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hi all have been making damson vodka for years now and the last few years have got it to a consistent potion of how i like it. last year due to several factors i did not get to my usual damson trees and when i did they had been hammered. found another tree at at an old pit which has standing water, not running and water levels are dependent on rain. anyhow i picked my usual shedload of damsons which i thought looked and tasted ok, as it was a bit late on a lot of them were extremely ripe. made my usual 10 litre batch, usual process, brand of vodka and usual taste tests up to bottling and all seemed well. when tasting time came after bottling (i leave for a minimum of 12 months) the taste was a bit nasty not the usual smooth dusky taste, was quite fiery and left a bitter taste on the palate. certainly not my usual brew. i know taste and aromas can be hugely different between wild ingredients but turned out very poor. my usual trees i use are not near standing water and has wonder if stagnant standing water could be the culprit, maybe, maybe not! anyone else had similar happen? ended up ditching most of it as hardly a palatable quoff! here some pics of a bottled batch left over from two years ago, very nice. i managed to get to my usual tree earlier this year and a good haul was had. this batch will be ready for me in about 11 months. it will be a wait this year as i usually have a rolling 10 litres ready to drink over the year. does not last long as usually lots of eager tasters. by the way i only put the bungs in to stop rubbish getting in whilst in the garage, will have to get round to getting some solid rubber ones. atb 7diaw