St. Augustine Distillery Celebrates 8 Years: “The Spirit of Florida”
Step back in time and learn about the most important dates in our history
March 19th is a special day at St. Augustine Distillery: Eight years ago, we opened our doors to the public and sold our very first bottle of Florida Cane Vodka, marking a major milestone in the history of Florida-distilled spirits.
To celebrate our eighth anniversary, we want to take you back in time to show you how a dormant ice plant became the home of The Spirit of Florida. Dive deep into our Roots, Growth, and Future Endeavors to discover the St. Augustine Distillery Story!
Roots
November 2012 – St. Augustine Distillery co-founders Mike Diaz and Philip McDaniel purchase the dormant St. Augustine Ice Plant at 112 Riberia St, with plans to create the first bourbon in Florida. Built in 1907 and owned and operated by Florida Power & Light Co, the ice plant provided refrigeration and cooling to St. Augustine residents for nearly 50 years. It was sold to an employee for $1 in the 1950s as electricity-powered cooling became more widely available.
2012, continued – With Ice Plant renovations underway, Philip McDaniel visits the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee as leader of the Florida Craft Distillers Guild. McDaniel organizes other distillers to successfully lobby the State Legislature to allow direct sales to consumers in their tasting rooms, though sales are limited to 2 bottles per person per year. McDaniel and others would later advocate for additional legislative victories, including:
Increasing the limit of direct-to-consumer sales from 2 bottles per person per year to 2 bottles per person per brand per year (2015); increased to 6 bottles per person per brand per year (2017); to total removal of all bottle sale limits (2021)
Temporarily lowering the federal excise tax (FET) on craft spirits (2017)
Permanently lowering the federal excise tax (FET) on craft spirits (2019)
Allowance for sales of drinks by the glass at craft distillery tasting rooms (2021)
Allowance to sell bottles at festivals and events (2021)
Allowance to legally conduct consumer tastings at retail stores by craft distillers (2021)
2013 – Ice Plant renovations are completed, and St. Augustine Distillery begins distilling operations. In December, we lay down the first barrels of what would become our Florida Double Cask Bourbon, though it will not be sold for several years. We also begin to produce Florida Cane Vodka.
March 19, 2014 – St. Augustine Distillery officially opens to the public, and we sell our very first bottle of Florida Cane Vodka.
Growth
May 26, 2014 – St. Augustine Distillery begins bottling and selling our second spirit, New World Gin.
2014, continued – St. Augustine Distillery earns numerous accolades for the renovation and preservation of the historic Ice Plant. Diaz and McDaniel are presented with the “Excellence for the Reuse and Repurpose Sector” Award by the Urban Land Institute of North Florida, and the “Excellence in Culture, Historic Preservation or Adaptive Use” Award by the Northeast Florida Regional Council.
September 3, 2015 – St. Augustine Distillery releases the first edition of the Discovery Rum Series and sells out in less than a week. Three more editions of the Discovery Rum series are released over the next few months.
January 15, 2016 – Pot Distilled Rum is officially released as our distillery’s flagship rum.
September 9, 2016 – Nearly two and a half years after laying down the first barrels, St. Augustine Distillery begins the sale of bourbon. Known as “Florida Double Cask”, it is the first bourbon to be fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled in the state of Florida.
May 2018 – St. Augustine Distillery is voted the #1 Whiskey Tour in North America out of nearly 2000 US craft distilleries in the 2018 For Whiskey Lovers (FWL) awards.
September 2018 – With our core spirits in place, we begin exploring other limited releases. Two expressions, including our Port Finished Bourbon and The Saint Bourbon (introduced in November), become part of our regular spirits lineup.
December 7, 2018 – Florida Straight Bourbon replaces Florida Double Cask as our signature bourbon.
September 2019 – St. Augustine Distillery becomes the founding sponsor of Sing Out Loud Music Festival, a free festival celebrating music, arts, and culture in St. Augustine. In the same year, we also complete our second Habitat for Humanity build and continue sponsorship of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center
2019, continued - We collaborate with other locally-owned businesses to create exclusive retail items including Bourbon Barrel Rested Coffee with The Kookaburra, spirit-flavored ice pops with The Hyppo, Bourbon Barbeque Sauce with Endorphin Farms, Bourbon Balls with Creme de la Cocoa, and many more to encourage guests to support small business owners in the community.
February 18, 2020 – Philip McDaniel is honored with the inaugural Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) Dave Pickerell Memorial Craft Member of the Year Award. One of the highest honors in craft spirits, it is named for legendary Makers Mark distiller Dave Pickerell who developed many world-class whiskey brands and guided St. Augustine Distillery in our evolution.
March 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic grips the country, St. Augustine Distillery begins to produce ethanol-based hand sanitizer to combat a community-wide shortage, which we donate to first responders and local nonprofits as well as sell in our retail shop.
October 2020 – St. Augustine Distillery introduces our “Fill Your Own Bottle” experience, giving our guests the exclusive chance to fill, label, and seal a unique bottle of single-barrel bourbon.
February 2021 – St. Augustine Distillery releases our exclusive, first-edition D. Rodriguez & Sons Overproof Rum, named for our beloved “Day One” Danny Rodriguez. A portion of proceeds are donated to Danny’s family in Honduras as they grapple with the fallout of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, which devastated the country within two weeks of each other in late 2020.
May 2021 – St. Augustine Distillery launches the Small Batch Concert Series, aimed at presenting a diverse range of national recording artists at more intimate local venues.
January 28, 2022 – St. Augustine Distillery’s co-founders Diaz and McDaniel are awarded the United Way Corporate Partner of the Year Award at the 5th annual St. Johns Givers Gala. United Way CEO Melissa Nelson commends the distillery for “working with the residents they serve” and demonstrating that “a generous company and a successful company are not mutually exclusive.”
February 18, 2022 – St. Augustine Distillery and the St Johns County Cultural Events Team team up once again for the inaugural Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Concert Series. A celebration of American music, the event takes place over the last two weekends of February at Fort Mose State Historic Park, the site of the first free Black settlement in our nation’s history. The event raises $50,000 for the Fort Mose Historical Society, which will go towards the construction of a representation of the original fort as well as other educational resources.
Future Endeavors
As we enter our ninth year, our mission guides us as it did from the day we opened: To make world-class spirits, offer exceptional guest experiences, and make our community better for future generations. We are incredibly excited to share a few new things coming soon.
For our visitors, the addition of our Oak Stave Tasting Room will allow us to offer a wide range of new spirit experiences. Visitors can enjoy instructive tastings and detailed distillery tours, including a ‘From Grain to Glass Tour’ which features an in-depth look at our production facility and a guided bourbon tasting.
Just as our guest experience evolves, so do our spirits. Our distillers are hard at work developing new, unique ways to distill, age, and finish our Florida bourbon. Stay tuned for specialty single barrel releases, as well as new unique finishes alongside our fan favorites.
With eight incredibly eventful years behind us, we cannot help but wonder what the next eight years will bring. One thing is for certain, we would not be the company we are today without the incredible support of our community and our visitors. When we celebrate our anniversary today and in years to come, we will always raise a very special glass to each and every one of you. Cheers to 8 years!
