Winter Jam 2024

February 24, 2024

02/24/2024 • Waynesville, North Carolina

Winter Jam 2024 kicked off at Maggie Valley Still Company, the working shop run by Moonshiner Jerry Benson in Waynesville, North Carolina. This wasn’t a tourist stop. This was the kind of invite where you step into an active still shop, shake hands with legends, and try to soak up as much as you can before the day disappears.

We spent the first few hours hanging out in Jerry’s shop, talking distilling, catching up with folks from past runs, meeting new faces, and trying to stay warm while snow spit on and off outside. Everywhere you looked, somebody was swapping stories, tuning copper, passing jars, or lining up for photos. It felt like a reunion and a working day rolled into one.

Big Beard and Still Will posted up at Moonshiner Jerry Benson’s Maggie Valley Still Company shop during Winter Jam 2024, talking with other shiners across the workbench while the shop buzzes behind them. — Inside Jerry Benson’s Maggie Valley Still Company shop during Winter Jam 2024 — workbenches full of parts, people talking shine, and no rush on anything but the stories.

There was serious gear everywhere. Custom stills and parts lined up for sale. Copper columns. Worms. Condensers. Full builds. Cut-down rigs. You name it. Even better, nobody had anything roped off like a museum. If you had questions, they’d walk you right up to the rig and talk you through it.

Display of copper stills, thump-style setups, and barrels at Maggie Valley Still Company during Winter Jam 2024, with hand-built rigs and shop-made parts staged for sale. — Hand-built rigs and still parts staged on the floor at Maggie Valley Still Company. This is how you know you’re in a real working shop, not a souvenir store.

Tall copper column and barrel thumper setup on display at Winter Jam 2024, complete with mason-jar sight glasses and a flag stuck in the vapor line — unmistakably Appalachian. — Multi-jar copper infusion column on a barrel still — the kind of out-of-the-box engineering that Moonshiner Jerry is known for.

At one point the whole shop stopped so everybody could crowd around a coil-wrapping demo. Huge coil. Heavy tank. Real work. Watching that thing get wound in real time felt like watching a moonshine masterclass — plus it drew a crowd fast.

Shop crew at Winter Jam 2024 working together to wrap a huge copper worm condenser coil around a tank while everyone crowds in to watch and learn, live on the floor at Maggie Valley Still Company. — Wrapping a massive copper worm condenser live on the shop floor. No classroom. No script. Just people who know what they’re doing passing it along.

Between all that, we got a chance to talk shine and swap stories with folks we’d been wanting to meet for a long time — and reconnect with a few familiar faces from past events. Master Distiller Brandon Buffington, Moonshiner Richard Landry, and Master Distiller Doug Taylor each took a few minutes to share stories, laughs, and a little shop talk that’ll stick with us for a while.

Big Beard and Still Will with Master Distiller Brandon Buffington at Winter Jam 2024 inside Maggie Valley Still Company — arms around shoulders, standing in the middle of an active shine shop. — Big Beard and Still Will with Master Distiller Brandon Buffington — one of the nicest folks you’ll meet and a serious craftsman.

Big Beard and Still Will with Moonshiner Richard Landry at Winter Jam 2024 inside Maggie Valley Still Company, standing beside polished copper and talking shine with one of the most approachable shiners in the business. — Moonshiner Richard Landry with Big Beard and Still Will at Winter Jam 2024 — always generous with his time and quick to share a story or a bit of distilling know-how.

And of course, we had to grab a few group shots. This crowd goes from dead serious to absolute chaos in about two seconds, and we love them for it.

Group lineup at Winter Jam 2024 inside Maggie Valley Still Company, including Big Beard, Still Will, Brandon Buffington, Jerry Benson, Solomon Sutton, and a whole row of shiners and builders shoulder to shoulder. — Winter Jam 2024 crew, shoulder to shoulder in Jerry’s shop. Real people, real work, real respect.

After the shop hang, we rolled over to Maggie Valley to check in at Terps & Shine — legal hemp / delta THC, good smoke, good vibe — and spent time outside talking with Cody Woody and a bunch of locals and shiners passing through. The whole afternoon turned into music and conversation, with Low Down Revival laying it down while everyone warmed up and settled in.

We closed the night at Valley Tavern, which should’ve been “just one more stop,” but at that point we’d put in a full day of driving, standing, shaking hands, and catching up. We said our goodbyes early instead of doing something dumb like staying out ‘til 3am and waking up on somebody’s couch with mason jar breath. Responsible(ish) adults, we swear.

Also in attendance

Others in attendance included Master Distiller Mark Morgan, Moonshiner Benny “Tater” McClure, Moonshiner Richard Landry, Moonshiner Panhead Cooter & Little Diddle, Damon Beaty (Horrorshine), Tom Crum, Northern Yankee Moonshine (Doug Taylor), Moonshiner Red Dog Towery, Moonshiner Crazy Chuck, Moonshiner Pete Kochiss, Solomon Sutton, and “The Maggie Valley Bootlegger” Jason Holden — plus plenty of friends and familiar faces who helped make Winter Jam 2024 what it was.

Huge thanks to Moonshiner Jerry Benson for opening up Maggie Valley Still Company and letting everybody pile into the shop, and to the Hillbilly Jam – Maggie Valley crew for keeping this community connected all year.

👕 Worn at This Event

“You Can’t Handle The Proof!” Tee
worn by Big Beard

“Come And Take It” Tee
worn by Still Will

Event took place February 24, 2024 in Waynesville, North Carolina. Original Facebook coverage for this trip was first posted on March 9, 2024. Extra photos and community comments are available on Facebook: View the original post.

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