Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton was a living legend. The day he committed suicide, he launched himself into the pages of American lore. Since his death he’s become the Paul Bunyan of moonshine. Both men had impressive beards and wore a lot of plaid shirts. Instead of Babe the Blue Ox, there’s a black Model A Ford.
Marvin ” Popcorn ” Sutton (October 5, 1946 – March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, he grew up, lived, and died in the rural areas around Maggie Valley and nearby Cocke County, Tennessee.
His wife Pam, whom he had married about two years before his death, 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. Mrs. Sutton said, “He called it his three-jug car because he gave three jugs of liquor for it.”
In 2014, Popcorn Sutton Distilling opened a new distillery in Newport, Tennessee, the county seat of Cocke County. Copper stills for the facility were made by Vendome Copper and Brass in Louisville, Kentucky. The CEO of Popcorn Sutton Distilling is Megan Kvamme.
What is Popcorn Sutton’s whiskey?
Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey. 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.
The brand now uses a clear, round bottle with a smaller label. In 2014, Popcorn Sutton Distilling opened a new distillery in Newport, Tennessee, the county seat of Cocke County.
Sutton was featured in the 2007 documentary Hillbilly: The Real Story on The History Channel. 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.
In 2014, Popcorn Sutton Distilling opened a new distillery in Newport, Tennessee, the county seat of Cocke County. Copper stills for the facility were made by Vendome Copper and Brass in Louisville, Kentucky. The CEO of Popcorn Sutton Distilling is Megan Kvamme.
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.
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. 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”.
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.
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Where did Popcorn Sutton live?
Popcorn Sutton spent most of his life in the mountains of Maggie Valley and Cocke County Tennessee (photo courtesy of Sucker Punch Pictures)
Popcorn Sutton’s partner JB siphons the shine at an undisclosed location in the mountains of East Tennessee during the filming of the “This is the Last Dam Run” documentary (photo courtesy of Sucker Punch Pictures)
Despite multiple arrests beginning in 1974, including assault with a deadly weapon, Popcorn continued to ply his craft until 2009.
But the man put together a credible furnace with nothing but stones and mud in a way that suggests he could have had a nice career in construction, if he’d wanted.
By the time I moved to his part of East Tennessee, Popcorn was a moonshine legend, nationally known in certain circles and a throwback to a time when outlaws, especially white southern outlaws, were embraced.
But hero, anti-hero or simple law-breaking cuss, it didn’t matter. Sutton wasn’t going to prison to serve the 18 months to which Ronnie Greer had sentenced him.
Too many people bought the romanticized version of an East Tennessee moonshiner, like Robert Mitchum in Thunder Road.
