I don't think roles that redirecting actions every night are very appreciated in the first place, since the Hypnotist role (who could do that) was scrapped for good. But this new suggestion is still pretty random x)
On top of that, the issue that Barkeeper doesn't have is that this is a mafia role - so while the Barkeeper is supposed to clear up the doubts about someone having been redirected at least
sometimes, the Distiller won't ever want to do that. Then you'd have games where everyone suspects a Distiller having redirected actions until the last mafia is found, and so on. Not a big fan of the role.
That's a common MG role, isn't it?
I like how the acolytes don't know who the cult leader is, but they all die if he gets lynched

It would be pretty easy to overcome that with a simple code, though
Not too sure on the balance between the cult being too frail and too powerful, since the leader recruiting a bunch of townies and then dying or getting nightkilled could end up just being a lucky incident for the mafia team(s). But I think it can be worked with