St. Augustine Distillery Tour Review

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There are lots of things to do in the charmingly historic city of St. Augustine, but the distillery tour is an absolute must for anyone that enjoys good liquor. A beautiful building, enthusiastic tour guides and award winning Whiskey, Gin and Vodka- this distillery tour is the real deal.

The Tour

Intro and Tour

St. Augustine has got distillery tours down to a precise art and it really sets the bar for how tours should be run. This is all the more impressive given that they are completely free. The tour begins with the history of the distillery, and whereas Winter Park Distillery can claim the title of first bourbon to be distilled in Florida, St. Augustine Distillery has them easily beat on being located in the oldest building. Dating back to 1907, the distillery and restaurant are housed in Florida’s oldest Ice plant which has been lovingly restored and renovated.

You’ll then be whisked through the distillery where the guides put as much enthusiasm into the tours as the distillers do with the award winning spirits. Questions are encouraged throughout, but the tour guides so such a great job there is very little that isn’t covered. You’ll learn in detail how each of their spirits are crafted, and you’ll be hard pressed not to be swept up in the sheer energy and passion that the guides bring to the tour.

Tasting Room

Next up is the tasting room where St. Augustine do things a little bit differently to a lot of distilleries. In here you’ll be passed over to your tour mixologist who gets happy hour started by passing out mini cocktails. First up you’ll try their refreshing Gin in a classic Gin & Tonic. Next you’ll move on to their smooth Vodka in a punchy Moscow Mule before finishing up with a Tiki that uses their pot distilled rum. The Mule and the Tiki are made using mixes which are available for purchase in the gift shop for those that like their cocktail making to be simple.

Gift Shop And Bar

You’ll then end the St. Augustine distillery tour in the gift shop that has a bar at its center where a barman will give everyone a mini old-fashioned (again made with their bottled old fashioned mix). They opt for the Double Cask Bourbon, which is also one of our choices when making an Old Fashioned. The tour is then over and you are free to try any of their spirits neat, and if you are anything like us, spend far too much money.

Which Bottles To Buy

Winner: Double Cask Bourbon

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Runner-up: New World Gin

Honorable mention: Cane Vodka

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Choosing the best bottles at this distillery is very difficult, St. Augustine distillery is not even 5 years old yet, but its trophy cabinet is already bursting at the seams. With awards across its Vodkas and Gins you really can’t go wrong with whatever you choose. Their Gin in particular is very unique with the tour guides enthusiastically proclaiming that even people that don’t usually like Gin will enjoy theirs. They aren’t wrong, it’s clean and is subtle on the botanicals so it doesn’t just taste like you are just chewing on some juniper berries. We took a bottle home and use it in our Salty Dolphin recipe.

The undeniable star of the show however is their Whiskey (also award winning) which really is something special. Both the Double Cask Bourbon and the Port Finished Bourbon are delicious and are actually our go to Whiskey for an Old Fashioned. Both are great in an old fashioned, but if you’re going to be drinking it on the rocks then we’d recommend the Double Cask Bourbon. Don’t leave St. Augustine without a bottle (or three), we certainly didn’t!

This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when purchases of recommended products are made. This is at no additional cost to you, and every penny we make goes back into buying and trying more tasty Floridian tipples.

Tour Details

Tour Times: Mon-Sun 10:30am-5pm, tours run every 30 mins

Length of Tour: 30-45 Minutes

Cost: Free (But you’ll be wanting to buy some bottles at the end)

Included: 4 mini cocktails + free St. Augustine whiskey glass when you buy 2 bottles of liquor in the gift shop

Top tips

1) Try EVERYTHING: When you make it to the tasting room, don’t be shy! You’re encouraged to taste any of the liquors that they have on sale in their gift store, so make sure that you try before you buy!

2) Check tour times as soon as you arrive: We went to the cocktail bar first, and then there was a 50 minute wait for the next tour when we went to the tour desk. We obviously just went back to the bar for another drink to wait (poor us), but if we went again we would have grabbed our ticket as soon as we arrived.

3) Just get a taste: We would obviously recommend the full distillery tour, but if you’re not in St. Augustine long then you could just skip straight to the tasting room/gift shop to try out all the liquors.

4) Grab a cocktail: St. Augustine distillery has a cocktail bar and restaurant onsite called Ice Plant which as the name suggests is built in an old ice plant. The cocktails are obviously out of this world, but the food is also fantastic. Definitely check it out before or after your tour.