StillSmart

i know some of you guys make your own wash's but to you guys like me .what your tipple .i've been making now for 2 months now and have to say the top shelf and classic stuff are great .my wife thinks the irish cream is better than baileys ,i think the whiskys are very good rums and gins are very nice to

Can't wait to get producing some great stuff like you guys do on here..

I make mainly Vodka and Bourbon and an Orange Liqueur akin to Cointreau.

I have long since abandoned the use of essences because they just didn't do it for me but many here are very happy with them. There's no right or wrong, it's just what suits your palate

AM

Without wishing to incur the wrath of Chill,or other dedicated airstill users...
I may argue that the use of a good neutral,carbon filtered and a decent essence is a good way forward for a newbie.
Some commercial essences used this way are pretty good,I'll stick my head up and say IMHO particularly the Rums,although if used with a mixer,many are.
One of my bug-bears is the cost of essences,-almost as much per bottle as my home produced spirit from an air still.
Look forward to the day that you have built up a decent supply of neutral and can afford to spend some time on experimenting with a different wash.
You may be pleasantly surprised.

Robert.

There are commercial distilleries that buy in rectified spirit and then add essences.

I still use still spirit flavourings alongside my other experiments
My friends and I like several
Most popular are the Clasic Blue jewel gin and single malt and also black sambuca and strangely the top shelf Irish whiskey. One ex navy lad loves the classic dark rum
I guess with a good neutral they aren't too bad at all
Still enjoy the all grain efforts etc the most though