Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I made the Prestige Bombay Gin once and will never do it again, tasted like purfume.
But, some pommy friends loved it, they said it was just like the real thing.

Top Shelf - Absinthe

Found this one to be very thin and lacking - does not louche when watered down - disappointing...

Cheers

For a nice scotch that I drink neat is Ambrosia Black Label Scotch Whisky, Nectar of the gods essence
It is very similar to a jonnie walker black label IMO

Nice one Johnny, I've tried the whisky kit they have and its black label recipe seems pretty good.

I'll add my 2 cents worth. I've tried a tonne of rum essences and most of them have been no where near the flavour I am after (I, like rumby am a QLDer and unfortunately don't mind a dirty rum or three either). I wasn't able to find the flavour I was after and ended up down the molasses wash path, but I did come across an essence that to me is identical to Bundy Red. Samuel Willards Smooth Rum - the stuff is spot on. I mix it up with some neutral in a McWilliams tawny port 2L bottle - then leave for a bit and split into bottles.

I'm yet to do a side-by-side comparison, but I reckon it would be damn close. I might just do that this weekend.. :lol:

Nardy wrote: I've tried a tonne of rum essences and most of them have been no where near the flavour I am after

Ive been down the same path Nardy. Pretty hard to find anything that even resembles rum as far as I see it. A couple of months ago I made a mixed rum from shop bought flavourings......I made it out of left overs I had then soaked it on oak chips for 2 weeks. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would and tastes better than anything I put in it.
The flavorings were all mixed with 40% abv neutral separately before I mixed the whole lot together. Its been sitting in bottles for a month or two now and is pretty tasty. Here it is if anyones interested . Maybe a quarter size batch might be a good idea as tastes differ....It could taste like shit to others. Ive also only done it once and cant guarantee that it turns out the same each time.

Rum Recipe.
660 ml Samual Willards Smooth Rum
550 ml B B Rum
1350 ml Willards QLD Rum
1350 ml SS Aussie Gold Rum.
Stir the whole thing together and soak on Willards Rum soakers for two weeks at the rate recommended on the pack.

A few more for my old man

Top Shelf - Creme De Menthe
Top Shelf - White Sambuca
Top Shelf - Black Sambuca

All these were reasonable approximations

Only recently discovered gin so I thought I'd try

Top Shelf - Gin

Found this to be quite nice - not really sure what I'm looking for flavourwise but enjoyed it

Homebrew shop fella convinced me to try some oak chips in neutral and must say I'm impressed so far - they have been soaking since Saturday - they have his branding on them so I not sure of source - he said some fella packed them for him

American Oak
Medium Toasted French Oak

Hopefully there will be some left by bottling time...

Cheers

Mixed up a pack of
still spirits classic dark calypso rum
I got for my birthday.
Really nice drink I'd rate it 4/5 .was told it improves with
A couple weeks steeping but it only lasted 3 days :) .
I'll have to make up more and hide it next time !

Hey DeeJay
I'm not really into rum but I've got a mate who been drinking rum since he was weaned off his mum I reckon. Anyway....he tried my version of that SS Rum essence about a fortnight after it was 'made' and then finished the bottle (at my place) some 3 months later. His call was it goes from :oops: to ;) in that time and he doesn't lie (to me anyway).

Heffers was trying a 'teabag' calypso-type rum a while back too. Apparently its :dance: !. I'll try to find out what its called......

DeeJae wrote:Mixed up a pack of
still spirits classic dark calypso rum
I got for my birthday.
Really nice drink I'd rate it 4/5 .was told it improves with
A couple weeks steeping but it only lasted 3 days :) .
I'll have to make up more and hide it next time !

When "YOU" build your new still at my joint with "my" guidance I will tip some rum into you :text-lol:

"YOU" will never buy hbs rum essence again

"PROMISE"

:mrgreen:

Haha when "I" build my new still? , I didn't think that was the deal !

you will be building it with me ;)

Did I forget to mention that part ? :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I tried something that Swede mentioned in another post.
I normally make SS Classic Bourbon and soak on oak chips for 3 months.
The other day I bought a bottle of maple syrup ( the real stuff ) and added 40ml to a 1 litre bottle.
The mouth feel has changed for the better, much smoother and the taste is Fantastic.
Of course getting to the 40ml/lt was a trial and error affair :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
I'll bring some over for you DJ and Al, Suz

Frank wrote:Heffers was trying a 'teabag' calypso-type rum a while back too. Apparently its :dance: !. I'll try to find out what its called......

I use the OzBrew Oak Sacks to make my rum and it's the shizzle. They are the Dark Jamaican Rum ones and are absolutely fantastic. They are available online at the OzBrew website or in Darwin at one of the two stores there. You get two sacks per bag which will flavour 1.125L each of neutral (I get twice that from mine with no loss of flavour) for $12.95 . If you like 8year old dark Bacardi then these are for you.

Cheers, Heffers

QLD.Andy wrote:I tried something that Swede mentioned in another post.
I normally make SS Classic Bourbon and soak on oak chips for 3 months.
The other day I bought a bottle of maple syrup ( the real stuff ) and added 40ml to a 1 litre bottle.
The mouth feel has changed for the better, much smoother and the taste is Fantastic.
Of course getting to the 40ml/lt was a trial and error affair :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:
I'll bring some over for you DJ and Al, Suz

Used to use maple syrup in our ujssm before i bought barrells when only using sticks. If you age for long enough the maple flavour will come from the wood, but if you are in a hurry we used 10ml to the litre of real maple syrup and found that to come through quite well.

I just tried out that Edwards Single Malt Scotch essence and to be honest it's not too bad at all. I, like Frank, like mine peaty and dry and this essence is almost that. Not much in the way of aroma but the taste and after taste/burn of the peat is there. One bottle does 3.5L it says, but I mixed it at almost twice the dose they recommend to get the extra peatyness to it. I'll try it again in a few weeks and see if it improves.

Also mixed up some SS Jamaican Dark Rum and first sample is quite good - very caramelly and sweet.

Nardy wrote:Also mixed up some SS Jamaican Dark Rum and first sample is quite good - very caramelly and sweet.

I am not a rum drinker but I love the Jamaican Dark Rum, kind of tastes like old school rum and raisin ice-cream

So far I have tried a couple of different essences, but I will only comment on the Butterscotch Schnapps flavour. I have bought two different brands of Butterscotch Schnapps base, the Samuel Willard's premix, and the Still Spirits Icon Liqueur sachet. I have only tried the Still Spirits Icon Liqueur so far, and have found it to be a pretty good knock-off of the VOK style. It gets a much better consistency and is slightly less sugary once left in the freezer for a week or two, so this is one of the first ones I can recommend.


Regards

A mate asked me to try some Bourbon/wild turkey flavourings. Tried Sameul Willards Wild Duck. Was very watery and way too pale. Need maybe another half bottle of the flavouring to get anywhere near the correct colour strength of taste. Disappointing as the HBS talked it up as being one of the most popular.