When ever a distill I seem to notice every little detail about everything. From the different smells to ALL of the background noise. I love this, I think its because its illegal and im listening out for anything that could be different. I also love the feeling I get when I distill.
You sound like the person who just joined the ranks of home distilling and from this point forward will have trouble spending money on a commercial bottle and for that matter probably have trouble drinking it do to its off taste.