Manifest Distilling
Story and photos
by Kathleen Walls
If you’re visiting Jacksonville and want
an adult beverage at a fun location, visit the taproom at Manifest
Distilling. They’re located in the heart of the sports
district and since Jacksonville worships the Jaguars that is a
good place to be. It began in 2016 as a dream of David Cohen, a
graduate of the brew school at the Siebel Institute. He brought
in Scott Kennelly, Trey Mills, and Tom Johnson at first. Today
it has grown to 11 staff people and one territorial cat.
Corey Gros, bar manager, took me for a
tour. We met in the Cocktail Room. It’s a modern styled bar
with soft lighting that uses a lot of fresh herbs in the
cocktails. There are racks of their products displayed. He
showed me each of their products, rye whiskey, vodka, gin and
explained what was in it and the proof. They currently have two
vodkas, Florida Citrus Vodka and potato vodka. There are three
gins, a traditional gin, barreled gin that has been aged in a
barrel similar to aged whiskey, Florida botanical gin that has
different citrus varieties: orange, lemon, and grapefruit and
flavors of sumac, elderberries, orris root, rosehip, and
blackberry leaves, all Florida products. For their rye, there’s
straight rye whiskey and 100% rye whiskey. Both aged in
American-grown White Oak barrels. They also produce Single
Origin Coffee liqueur and Fernet Manifesto. They have recently
begun a new product, canned cocktails. And a bourbon is
currently aging in barrels.
Manifest’s rye whiskey was the product I
found interesting. Few other distilleries I visited in the
south do rye whiskey. Corey
explained the rye as well as the experimental whiskeys, malt
whiskeys, brandies and liqueurs, begin in the distillery as
grains and fruit, they ferment and distill them. Rye was the
whiskey of choice back in the 1700 in the colonies and then the
new United States. It sparked the Whiskey Rebellion when the
new government taxed distillers to pay for the recently fought
Revolution. Wars cost lots of money. The rebellion, which
distillers claimed was against taxation without local
representation, began in 1791 and ending in 1794. Washington
himself rode at the head of an army to suppress the rebellion.
They repealed the whiskey tax in the early 1800s under the
presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Ironically in 1797, George
Washington opened one of the nation’s most successful
distilleries at Mount Vernon.
Corey led me back into the distillery and
introduced me to the distillery cat, Ginnie. She’s a beautiful
calico. Corey told me they adopted her about five years ago
when they found her wandering around outside. She was just a
kitten.
I love that the still and other machines
are named for Gilligan’s Island characters. The cooker where
they break down the initial grains is “The Skipper.” The
fermenters are “The Professor,” “Ginger,” and “Lovey.” Of
course, the still is “Gilligan.” They are rightly proud of
their rye whiskey. They have won numerous awards for their
spirits.
The Cocktail Room is a comfortable spot to enjoy mixed drinks and taking a Distiller’s Tour is a great way to learn about craft distilling. If you have a group of 10 or more, you can take a private guided tastings tour.