Near as a I can figure, 14 currants worth of grain, potato or corn makes 1 hooch with a street value of 15 currants. At auction, it's going for 11 currants, and because of the way they round, hooch is actually a loss at vendors.
So, where market pressures on herbs have made a nice little microcosm of, say, the RL diamond trade, it seems like distilling is a sucker's game. I'm actually contemplating unlearning both Distilling and Cocktail Crafting as a result. Drinks remain cheap at auction, so it's hard to see why it's worth the effort there as well.