26 Mar St Augustine Distillery – A Top Attraction Near Casa de Solana
If you’re foodies, history buffs, or just enjoy handcrafted small batch spirits, the tour and tasting at St. Augustine Distillery is a top attraction for your bucket list of things to do in St. Augustine. The Distillery is just a 10-15 minute walk down through St. Augustine’s historic district from Casa de Solana Bed & Breakfast on Aviles Street. It’s located in a beautifully restored century-old ice manufacturing plant (the oldest in Florida).
The artisanal spirits distillery creates award-winning bourbon, vodka, gin, and rum. Locally owned and operated, it sources local and regional agricultural products for its small-batch spirits. Grains are milled, mashed, and fermented with proprietary yeast strains on site. Spent grains are even sent to local farmers for cattle feed!
On the free distillery tour, visitors learn about the history of distilling and ice in Florida, see how St. Augustine Distillery’s spirits are mixed, mashed, cooked, and distilled, and are invited to taste the results in their tasting room. The daily tours are free and begin every 30 minutes from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. Tours are first-come, first serve, so visitors should plan to arrive 10 – 15 minutes before a tour time.
The St. Augustine Distillery’s small-batch spirits include:
- Award-winning Florida Double Cask Bourbon that is distilled from regional corn, malted barley and regional wheat, then aged in new oak barrels using several different char profiles. The Distillery describes a taste that is “full-bodied, deep and complex with spice at first, followed by toffee and dark winter fruit. The lingering finish is…full of caramel and dark chocolate.” A special release, Port Finished Bourbon, won a Triple Gold Medal in the 2016 MicroLiquor Awards. This bourbon was finished in port wine barrels from St. Augustine’s San Sebastian Winery. It is only sold in the Distillery’s gift shop.
- Florida Cane Vodka was awarded a Double-Gold medal in the “Best Domestic Vodka” contest by ©TheFiftyBest.com. This vodka is only distilled from Florida-grown sugar cane. The Distillery describes “an incredibly smooth vodka with hints of green apple, white pepper, and molasses.”
- New World Gin was awarded Gold Medals from the San Francisco International Spirits Competition, and from the American Craft Distilling Association. The Distillery believes this classic gin balances juniper with citrus and spice notes by hand-grinding whole, fresh herbs to preserve their essence. Sweet Red Vermouth Barrel-Finished Gin and Sweet White Vermouth Barrel-Finished Gin are limited releases of New World Gin finished in vermouth barrels for a year, adding distinct herbal notes to each.
- Pot Distilled Rum is distilled from regional sugarcane syrups and molasses. The Distillery describes this straw rum as having “slight grassy notes, coconut, vanilla, and brown sugar.”
Trip Advisor includes the St. Augustine Distillery Tour on their suggested “3 Days in St. Augustine”. Their reviewers rank it as #2 of the 141 things to do in St. Augustine, and a top attraction for Food and Drink!
Whether or not you hope to experience some of what are believed to be historic St. Augustine’s ghostly spirits, you can look forward to a different kind of experience with spirits when you visit the St. Augustine Distillery. Casa de Solana is located in the heart of the historic district, so give us a call at (904) 824-3555, or go online to reserve your stay.
St. Augustine Distillery
Location: 112 Riberia Street, St. Augustine
Free Tour Hours: Daily from 10:30 am -5:00 pm Gift Shop Hours: Daily from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm