Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. The way the goals are displayed and figuring out your "path" through them is really fun and adds a nice twist to the gameplay.

It doesn’t do anything an experienced gamer hasn’t already seen before, but I think the game will land well with newer gamers. Ingredients placed in the washback are used in creating a spirit and at least one card Yeast, Sugar and Water card must be used. Most players will watch an instruction video, or read the rules just once, and be off and running during their first game. The part of the game that I found very interesting and very true to the theme was the process of making the spirits.Choose whether to age your spirits to enhance their flavor, or immediately bottle them to sell it for quick profit. This game breeds moments when you forget about the scoring track and just want to make some brandy for the round—not because it is potentially the perfect maximization in an exacting coin-to-Spirit-Point ratio, but because you just want to enjoy yourself making brandy. I thought this mechanic was so interesting when I played the game, it really felt like the actual process. The backstory for the distillery owners also provided my group with a few laughs as they slipped into character.

Then, they remove the top and bottom card, and voila, you’ve got something that could be barreled: maybe a shochu, maybe a tequila, maybe a whiskey.

Normally, your goal should be to NOT make moonshine or vodka, since those recipes score you almost no points. Players can mitigate the effects of a bad draw off their deck by adding more essential ingredients and ensure they will make the correct spirit at the end of the distilling phase. After further thought, I do not believe that Distilled functions as a deck- or tableau-builder but it is a very light implementation of engine-building.