Craft Distillery Florida's Most Awarded

Gold Medals

Gold is rare. You don’t get it by being decent — you get it by being the best in the room. Timber Creek has earned five gold medals in blind competition, across vodka, rum, rye whiskey, and bourbon.

Best Domestic Vodka — The Fifty Best (2019)

The Fifty Best runs some of the most respected blind tastings in the spirits industry. In 2019, their domestic vodka panel chose Timber Creek Florida Vodka as the best in the country. It’s made from 100% northwest Florida red soft winter wheat and filtered through Florida limestone spring water. No shortcuts, no additives — just clean, well-made vodka from a state not exactly known for it.

Best White Rum — The Fifty Best (2018)

The year before the vodka win, the same organization handed Timber Creek a gold medal for its white rum. It’s an 80-proof unaged rum, made from scratch at the distillery. This win helped put Florida rum on the map in a category dominated by Caribbean producers.

Best American Rye Whiskey — The Fifty Best

Timber Creek’s Florida Black Rye is made from 100% Florida 401 Black Rye — a grain variety grown only in Florida. Most American rye whiskeys use a blend. This one doesn’t. The Fifty Best awarded it gold in the American Rye Whiskey category, recognizing it as one of the finest examples in the country.

Rum — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

Denver’s International Spirits Competition draws entries from across the globe. Timber Creek’s white rum took gold in the rum category that year, beating out producers with decades more experience. Two gold medals for the same rum — from two separate competitions — speaks for itself.

Consumer Choice — Whiskey & Barrel Awards (2020)

The Whiskey & Barrel Consumer Choice Awards are voted on by actual whiskey drinkers, not just industry judges. Timber Creek took gold in 2020. That one’s personal — it means the people who actually drink this stuff love it.

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Silver Medals

Seven silver medals across bourbon, rum, single malt whiskey, rye, and gin. A few of these wins deserve more than just a line on a list.

Bourbon — North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition (2017)

This double-blind competition judged more than 75 entries on a 100-point scale. Timber Creek’s Reserve Florida Bourbon — a four-grain mashbill of corn, wheat, rye, and barley — earned silver. So did the Black Rye (see below). They were the only two Florida-made spirits to win anything at that event. The other entrants included Buffalo Trace and Ole Smoky.

Rye Whiskey — North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition (2017)

 

Same competition, same year. The Florida Black Rye earned silver in the rye whiskey category alongside the bourbon win. Two medals from one competition — from a craft distillery that had only been open a few years — was a real statement.

Blended Bourbon — The Fifty Best (2019)

Timber Creek’s 4-grain blended bourbon came in at 100 proof. The Fifty Best awarded it silver in the blended bourbon category, the same competition where the vodka took gold that year.

Aged Rum — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

The dark rum, finished in oak, earned silver at Denver. This was the same competition where the white rum took gold — two medals from one distillery at the same event.

Single Malt Whiskey — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

Made from 100% malted barley, this is a Florida single malt — a category almost no one in the state was making at the time. Denver’s judges awarded it silver.

Bourbon — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

The blended Florida bourbon earned a second silver that year, this time at Denver. Four medals from one competition in a single year, across four different spirit categories.

Bourbon — SIP Awards (2022)

The SIP Awards panel awarded Timber Creek’s bourbon a silver medal in 2022. This came years after the earlier wins — which tells you the quality has stayed consistent, not just a lucky batch.

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Bronze Medals

Four bronze medals, spread across rye whiskey and gin. These came from some of the same competitions where Timber Creek was also winning gold and silver, so the full picture from any one event is often better than a single medal suggests.

American Rye Whiskey — The Fifty Best (2018)

The Florida Black Rye earned a bronze at The Fifty Best in 2018. The following year, it won gold at the same competition. Improving from bronze to gold in a single year is worth paying attention to.

Craft Gin — Denver International Spirits Competition (2018)

Timber Creek’s grain-to-glass craft gin earned bronze in Denver in 2018. The gin is distilled entirely on site, using a custom copper pot still built for the distillery.

Rye Whiskey — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

The Florida 401 rye earned bronze at Denver in 2019 — the same competition where Timber Creek also took gold, two silvers, and another bronze that year.

Gin — Denver International Spirits Competition (2019)

A second bronze for the gin program at Denver in 2019, in a competitive field that included established craft distillers from across the country.

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Full Results by Competition

Here’s the complete record, organized by event.

The Fifty Best

Medal	Category	Spirit	Year
Gold	Best Domestic Vodka	Florida Vodka, 100% FL wheat	2019
Silver	Blended Bourbon	4-grain blended bourbon, 100 proof	2019
Gold	Best White Rum	White Rum, 80 proof unaged	2018
Bronze	American Rye Whiskey	Florida 401 Black Rye, 93 proof	2018
Gold	Best American Rye Whiskey	100% Florida 401 Black Rye

Denver International Spirits Competition

Medal	Category	Spirit	Year
Gold	Rum	White rum	2019
Silver	Aged Rum	Dark rum finished in oak	2019
Silver	Single Malt Whiskey	100% malted barley	2019
Silver	Bourbon	Blended Florida bourbon	2019
Bronze	Rye Whiskey	Made with Florida 401 rye	2019
Bronze	Gin	Craft distilled gin	2019
Bronze	Craft Gin	Grain-to-glass craft gin	2018

North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition

Medal	Category	Spirit	Year
Silver	Bourbon	Florida Reserve Bourbon, 4-grain	2017
Silver	Rye Whiskey	Florida Black Rye Whiskey	2017

Other Competitions

Medal	Category	Competition	Year
Gold	Consumer Choice	Whiskey & Barrel Consumer Choice Awards	2020
Silver	Bourbon	SIP Awards	2022

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Press and Industry Recognition

Beyond the competition circuit, Timber Creek has been featured in national and regional press, named by travel publications, and listed by Florida’s official tourism board.

Best Distillery on the Emerald Coast — Emerald Coast Magazine

Emerald Coast Magazine named Timber Creek the best distillery on the Emerald Coast. This is the region’s leading lifestyle publication, covering the stretch of northwest Florida that includes Destin, Fort Walton Beach, and Crestview.

Florida’s Favorite Distillery — FloridaRentals.com

FloridaRentals.com named Timber Creek one of Florida’s top 11 distilleries. Their selection was based on tasting room quality, spirits produced, customer service, and the overall visitor experience. Not a bad shortlist to land on, given how many Florida distilleries have opened in the last decade.

First Bourbon Blending Kit — The Manual

The Manual, a national men’s lifestyle publication, featured Timber Creek for introducing the first bourbon blending kit. It lets customers blend their own Florida bourbon at home using components sourced directly from the distillery.

In Good Spirits — VIE Magazine

VIE Magazine ran a full editorial feature on Timber Creek. The piece covered the grain-to-glass process, the custom copper pot still, and the story of how two neighbors built a working distillery on a Florida farm — starting from nothing.

Visit Florida Official Listing

Timber Creek is listed as an official attraction on Visit Florida — the state’s official tourism website. That puts it alongside beaches, theme parks, and state parks as a recommended destination for anyone visiting the Florida Panhandle.

Destin–Fort Walton Beach CVB

The Destin–Fort Walton Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau features Timber Creek as a top regional attraction. The distillery is also included in their official “Adventures in Crestview” travel guide for Emerald Coast visitors.

Men’s Journal

Men’s Journal covered Timber Creek in a feature on American craft spirits. The publication reaches millions of readers nationally and focuses on adventure, culture, and well-made drinks.

“Florida Vodka — a must-buy. If you drink vodka and don’t buy this, you have no one to blame but yourself.”

— BourbonSippers.com