A popular artisanal microdistillery that makes its own spirits and offers regular tours is in jeopardy of losing a special permit that has allowed it to conduct business at its agricultural site in Ocala since 2012, with the county citing “repeated noncompliance” with multiple conditions over the years.
The Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of the permit request from Jacquelyn Brady and FishHawk Spirits during the commission’s regular meeting on Monday, July 28.
Billed as Florida’s “ultra-premium farm-to-bottle distillery,” FishHawk Spirits has operated its artisanal microdistillery at 16350 SW 20th Lane in Ocala for well over a decade. Although the special use permit request is new, it comes after the expiration of a longstanding special use permit first approved in 2012.
That special use permit expired in December 2024 and the new request was submitted after that expiration, according to county staff…