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You seem to have moved on from the use of alcohol to loosen the PDF, but FWIW, my understanding is that alcohol increases shelf life but that it is not reflected in the aW reading. (Ie., aW is not the only input into calculating shelf life for a chocolate - it might be the primary driver, but it is not the sole driver)
Having said that, other than a "test the chocolate every week" scenario, I don't know how you could evaluate the impact of alcohol on your shelf life.
You seem to have moved on from the use of alcohol to loosen the PDF, but FWIW, my understanding is that alcohol increases shelf life but that it is not reflected in the aW reading. (Ie., aW is not the only input into calculating shelf life for a chocolate - it might be the primary driver, but it is not the sole driver)
