including in his 2008 documentary This is the Last One, where he lamented aging into unavoidable prison time for his lifelong trade.

Memorial Services

Following his on March 16, 2009, Sutton was initially buried in a private, early-morning ceremony on March 20, 2009, in a small family cemetery in Mount Sterling, North Carolina, adjacent to the graves of his parents, as per his stated wishes in his will to avoid and be interred in the clothing he wore at the time of death. The site soon faced vandalism, prompting his widow, Pam Sutton, to exhume the body for relocation to . A public memorial service and reburial occurred on October 25, 2009, at Resthaven Memorial Gardens near Dandridge, Tennessee, attended by approximately 350 people who gathered to pay tribute to the 62-year-old moonshiner in a rural autumn setting. The event featured a horse-drawn hearse, eulogies honoring Sutton's legacy as a traditional distiller, and tributes reflecting his cultural significance in Appalachian folklore, though some family members later criticized the proceedings as tasteless and disruptive, arguing it disregarded his preference for a simple burial near kin. Sutton's remains were ultimately reinterred on the grounds of his Parrotsville, Tennessee, home to prevent further desecration, where they remain under Pam Sutton's oversight. Videos of the memorial, including musical tributes evoking Hank Williams Jr.-style Appalachian themes, circulated online, preserving elements of the service for public view.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

Following Sutton's death on March 16, 2009, several media projects emerged as tributes to his life and moonshining legacy, often portraying him as a symbol of Appalachian independence and traditional craftsmanship. In 2014, filmmaker Neal Hutcheson released the documentary Popcorn Sutton: A Hell of a Life, which draws on extensive footage captured during Sutton's final years, including his distilling processes and personal reflections, to depict him as an unrepentant folk figure resisting modernization. The film, produced in collaboration with Sutton prior to his , emphasizes his raw authenticity and defiance of federal authorities, framing his story as a for vanishing rural traditions. The Emmy Award-winning PBS special The Last One, filmed in 2008 but distributed to PBS markets nationwide after Sutton's death in 2009, features him alongside distiller J.B. Rader in a portrayal of Appalachian moonshine production as rather than mere criminality. This hour-long program, remastered and re-released in 2022, highlights Sutton's techniques for producing unaged , positioning him as the last practitioner of an artisanal craft rooted in regional history. In 2021, Hutcheson published the biography As Long As Water Runs Downhill: The Story of Popcorn Sutton, a full-length account drawing on personal interactions, archival material, and Sutton's own writings to explore his conflicted persona as both outlaw and cultural icon. The book underscores Sutton's self-taught expertise in distillation—yielding a product at around 100 proof from corn mash fermented in hidden stills—while critiquing the tensions between his romanticized image and legal repercussions. Additional posthumous releases, such as the remastered audio interviews in Living History: The Popcorn Sutton Interviews (compiled from sessions conducted before 2009), preserve his colloquial storytelling about Appalachian life, further cementing his status in regional media lore. These works collectively tribute Sutton not as a villain but as a preservationist of pre-Prohibition-era skills, though they acknowledge his repeated convictions under federal alcohol laws.

Commercialization and Distillery Brand

Following Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton's suicide on March 16, 2009, filmmaker Jamey Grosser partnered with country singer Hank Williams Jr. to commercialize Sutton's moonshine recipe as a legal product. This effort culminated in the launch of Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey, produced using Sutton's family recipe and stills modeled after his designs. The brand's development was enabled by a 2009 Tennessee state law permitting microdistilleries, which allowed small-scale legal production of unaged corn whiskey akin to traditional moonshine. In January 2014, Popcorn Sutton Distilling announced plans for a new facility in —Sutton's —to the whiskey on-site, with operations commencing later that year. By August 2015, the company had expanded to full in-house production at a 50,000-square-foot distillery in , handling through bottling. The distillery facility was acquired by in December 2016 for an undisclosed sum, though the brand rights remained separate. In November 2023, Ole Smoky Distillery announced the revival of the Popcorn Sutton brand, producing and bottling the whiskey—including Sutton's signature "likker"—with the approval of his widow, Pam Sutton. The relaunch occurred on December 8, 2023, distributing the product through Ole Smoky's network in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, emphasizing fidelity to Sutton's original methods while complying with legal standards. This iteration markets the unaged white whiskey at 82 proof, alongside aged variants, positioning it as a tribute to Sutton's Appalachian heritage.

