In fact i have to say the prestige brand in particular is not very good and its very expensive for one small bottle….after all we are making spirit not just for the fun but to save money!

I don’t like buying a so called prestige brand (its got to be a joke!) essence like a cherry one or amaretto style one only to find they are bland have NO aroma or taste whatsoever! As for the Jack Daniels style what a laugh! its absolutely pointless you might as well just add caramel browning to your spirit!

The 10% rule is an excellent way to achieve a more realistic taste.

I made 4 bottles of 65% spirit….aged it with real oak chippings I got from an oak tree (come on its easy the oak trees are everywhere in England!) for 3 mths then added half a litre of The Famous Grouse whiskey to the lot…when it was tasted my friends thought i had filled the bottles up with some malt whiskey i had bought!

In any of the essences work then it has to be the simple strong aniseed tastes like ouzo and absinthe…

As for the rest most of them are quite useless and well over priced….i personally dont buy their range anymore..

I’ve just followed the instructions, without any mod’s to try to improve on the product though – mainly to get some idea of which ones I like and which ones I don’t.

I’ve tried the still spirits ones, ambrosia brand ones and prestige brand ones (and I’ve got about a dozen or so waiting to be made up).

Oh and as for putting some of the original product in it to improve it some, apart from the fact that doing that hadn’t occurred to me….I’m too bleeding tight to spend the money i.e. if I can’t make it, I won’t buy it!