Distilleries Worth The Drive

The craft distillery trade in Florida has exploded in recent years in the wake of regulation changes that have paved the way for independent distilleries to thrive. Counting nearly 50 independent businesses across the state—with more ramping up—many of these small-batch distilleries are gaining recognition for their innovative approaches. Award-winning liqueurs and spirits are crafted using locally sourced ingredients and plenty of homegrown lore. To boot, many Florida distilleries are a destination unto themselves, offering tastings, tours, cocktail classes, and more. Take a tour with us to some of Florida’s most creative distilleries, and raise a glass to cocktails crafted with spirits made right here in the Sunshine State. 

North Florida 

St. Augustine Distillery

Built in a restored 1917 Florida Power & Light ice plant, St. Augustine Distillery was founded by 20 local families. It holds the title of most-visited craft distillery in America. Perhaps that’s due to its outstanding spirits, which have won six awards in the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, including a gold medal for Florida Straight Bourbon. Besides spirits, St. Augustine has created a line of mixers including Old-Fashioned, Florida Mule, Grapefruit Hibiscus, and Tropical Tiki. Seven days a week, visitors can embark on a self-guided tour, or opt for a more in-depth adventure with a guided tour and tasting flight. Add on the fill-your-own bottle experience to step behind the production lines and personalize your own bottle of cask-strength bourbon distilled in-house. (staugustinedistillery.com) 

Dark Tropics

Ingredients

1 ½ oz. Pot Distilled Rum
from St. Augustine Distillery

¾ oz. Single Origin Coffee Liqueur from Manifest Distilling

1 oz. espresso

1 oz. freshly pressed
pineapple juice

½ oz. orgeat

Coral-shaped cookie for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a coral-shaped cookie.

Manifest Distilling

Jacksonville’s Manifest Distilling is North Florida’s only full-scale organic distillery. Though not every product Manifest makes is organic, its facility is—keeping a chain of custody on every raw material purchased, using nontoxic sanitation and pest control practices, and isolating any products that aren’t organic. Their product lineup includes a non-GMO potato vodka, Florida citrus vodka, organic gin, organic barreled gin, organic rye whiskey, and 100 percent rye whiskey. Their Florida Botanical Gin is steeped in Florida-friendly flavors that highlight the local terroir. Visit for a brief distillery tour or a longer distillery experience that takes a deep dive into the science and art of distilling spirits—concluding with tutored tasting focused on sensory perception, nosing, and even blind tasting. (manifestdistilling.com)

Timber Creek Distillery

For a unique farm-to-bottle experience, look no further than Timber Creek Distillery in Crestview. Located on a family farm, the distillery’s surrounding crops fuel the handcrafted rye, rum, whiskey, and vodka they create. Don’t miss their VIP Tour and Bourbon Blending Experience for an insider’s look at Timber Creek’s process. (timbercreekdistillery.com)

Copper Bottom Craft Distillery

Holly Hill’s Copper Bottom Craft Distillery produces handcrafted, award-winning spirits with no artificial colors, flavors, or sugars added. All of Copper Bottom’s spirits—a variety of rums and a single vodka—are made from raw sugarcane. Tours with the knowledgeable head distiller run Wednesday through Saturday, offering industry secrets and insights into Copper Bottom’s unique process. (copperbottomspirits.com) 

Central Florida

21st Amendment Distillery

This distillery in Vero Beach pays homage to the era of bootleggers and speakeasies. The name refers to a 1933 act of Congress that repealed Prohibition, which had been the law of the land since 1920. Founder and former U.S. Marine Jeff Palleschi celebrates the American spirit with a range of bourbons, plus rye, rum, and agave. Our favorites? Their 21AD Bourbon Whiskey, Term Limits Vodka, and Min Pin Gin. Tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday and include a spirit sampler. Afterward, stay awhile in the Speakeasy cocktail lounge to enjoy craft cocktails and local bites. (21st-distillery.com) 

Indian River Distillery 

You’ll find a variety of craft liquors, including vodka, gin, and rum produced by Ray and Mandy Hooker at Vero Beach’s Indian River Distillery. Try the Ashley Gang Moonshine Corn Whiskey (honoring the “King of the Everglades,” swamp bandit John Ashley), Treasure Fleet Rum Silver, or the Vero Beach Vodka—all of which start life as a 100 percent neutral spirit distilled from sugarcane. (indianriverdistillery.com)

The Moon & the Sea

Ingredients 

1 ½ oz. Notorious Ashley Gang Moonshine Corn Whiskey from Indian  River Distillery

½ oz. passion fruit puree 

½ oz. fresh lemon juice

½ oz. orgeat

1 oz. butterfly pea and lavender tea

Coral lace tuile for garnish 

Add the first four ingredients to a shaker with ice. Strain into a highball glass. Wait for the drink to settle, then top with the tea. Garnish with a coral lace tuile.

