Home Distiller

So I decided to give this a go. I bought fifteen pounds of frozen mango slices, the kind from Costa Rica (in the frozen fruit section of my local Publix), put it in my fermenter with six pounds of sugar and two gallons of distilled water. I added two ounces of distillers yeast and half a cup of yeast nutrient. After fermenting four days, it was ready for the still. My first run came out at 55 ABV. I ran it through the still a second time and it came out at a beautiful 85ABV which I cut to 90 proof. I put it in jars and added a teaspoon of light agave syrup and some charred apple and oak chips. At first taste it was really good! I hope that by Christmas it will be better, and I'm sure it will be!

By running it twice, didn't you strip out any flavor? Is there anything wrong with 55 abv?
What was the flavor like after the first distillation.

Actually Ken, you're right about that...55 ABV is good enough, but in truth I didn't notice any difference in taste between the two runs. The main reason I did it, and I didn't mention it in my original post, was that I had a quart of older peach brandy I had done which I wasn't crazy about and instead of tossing it, I added it to the second run without any ill effect.

The taste part is what I do not understand. The rum I just ran made with raw cane sugar and molasses, dap and nutrient run from a simple pot still does not have any taste to speak of. It started at 65 abv and I ran it till 40 abv.
My malted barley/corn runs also does not have the grain taste people speak of.

That's a bit strange Ken and I don't have enough experience to give an opinion. I ran some rum a couple of months ago with brown sugar and molasses and it came out really nice. I ran it through a second time, added some natural coconut essence, and cut it to 90 proof and I have it aging in an oak barrel right now. The taste was a good but a bit raw, so I'm hoping the aging will help. I've started two mashes, one with papaya, and one with passionfruit. I find the fruit brandys have much more taste than the rums and whiskeys I've done.