Hello all, I have recently joined this site and very keen to get back into the hobby. I have been a beer brewer for many years but took on a "keto lifestyle" a few months ago which means beer is out. I have always loved scotch whisky and also nice oaky bourbons so that is what I mainly drink now. Also have been randomly buying different spirits to see if I like them or not. Turns out there's not many I don't like haha. Anyway, I did dabble in a bit of distilling about 10 years ago using a Pure Distilling still but ended up selling it to buy a Grainfather (which I totally regret now!).
Now I'm faced with the big decision about what still to buy to get back into it. I am trying to plan for what I am likely to want to make in the future and whilst I am sure at the start I'll be making simple neutrals and flavouring with essences I know it wont be long till I want to start experimenting with flavours from a pot still. I had toyed with the idea of making a ccvm still (like the one in the Still It youtube channel), however I just can't see myself finding the time to put into a project like that. So at this stage I have my eye on two different stills. One is FSDs 2" Boka with a pothead attachment. They seem to be what everyone recommends on here so it was the first one that caught my eye. I have also come across a guy named Mark Bass from south of Brisbane who makes some beautiful stills that look to be really high quality... so am torn between the two.
I'll be putting on a couple of TPW's tomorrow so that by the time I've made up my mind I will have some washes for a sacrificial run and also then for some stripping/spirit runs.
Thank you to everyone who posts on this forum! I have learnt so much from you all over the past week just reading your posts. I am really pumped to get started and look forward to contributing to this site in the future.
Cheers
James