ChainBridge Distillery, located in Oakland Park’s Culinary District, is a unique and quaint business, that has called Oakland Park home since 2019. While they are the only business of its kind in Oakland Park, that’s not the only thing that makes it unique and quaint. Their spirits are the culmination of years of distilling experience brought all the way from Hungary. So it should be no surprise that their time tested distilling tradition is earning them medal after medal.
Family Owned and Operated Since 2019
Since its inauguration in 2019, this family-owned business has been producing award-winning craft spirits. They offer unique high-quality Brandy, Vodka, Gin, and Rum. All of their specialty spirits and Eau De Vie style brandies are made from 100% fruit or vegetable without added sugar, artificial flavors, colors, extracts, or preservatives. They only use fresh ingredients and do not use any flavorings, sugars, or anything artificial in their products. They are also proud to support Florida Agriculture and work with several farms.
I had the pleasure of recently visiting ChainBridge Distillery and discussing their award-winning spirits. Every year they go through a process of selecting which bottle they’d like to submit for consideration of the award. They usually submit to two of the nationally recognized associations for Craft Spirits which are the American Craft Spirits Association and American Distilling Institute.
Prestigious Awards from Nationally Recognized Associations
Their most popular to note is their Williams Pear Brandy, which has consistently ranked in the top over the last three years and in 2020 was awarded many accolades that included Best in Show, Gold Medal (1st Place), and Best of Class by the American Craft Spirits Association where 30 expert judges evaluated more than 500 entries at Cardinal Spirits in Bloomington, Indiana.
In addition to the awards mentioned above, ChainBridge Distillery was also awarded the Bronze medal for their Florida Basil Vodka by the American Craft Spirits Association. ChainBridge Distillery Florida Basil Vodka was also awarded the “Best of Category” and Gold Medal under Botanical Vodka from the 2021 American Distilling Institute (ADI) Judging of Craft Spirits Awards.
The American Distilling Institute also awarded them the silver medal for their Carrot Spirit made from 100% carrots, to preserve the aroma and taste of the fresh carrots. This specialty spirit is made with the utmost care and high-quality ingredients. Their carrots are hand-selected and inspected for the finest quality. Each batch is rested for a minimum of 3 months before it goes through a cold stabilization filtration process, hand bottling, and hand labeling.
More Awards in 2021
2021 proved to be an even more rewarding year for ChainBridge Distillery, where they received 8 medals! The 2021 Judging American Distilling Institute, awarded the Gold medal, Best of Category, and Certified Craft Distilled Spirit for Florida Basil Vodka along with a Silver medal for ChainBridge Distillery Beet Spirit. The 2021 Judging American Craft Spirits Association awarded ChainBridge Distillery with a Silver Medal for Plum Brandy, a Silver Medal for Banana Brandy, a Silver Medal for Beet Spirit, a Silver Medal for Carrot Spirit, a Bronze Medal for Barreled Pear Brandy, and a Bronze Medal for Silver Rum.
ChainBridge is no stranger to these types of recognition. Their Florida Basil Botanical Vodka was featured in Forbes magazine discussing the explanation of the Botanical Vodka and why it is increasing in popularity. ChainBridge does have other botanical Vodkas like their Florida Ginger Vodka made with fresh Ginger, which was created this year and they plan to submit for consideration of an award next year.
It should come as no surprise that this local business has this many award-winning spirits. Being family-owned means that they put their unique skills to run a full-scale distillery operation and all their products are made on-site at the distillery in Oakland Park. They also offer educational tours which talk about the distillation process.
Each category of spirit is made with a different process and they only use fresh fruits, vegetables, botanicals, and molasses to make their products. Since each type of spirit has a different process when being made this also will depend on how long it takes to make each spirit. For instance, a brandy will take a minimum of 3 – 7 months per batch. ChainBridge also has an aging program and they’re thrilled to announce that they recently released their first aged Rum, which is aged for 2 years.
Local Gem Expanding its Reach
All of their products can be found at their tasting room in Oakland Park and they also sell through their retail partner, Total Wine & Spirits. ChainBridge Distillery products can also be found at restaurants and speakeasies from West Palm Beach to Miami. And most recently they received approval to expand their products to be distributed in Wyoming.
ChainBridge Distillery is a full-scale distillery that produces Whiskey (coming soon), Vodka, Gin, Rum, Brandy, and Specialty Spirits and are also expanding their line up to include Ready to Drink (RTDs) next year.
Check out more on ChainBridge Distillery on previous features: Chainbridge Distillery: A Family Tradition Celebrates its First Year in Oakland Park, and visit their website to stay tuned for upcoming events, specials, and limited edition items.
If you have not visited this unique and valued establishment, then what are you waiting for? Located at 3500 NE 11th Avenue in Oakland Park, right in downtown Oakland Park, head on over to try the their selection of award-winning unique craft spirits.
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