Locals have been enjoying the spoils of Winter Park Distilling Company‘s stills since 2010, but when their dual public house, which was also home to the Bear & Peacock Brewery, shuttered its doors on Orange Avenue, many thought that COVID-19 had knocked them out of the game.
But it was only out of their more visible location.
“We were the anchor business in that spot,” says cofounder Paul Twyford of the space just behind Foxtail Coffee’s original location, a spot The Courtesy Bar now calls home. “It didn’t make sense for us to pay for all that when we couldn’t be open, so we moved out into an ugly warehouse where we’ve toiled away, out of sight and out of mind, for the past few years.”
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It was toiling that kept fans in the know happy, as their products were still available at select locations, as well as behind the bars of local establishments, including The Ravenous Pig at the Bonfire clubhouse at the Winter Pines Golf Club.
But just recently, Winter Park Distillery has made what seems like a return from the grave.
And the signature old-fashioned at The Imperial on Park makes for one gorgeous $25 zombie.
It was a craft hack for Twyford, his longtime partner Andrew Asher, and their old friend, John Washburn, Winter Parkers all.
The new version of the latest Imperial in the ‘hood (the old one shuttered in 2023 and moved a short walk away to a new spot on Park Avenue) was serving just beer and wine at the outset, but since Twyford and Asher licensed the space as their distillery’s second location, the workaround has allowed The Imperial on Park to begin serving goodies like that old-fashioned among other schmancy craft libations, with more spirits to come.
Winter Park Distilling Company’s Andrew Asher, left, and Paul Twyford are pictured holding bourbons at The Imperial on Park in Winter Park. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
The single-barrel Bear Gully Reserve Bourbon, however ($80/bottle retail), is the distillery’s flagship spirit, a multiple award winner at festivals around the nation since 2014, including the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition. (You can get it, and the slightly less pricy Bonfire bourbon, in less costly formats, as well, in particular if, like Twyford, you prefer your bourbon less … adulterated.)
Tim Bradstree, left, and Michael Buffa of Forward/Slash Distillery & Blending House in Winter Park. (Courtesy Thomas Ledford Productions)
A stone’s throw away at Forward/Slash Distillery & Blending House, they’re also doing great things and planning some exciting drops for Bourbon Heritage Month on Sept. 26 with their new Quintessium. But here, the spirits are an amalgam of craftiness cultivated around the country.
Aside from the minimum 51% corn content that a spirit requires to be called bourbon, it must be made on American soil.
“But that doesn’t just mean Kentucky,” F/S cofounder and whiskey blender Michael Buffa points out.
His partner, cofounder and whiskey maker Tim Bradstreet, continues.
Showcasing the bourbon bottling process at Forward/Slash Distillery & Blending House in Winter Park. (Courtesy Worthwhile Productions)
“People know the big players like Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace, but very few know about J. Henry & Sons out of Wisconsin, or smaller Kentucky producers like MB Roland, or Finger Lakes Distilling out of upstate New York, which sits right on the banks of Lake Seneca, where their barrels age with this humid, cool climate.”
All, says Bradstreet, are singular.
“Both Michael and I keep a number of single-barrel varieties at home … and I like to describe them like a really good three-piece band. It sounds great. You can sing along to the music. It’s enjoyable, and you’re having a good time. What we’re trying to do here is create more of a symphony of flavor, incorporating aspects you can’t get from a single distillery.”
The Imperial in Winter Park just teamed up with Winter Park Distilling Company to go “full liquor.” (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Similarly, says Twyford, each craft distillery that makes a single-barrel, where bourbon goes directly from oak barrel to glass bottle, is distinct, because much in the way terroir is discussed in wine, few pay attention to the locations where bourbon ages. But it makes a big difference.
Bottles of Winter Park Distilling Company bourbon are pictured at The Imperial on Park in Winter Park. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
“Garrison Brothers makes a fine bourbon in Hye, Texas, where it is hot and dry most of the year, so they lose a ton of volume in what is called ‘the Angel’s Share’ (the evaporation through the barrel), so it actually goes up in proof. Similarly, Stranahan’s outside of Denver is also dry, but cool, and at elevation. They lose more water, too. Our bourbon here in Florida, where the humidity outside the barrel is almost the same as inside, loses proof, generally going in at 115 and coming out at 107.”
John Washburn, left, and Drew Weisner at The Imperial on Park in Winter Park. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Variance. It’s one of the things bourbon lovers, and those on the path to becoming one, enjoy. Private tastings at Forward/Slash can help move you along on your journey, but the staff there is ready to meet you where you are. As is the team at The Imperial.
Cocktails. Ice. Neat. Whatever.
“Everyone has a starting point,” says Buffa.
“We want to encourage them on their journey and enjoy it… We want to be uplifting and celebrate it, wherever they are.
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
If you go
The Imperial on Park: 136 S. Park Ave. in Winter Park, 321-972-9294; imperialwinebar.com
Forward/Slash Distillery & Blending House: 650 S. Capen Ave. in Winter Park; drinkforwardslash.com