Annual Events and Enduring Influence

The Popcorn Sutton Jam, an annual memorial tribute honoring Sutton's life and moonshining tradition, is held each at the Cocke County Fairgrounds in . The event features live music, vendors, , and celebrations of Appalachian , drawing attendees to commemorate Sutton as a folk icon of illicit distilling. Initiated shortly after his death, the first gathering attracted about 400 participants, expanding to over 1,200 by the following year, with the 2025 edition marking its 15th year on June 6–7. Sutton's enduring influence manifests in the commercialization of his recipes through the Popcorn Sutton Distillery, launched by Ole Smoky Moonshine in with his widow, Pam Sutton, to legally produce and market his traditional white whiskey using copper stills and corn-based mash methods he documented. This brand preserves his emphasis on high-proof, unaged spirits derived from Appalachian heritage, contributing to a revival of legal craft that echoes his resistance to federal while adapting to regulated markets. His legacy as a "last of a dying breed" has inspired biographical works, such as Jesse Dayton's 2021 book exploring Sutton's defiance of authority and mastery of clandestine distillation, positioning him as a symbol of cultural preservation amid modernization. Sutton's documented techniques and continue to influence media portrayals of moonshining, fostering debates on individual versus regulatory enforcement, though his methods remain illegal outside licensed operations.

Debates on Heroism versus Criminality

Supporters of Sutton as a folk hero emphasize his role in safeguarding Appalachian moonshining traditions against federal encroachment, portraying him as a defiant symbol of regional autonomy and self-reliance. They argue that his persistence in producing unaged corn whiskey, a practice rooted in Scots-Irish settler customs dating to the 18th century, resisted what they view as overreach by Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau agents, who raided his operations multiple times, including a 2007 conviction for distilling over 800 gallons of untaxed spirits. This perspective gained traction post his March 16, 2009, suicide—hours before reporting to an 18-month prison sentence—framing it as a final act of rebellion rather than evasion of justice, with admirers citing his unapologetic autobiography and self-produced videos as authentic defenses of a vanishing lifestyle. Critics, including federal authorities and legal observers, counter that Sutton's repeated violations—such as his 2008 guilty plea to manufacturing illegal spirits and firearm possession as a felon—constituted deliberate tax evasion and disregard for public safety regulations, undermining the post-Prohibition framework that channels distilling through licensed, inspected facilities to ensure product purity and revenue collection. They highlight empirical risks of unregulated moonshine, including potential contamination from improper distillation yielding toxic byproducts like methanol, though Sutton's product was reportedly high-quality and sought by connoisseurs; nonetheless, his operations evaded approximately $10,000 in federal excise taxes per 800-gallon batch, per court estimates, prioritizing personal profit over societal obligations. This view posits that romanticizing Sutton ignores causal links between illicit production and broader criminal networks historically tied to moonshining, even if his scale was artisanal, and dismisses cultural preservation claims as insufficient justification for felony offenses carrying up to five years imprisonment. The debate persists in cultural analyses, where Sutton's elevation to "king of " in biographies and media tributes clashes with enforcement narratives emphasizing deterrence; for instance, his widow's subsequent commercialization of branded legal whiskey critiqued as profiting from notoriety built on illegality, yet it underscores how his defiance catalyzed mainstream in spirits. While empirical data shows no direct from Sutton's output—unlike adulterated industrial alcohol—adherents to strict rule-of-law principles argue heroism cannot retroactively legitimize actions that necessitated repeated ATF interventions from the 1970s onward.

References

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