I have been a home brewer for years. The misconception that distilling whiskey is difficult is interesting. You make beer without the hopps then boil the alky out of it, waflippinla, whiskey. Biggest problem was people using old radiators to condense the steam. Gave people lead poisoning, and the guvmunt played it up since they "deserve" the tax money from ANY alcohol sales.
New Zelander hopps are excellent, I have used them.