Craft spirits such as blueberry-infused vodka are coming to downtown Gainesville in late May.
Fish Hawk Spirits will open a tasting room in what used to be the 2nd Street Speakeasy, situated at 21 SW Second St.
Dave Molyneaux, the company’s CEO, said First Hawk Spirits has a distillery in Ocala, Florida, but the Gainesville business will be its first tasting room.
Along with tours and merchandise, he said the location will offer spirits made with water from Rainbow Springs, including a bottle of brandy made with 60 tangerines.
“Everything is done by hand,” Molyneaux said. “We crack the almonds. We press the tangerines. We distill our spirits.”
The tasting room will feature flavors not available to distributors, such as whiskey made with a hybrid called silver queen corn, along with six new vodka flavors.
Molyneaux said Fish Hawk Spirits is not legally allowed to function as a bar, so the company will sell bottles among its free samples.
Not long after opening, he said the business will become a stop on local bike tours, which will take riders to bars and restaurants that serve its distilled beverages.
The spirits range from $20 to $200, he said.
Matthew Bagdanovich, the chief master distiller, said the tasting room will bring more than just alcohol to the city.
“Florida is opening its eyes to a whole new craft spirits movement, and Gainesville is going to be the center of that,” he said.