Coral Lace Tuile Ingredients

⅓ cup flour

2⁄5 cup water

2⁄5 cup oil

½ tsp. powdered food coloring

Emulsify the ingredients and add to a hot nonstick pan on medium high. Once the lace tuile has formed and the liquid has cooked off, gently pry it from the pan and place on a towel-lined plate to cool and dry. Store in an airtight container. Use within a week.

Winter Park Distilling Company

Just north of Orlando, Paul Twyford and Andrew Asher built their distillery on a humble handmade 50-gallon still and a collection of old whiskey recipes. The pair take pride in their commitment to high quality at an affordable price—bottling their vodka, whiskeys, bourbons, and rums in wine bottles to keep costs low. (wpdistilling.com)

Fish Hawk Spirits

Ocala’s Fish Hawk Spirits is committed to a farm-to-bottle process—growing the corn used in their whiskey on fields adjacent to the distillery, harvesting fresh fruit from their own groves, growing their own herbs and botanicals for their infused spirits, and even pumping their water from wells fed by the Rainbow Riverwatershed for use in their mash and blending processes. Far from the trend of industrial warehouses and bougie tasting rooms, Fish Hawk still does things the old-fashioned way: distilling their 27 award-winning spirits (including whiskey, rum, vodka, absinthe, and brand) in a farm shed, using hand-built stills. (fishhawkspirits.net)

Tampa Bay

Gamblers Bay Distillery

Tampa’s Gamblers Bay Distillery makes Florida-centric spirits following Romanian family recipes that date back 120 years. Their Florida Farm Vodka, made from 100 percent Florida corn, was awarded double gold at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Try their other award-winning products, including Florapina Guava Rum and Citrus Tree Floridian Gin. (gamblersbaydistillery.com)

Cotherman Distilling Company 

Located just six miles north of Clearwater Beach in Dunedin, this husband-and-wife-run distillery crafts its 727 Vodka from 100 percent malted barley, plus a vapor-infused Half Mine Gin and a whiskey made from unhopped and unboiled beer. (instagram.com/cothermandistillingco)

St. Petersburg Distillery 

From gins and vodkas to rums and whiskeys, St. Petersburg Distillery focuses on “grains to glass” distilling. Try their Tippler’s Orange Liqueur made from Florida oranges and filled with notes of citrus, apricots, peppermint, and smoked oak. Visits to this distillery include interactive classes on making the perfect old-fashioned, a tasting of four different spirits distilled on-site, and even an immersive tour led by master distiller Warren Gardner. (stpetersburgdistillery.com) 

Sunshine State Old-Fashioned

2 oz. Old St. Pete  Sunshine Whiskey from  St. Petersburg Distillery 

1 tsp. orange blossom honey

2 dashes Angostura bitters

½ slice of Florida orange

Pinch of cinnamon  sugar (½ cinnamon,  ½ cane sugar)

Culinary torch 

Add whiskey, honey, and bitters to an empty cocktail glass and stir. Place a large ice cube into an old-fashioned glass. Add the cocktail. Place the orange slice on top of the ice cube and add a pinch of cinnamon sugar to the slice of orange. Use the torch to caramelize and brûlée the sugar. 

Meet the Maker

Warren Gardner, Master Distiller at  St. Petersburg Distillery

Warren Gardner sees his vocation as a matter of destiny. A chance meeting with a fourth-generation master distiller more than a decade ago inspired Gardner (who was working as a mechanic) to forge a new path. Today, Gardner says the artistry and craftsmanship involved in distilling continue to inspire him. “I am motivated by the opportunity to create unique, high-quality spirits that reflect our local culture and traditions,” he says. As for his favorite spirit St. Petersburg Distillery is currently producing? “Agave,” he says. “It’s a chance to produce something that’s so sought-after, [but something that has been] outside our reach until now,” he explains. “To finally taste years of progress, it makes you get excited for the next batch of spirits.”