Visiting Loaded Cannon Distillery in Florida

The story of Loaded Cannon Distillery and its Pirates is not mine to tell. Nonetheless, I can tell you where and how to hear it. I can also share with you what I thought about my new neighbor distillery, and which spirits you need to try.

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Location in Florida (USA) of Loaded Cannon Distillery

I’ve been glancing at the building that houses Loaded Cannon Distillery for the past months. Is on the way of two places I often visit, the gym and the neighborhood brewery. Because of this, you can imagine my happiness when I found out the distillery was finally open to the public, and ready to offer tasting tours. Not a week went by, and a Saturday afternoon in July I went to see and taste what had been distilling while I’ve been driving past it.

Getting to and Parking 

Lucky for me, I get out of ‘my suburb’ and drive straight. The official address says Bradenton, but it is on Lakewood Ranch grounds. When around the area, use this list of 20 Things to Do in Lakewood Ranch, Florida as your unofficial guide.

If you’re not from around, here is the direct Google Maps link to Loaded Cannon Distillery. You can also use a ridesharing service if you’re planning to drink more than the samples.

Regarding parking, the distillery is located in a Business/Industrial park, and plenty of parking is available.

Booking a Tour

Treasure chests at the entrance of Loaded Cannon Distillery

Reservations are encouraged by the distillery, and I recommend them too. The day of our visit, most tours were almost full, which meant some people had to wait between half an hour and an hour for the next tour if they didn’t have reservations.

You can call in advance, and book a timeslot, so you don’t have to wait until a next tour (if there’s space). Please visit the official website for more information regarding tour times & prices.

Loaded Cannon Distillery Tour & Tasting

Tasting Room area. You don’t need to go on a tour to purchase one of the Loaded Cannon spirits or get some sweet merch.

We were lucky to have Steve, owner/founder/distillation engineer/ as our tour guide. There’s no better person to tell you the stories of Loaded Cannon and its spirits than him. I won’t spoil the stories for you, but they all involve pirates and the high seas.

Steve also goes into detail about what it takes to make the different spirits at the facility. There’s gin, vodka, rum (white, spiced, and toasted coconut), whiskey, and bourbon. Some are ready to go with you, some are still in production, but you won’t leave disappointed.

To finish the tour, Michelle, who oversees many things, from special events, marketing, brand management to the tasting room shared with us a few samples from the array of spirits the distillery has produced. My personal favorites: the gin (Margoza’s Gin) and the toasted coconut rum (PYRACY toasted coconut).

As a gin person, I can say it’s an all-around great American Gin. The citrus and hibiscus flavors and aromas pair wonderful and give this gin a clean yet bold taste.

The toasted coconut rum it’s also something special. You have to smell and taste it to believe it. If you ever had toasted coconut rum, it probably had an extract added to the base. Here at Loaded Cannon, they use real coconuts.

As a former Analytical Chemist and Quality Manager in the food industry, I commend them for their efforts. Having to distill, test, and validate this rum is no easy feat because of the presence of oils and sugar.

However, at Loaded Cannon, they’re not going for easy. They’re going for unique, and I can tell you they’re on the right path.

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