Rum Across the Sunshine State

A Thanksgiving trip to the Tampa area and the return home allowed me to visit six distilleries which focus on rum and sourcing local molasses, crystals, or cane juice. 

Nestled in the heart of Dunedin’s vibrant "beer-muda triangle", Cotherman Distilling Co. has carved out a niche by producing hand-crafted spirits with a focus on quality and local ingredients. Their signature offerings include the 727 Vodka, a unique single-malt vodka distilled from 100% malted barley, and the Half-Mine Gin. They also produce a range of unique whiskies using different beer and rye mashes. But rum was our focus and their One Eyed Jack is supreme. This superior rum is aged in a chardonnay barrel that were used by neighboring Cueni Brewing Co. to rest a Belgium Tripel. Cotherman then obtained this barrel and aged their Dark Rum in the barrel for five years. Excellent. They also offer several other rums aged in various second use or different barrel sizes. For value, go for the Crockett's Reserve. 

Located in historic Ybor City, Gasparilla Distillery & Cocktail Bar is celebrated as Tampa’s first rum distillery, blending local heritage with a playful nod to the legendary pirate José Gaspar. Since opening in 2018, the distillery has produced a wide range of small-batch spirits, including Gasparilla Silver Rum, Spiced Rum, Coconut Rum, and seasonal flavors like Pumpkin or Apple Spiced Rum -- and the eye-opening Banana Bread Rum. This as well as their Key Lime Pie Rum were our favorites.  Not as sippers, but as ingredients to cocktails in which the creative bartenders described in detail during our visit. The rums are created by fermenting top-grade molasses from Okeelanta Sugar Mills in South Florida over seven days. The juice is then distilled using a 1,000 gallon copper pot still with rectifying columns. 

Founded by Drum Circle Distilling, Siesta Key Rum also sources the finest Florida molasses and only real ingredients like ground spices, honey, coffee, and coconut to produce their lineup of usually eight rums. This portfolio includes Toasted Coconut Rum, Coffee Rum, Spiced Rum, various aged rums, as well as beer barrel series -- all distilled using copper pot stills. Tastings are free with cocktails available at the tropical-inspired “Infinity Room” tiki bar.  The aged rums are worth exploring. The Siesta Key Distiller's Reserve Aged Spiced Rum is crafted using a solara system and is fantastic. Their Siesta Key Maple Syrup Barrel Aged Spiced Rum was aged in barrels that started as bourbon barrels, then were used to age maple syrup. After that, the maple soaked barrels make their way to the distillery and filled with the Siesta Key Spiced Rum. The batches are blends of barrels that have aged up to 7 years. 

Opened in 2019, Loaded Cannon Distillery is Bradenton’s first and only liquor distillery, proudly producing spirits “grain and cane to glass”.  The corn, molasses, rye, sugar, rice, and lemons are sourced directly in the Sunshine state. Their lineup includes bourbon, rum, vodka, gin, and specialty flavored spirits such as the popular Jalapeño Vodka, Limoncello, and the Pyracy Rum, crafted with dark sugar and molasses. We loved the Port Barrel Finished Rum and Maple Pecan Rum, but were more attracted to other offerings. Starting with the four grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey -- complex and easy sipping. Grab a Neat glass for this one. Their fabulous Limoncello is made with the lemons hanging in little cheesecloth hammocks, suspended above the high proof spirit, rather than peeling the lemons and immersing said peels in the spirit. This old Sicilian technique provides more zesty flavors. And we now know why the Jalapeño Vodka is very popular. Bloody Mary material. 

Driving through tall green sugar cane stalks swaying in a gentle breeze, you find a hidden distillery, a one of kind operation.  Sugar Sand Distillery is the country's only estate-grown sugar cane farm distillery where the sugar cane is grown, processed, distilled, and sold at the same location. In this case, Lake Placid in south central Florida.  Founder Don Davies grows four acres of cane on a former 10 acre citrus grove. The cane stalks are fed by a hydroponic system that delivers water and nutrients directly to the base of each plant; a by-product of Don’s decades of experience in the fertilizer industry.  The distillery opened in April 2018 and offers numerous spirits based on proprietary cane juice and corn mash recipes. These include small-batch rum, whiskey, vodka, limoncello and moonshine.  See A Visit to Sugar Sand Distillery - America's Only Estate-grown Sugar Cane Farm Distillery for a fuller picture of their operation and spirits. 

St. Augustine Distillery is located in the America's first city and in the historic FP&L Ice Plant (the first commercial enterprise to produce block ice in Florida over 100 years ago). The distillery is a business collaborative of 28 local entrepreneurs who utilize local sugar cane, wheat, corn, and citrus to produce whiskey, rum, vodka, and gin. They provide one of the most insightful free walking tours of a distillery. Each station includes a free cocktail sample and the museum provides a history of block ice production as well as a legality neutral history of distilling in The Sunshine State.  Their Pot Distilled Rum is produced from Grade A US Fancy sugarcane syrup and molasses and aged in used St. Augustine bourbon barrels. One of very few rums that are aged in barrels that previously held bourbon from the same distillery. The spirit is straw-colored with a surprising coconut and very light baking spices profile.