Tastings & Experiences

Experiences at Timber Creek Distillery

Tour. Taste. Blend. Pair. Throw. Return.

Timber Creek Distillery is a working grain-to-glass craft distillery in Crestview, Florida, about 45 minutes north of Destin and the Emerald Coast. Here, we host a range of experiences at the distillery. These include guided tours, seated tastings, hands-on bourbon blending, wine and chocolate pairings, axe throwing, and wood-fired pizza on Saturdays. So this page is your starting point. First, use it to figure out which experience fits what you’re looking for. Then book directly on the specific experience page.

Overall, every experience we run is built around the same idea. In short, this is a real distillery where we make real spirits. Therefore, visitors should see, taste, and understand what’s happening on the floor. Unlike most distillery tours, we have no roped-off showrooms and no scripted tour actors. Instead, you meet the people making the spirits. Then you walk through active production. Finally, you leave with a real sense of how a bottle gets from grain to glass.

A Quick Guide to Choosing the Right Experience

First-time visitors usually start with our Distillery Tour & Tasting. In short, it walks you through the working distillery and finishes with a seated pour of our award-winning spirits. However, if you want the same tour but a more hands-on finish, upgrade to the Tour & Craft Cocktail Experience. That version swaps the tasting for three handcrafted cocktails built around our spirits.

Going deeper? Then our flagship Bourbon Blending Experience is the VIP option. Specifically, it includes the behind-the-scenes tour plus hands-on blending with our single-grain whiskeys. As a result, you leave with a custom-blended bottle you built yourself.

Meanwhile, wine drinkers and date-night guests tend to gravitate toward our Wine & Chocolate Tasting. Notably, it’s a standalone seated pairing of rare Bacigalupi Wines from the Russian River Valley with chocolate-dipped fruit. Saturday visitors should plan around Pizza Saturdays, our weekly wood-fired pizza service. Lastly, if you want something completely different, Axe Throwing is a quick session at our on-site range. Indeed, it works as a natural add-on to most of the experiences above.

Finally, you can also purchase any experience as a gift through its own booking page.

The Full Lineup of Timber Creek Experiences

Distillery Tour & Tasting

60–90 minutes. Tours open to all ages. Tasting portion 21+ only.

Our core experience is the Distillery Tour & Tasting. Specifically, it’s a guided walk through the working distillery. Along the way, you’ll see the grain mill, closed fermenters, copper pot still, barrel aging warehouse, and bottling line. Afterward, you sit down for a tasting of our award-winning Florida spirits. Typically, the lineup features Florida Whiskey, Florida Black Rye, Florida Vodka, Florida Rum, and Florida Gin. Additional pours depend on current availability. Overall, this is the right starting point for first-time visitors and travelers fitting a stop into a larger Panhandle itinerary.

Upgrade Option: Tour & Craft Cocktail Experience

Same tour, upgraded finish. 21+ only due to cocktail service.

Want more than a tasting? Then upgrade to the Tour & Craft Cocktail Experience on the same booking page. Here, you get the same guided walk through the distillery. However, instead of a seated tasting, you finish with three full-sized handcrafted cocktails built around our spirits. For example, expect bold old fashioneds and seasonal creations like our blueberry shrub. Meanwhile, our team walks you through mixology technique, ingredient balance, and the role each spirit plays in the finished drink. In short, this is the right fit for couples on a date. Likewise, it suits cocktail enthusiasts who want to take the experience past the tasting pour. So sip, stir, and discover the spirit of Timber Creek.

Bourbon Blending Experience

60–120 minutes. $100–$200. Our VIP experience. Behind-the-scenes tour included. Take-home custom bottle included. 21+ only.

The Bourbon Blending Experience is our signature offering. In fact, it earns the most repeat visits of anything we do. First, the experience begins with a behind-the-scenes tour of the distillery. As a result, you don’t need to book a separate tour to get the full walk-through. After the tour, you sit down with 100% single-grain whiskeys made from corn, wheat, rye, and barley. Notably, we ferment, distill, and age each grain individually in our own barrels.

Then, using a professional blending kit, you taste each component and experiment with ratios. Next, you build a bourbon that reflects your own palate. For instance, options include soft wheat sweetness, bold rye spice, smooth corn richness, or the complexity of malted barley. Ultimately, you dial it in yourself. Finally, you leave with a custom blended bottle to take home.

Also, you can choose between our Signature Corn Whiskey or our Premium 12-Year Aged Corn Whiskey as the base. Because of our separate grain distillation approach, we can offer this experience in a way most distilleries cannot. In contrast, most bourbon producers lock their mash bill in before fermentation. However, we blend after distillation. So the components exist as separate spirits you can actually blend by hand. Overall, the experience is equal parts science lab and whiskey bar — the art of bourbon craftsmanship delivered hands-on.

Wine & Chocolate Tasting

90 minutes. $55. Standalone seated pairing. No distillery tour included. 21+ only.

