4" Lm thingamebob

[bluc]

My continous is going to be lm takeoff, cm heads cut, packing still undecided..

[LWTCS]

The trick if higher proof is the goal, is to not let product take off steal all the reflux needed.

The challenge with a product draw on the bubble cap plate is that the entering vapor creates quite a bit of turbulence and therefore doesn't provide a stable, calm pool of liquid with which to meter hearts product while ensuring reflux also continues to flow back down into the column below to keep the column enriched.
With all of the turbulence on the plate, finding the best elevation to land thr draw can be tough. Theoretically, the middle of the draw located at the top of the bubble cap ensures the plate doesn't dry up. But with all of the turbulence, that theory ( in practice) works like shit as product collection is kind of,,,,herky jerky. Apologies for the esoteric terminology

A dedicated draw plate with no other responsibility other than product draw is the best solution to maintain a calm pool of liquid to draw from.
An old school slant plate or similar ensures a calm liquid bed to draw from.
Also, calculating the optimal aperture of the draw ID helps minimize futzing with the valve knob.

For your still bluc a .25" (6.35 mm) opening is probably too big. But going any smaller has its own challenges. So a really good needle valve would be something not to cheap out on imo.

All of the above not as critical for flavored spirits.