Local Moonshiner Commits Suicide

So what did the cool kids get for Christmas?

The hottest thing at local Christmas parties was Popcorn. No, not the kernel variety, but the corn that Tennesseans have traditionally kept in a jar.

That would some of the last product produced by Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, Tennessee’s most famous moonshiner, friend of Johnny Knoxville and Hank Williams Jr. Facing an 18-month prison term, Popcorn committed suicide this past year.

Since Popcorn won’t be making any more, the batches still in circulation are highly prized. They aren’t being gifted in crass pint or quart fruit jars. The delivery vehicle of choice is a flat four-ounce beveled glass jelly jar. We especially like (er, we’re told it’s good) the Apricot Popcorn ’05. But the ’05 Peach is also said to be very good. Traditionalists still prefer clear.

There was a good bit of Popcorn in the pipeline, even though his last batch of 800 gallons was destroyed by revenuers, leading to the federal prison sentence. The Feds may have been tipped off to Sutton’s activities since he produced a book, Me and My Likker and sold T-shirts and other moonshine-themed memorabilia.

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