The Wine & Chocolate Tasting is a seated pairing of rare wines and handcrafted chocolate. Notably, Timber Creek is the exclusive Florida partner for Bacigalupi Wines. Specifically, Bacigalupi is the legendary family-owned winery from the Russian River Valley. In fact, their grapes helped win the historic 1976 Judgment of Paris — the tasting that put California wine on the world stage. However, outside of the Bacigalupi tasting room in California, you can only find these wines here.

The experience includes 1.5 oz pours of five award-winning Bacigalupi wines. Specifically, the lineup covers 2024 Rosé de Pinot, 2023 Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 Chardonnay, 2022 Pinot Noir, and 2021 Petite Sirah. Additionally, we pair each wine with chocolate-dipped fruit selected to accentuate its distinct notes.

Also, we add new wines to our tasting program as we bring them in. So the exact lineup may evolve over time. Overall, this is a standalone pairing experience. Want to combine it with a tour? Then book the Distillery Tour & Tasting separately on the same day.

Pizza Saturdays

Saturdays only. All ages welcome. Food available à la carte.

Every Saturday, Pizza Saturdays brings wood-fired pizza to the distillery. Notably, it’s open to tour guests and walk-ins. So families and guests who want casual food with a distillery backdrop can drop in. In fact, many visitors plan their tour around Saturday specifically to combine the two. Also, you can check this week’s menu on the Pizza Saturdays page.

Add-On: Axe Throwing

30–45 minutes. $20. Great as an add-on to any visit. 21+ only.

Axe Throwing at the distillery is exactly what it sounds like. Specifically, it’s a supervised session at our on-site axe throwing range. However, most guests book it as an add-on to a tour or tasting experience rather than a standalone visit. Therefore, we price and structure it accordingly. Overall, it pairs naturally with the Bourbon Blending Experience and makes a fun finish to a Saturday tour.

Combining Experiences in a Single Visit

Most days, you can book multiple experiences together. For example, a Distillery Tour & Tasting followed by the Wine & Chocolate Tasting makes a popular spirits-then-wine afternoon. Similarly, pairing the Bourbon Blending Experience with Pizza Saturdays creates a relaxed half-day. So you get the VIP experience in the morning and wood-fired lunch after. Meanwhile, for a full Saturday itinerary, guests often stack a tour, Axe Throwing, and Pizza Saturdays back to back. Additionally, many Wine & Chocolate Tasting guests end their visit by shopping for bottles of the Bacigalupi wines they just tasted. Need help building a multi-experience visit? Then contact us directly before booking and we’ll help you sequence it.

Visiting Timber Creek from the Florida Panhandle

You’ll find us at 6451 Lake Ella Road, Crestview, FL 32539. That’s about 45 minutes north of Destin — a straight shot up Highway 85 through the Florida pine forests. Usually, the drive makes a pleasant change of pace from coastal traffic. As a result, many visitors treat the distillery as a rainy-afternoon destination or a break from the beach.

From Destin, the drive takes about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, from Fort Walton Beach, plan on 35 minutes. Similarly, Miramar Beach sits about 45 minutes out. Also, Niceville takes about 25 minutes; Navarre about 45; and DeFuniak Springs about 30. Furthermore, guests coming from Pensacola should plan for about an hour. Likewise, Seaside and Rosemary Beach on 30A sit about an hour away. Finally, Panama City Beach is roughly 75 minutes out.

Additionally, parking is free and on-site. Planning a longer Panhandle itinerary? Then our Emerald Coast guide and our Crestview area guide cover what else is worth seeing nearby.

Experiences as Gifts

Every experience at Timber Creek works as a gift. In fact, distillery experiences make a popular alternative to physical gifts. For example, they work well for birthdays, anniversaries, Father’s Day, holidays, retirement celebrations, and corporate thank-yous. As a result, the recipient gets a memory rather than an object. Also, most experiences include something tangible to take home. For instance, options include tasting knowledge, a custom blended bourbon bottle from the Bourbon Blending Experience, a wine pairing memory, or a pizza afternoon. To purchase an experience as a gift, book through its own page. Then indicate during checkout that it’s a gift. Next, we’ll send the recipient a confirmation. Finally, they can use it to schedule their own visit when it works for their calendar.

Seasonal and Special Events

Beyond our regular weekly experiences, we host special events throughout the year. For example, these include Bourbon Heritage Month in September, seasonal crawfish boils, holiday releases, new product launches, and collaboration events with neighboring Panhandle businesses. Also, our blog and social media are the best places to follow what’s coming up.

Plan Your Visit

First, pick the experience that fits and book directly on the experience page. Not sure which to book? Want to combine multiple experiences? Then contact us through the contact page or call (408) 439-0973 and we’ll help you plan it out. Finally, Timber Creek Distillery sits at 6451 Lake Ella Road, Crestview, FL 32539, about 45 minutes north of Destin. Generally, we’re open Monday through Wednesday and Friday 8am–2pm, Saturday 10am–4pm, closed Thursdays and Sundays. So come see how real grain-to-glass whiskey gets made.