Greg L.
Yelp
This is a tour you MUST take when visiting St. Augustine! The tastings are free, and the tour is self-guided. (You can also reserve a guided experience.) You walk in and you are greeted by very enthusiastic personnel. They explain the process and you can walk along and explore the museum at your own pace. While walking through the museum/distillery, you experience three separate tasting areas, featuring some of their award-winning spirits, including Florida Cane Vodka, New World Gin, Pot Distilled Rum and Florida Straight Bourbon. At the last tasting stop, you can even ask to taste the individual liquors themselves after tasting them in the cocktail samples provided. They also sell their own Mixers and many of them are perfect with the liquor accompaniment.
After walking through the production process area, you can purchase liquor, mixers and other gift items in the Retail Shop. Once you peruse the items in the shop, I suggest you go to the bar area upstairs where you can purchase and enjoy some excellently prepared cocktails. There is a front and back bar and plenty of booth seating upstairs. We sat at the front bar and enjoyed the camaraderie of our fantastic trio of bartenders named Geo, Jim and Chyna. We purchased several drinks, but our favorites were the Mule (vodka, ginger, lime and sparkling water) and the "Valley of the Dolls" (vodka, cranberry-orange marmalade, dry curacao, lemon and Jamaican bitters with floating cranberries on top). Now I know why Neely O'Hara kept yelling "I want a doll! I want a doll!" in the movie!!
We had so much fun on Friday afternoon that we came back Saturday night for a nightcap as St. Augustine Distillery has a late-night happy hour menu on the weekend from 10:30pm-1:30am. They also have additional happy hour times throughout the week. This tour was a blast and the building itself is an old ice plant. The vintage bar is something to see. It really is a great experience!