Review: Black Button Distilling
More liquors and fine craft beers are being created in Upstate New York with the rich farm land. Many are enjoying the various spirits by Black Button Distilling, a New York State licensed Farm Distillery.
Black Button Distilling uses over 90 percent New York State all-natural ingredients to make their spirits. All the corn, wheat, rye and barley are sourced locally from Edgewood Farms in Groveland, a nearly 1,600-acre farm south of Rochester.
Dairy cream for their Bespoke Bourbon Cream liqueur is sourced from New York State farms, and apple cider for Apple Pie Moonshine comes from Lynoaken Farms in Medina.
At their farm, they grow juniper for their Citrus and now Lilac Gin. Also, they use white oak to make their own barrels, and fresh herbs and spices as well as organic honey for their cocktails.
They are proudly based in Rochester, NY since 2012 by Jason Barrett. Also, they have another location in Buffalo. They are the first grain-to-glass craft distillery to open since prohibition. Jason did not come from a family of whiskey distillers. He broke from the family’s four-generation button-making business.
Black Button Distilling is considered one of the top five craft distilleries in the USA according to USA Today’s “10 Best Readers’ Choice” poll. The judges were: Emily Arden Wells (Gastronomista), Brian Christensen (Artisan Spirit Magazine), Laura Johnson (Distillerista), and Arthur Shapiro (Booze Business), who were chosen based on their knowledge and experience of the American craft spirits industry.
The company has just been named to Inc. Magazine’s “Top 5,000” list, an annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Black Button Distilling has earned the rank of number 2,020 on the 2018 list, making it the fastest growing distillery in the northeast. Sales have more than tripled since 2014, and in 2017 Black Button expanded and opened a tasting room and bottle shop in Buffalo, N.Y.
Black Button Distilling has won multiple awards including USA TODAY’s “10 Best Craft Distilleries,” TheFiftyBest.com’s 2018 Silver Medal for its Straight Bourbon Whiskey in the Best Bourbon Category, and NASDAQ Stock Market’s 2016 list of “Next Great Consumer Brands.”
A vertically-integrated privately owned company, it has experienced strong growth since its founding in 2012 when the company produced 1,000 bottles every two weeks. Now, the growth rate is 440 percent, and Black Button Distilling cranks out 1,000 bottles per day, four days a week, with distribution to 12 states and Japan. Bourbon is their primary product, and they also produce moonshine, vodka, gin, bourbon cream, and a variety of whiskies.
Jason Barrett, President and Head Distiller, feels that this product that has to age and the company has to plan for this level of growth years in advance. He is creating demand and a world class product that takes hard work and time.
Black Button Distillery’s Four Grain Bourbon ( 84 Proof) is made of 60 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, 9 percent rye and 11 percent barley. All the grains are sourced in-state, and the spirit is aged between 14 and 26 months in American white oak barrels with hints of fennel and blackberry. Black Button Distilling is a 20-hour a day, seven-day a week operation with 72 employees, in an industry that provides consumers with a lot of options.
The Port Finished Barrel Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon has aged for a minimum of two years in white oak and then another year in a freshly harvested port cask from Port of NY Winery in Ithaca. One can taste the distinct cherry and lemon notes.
Constellation Brands, a leading beverage alcohol company, acquired a minority stake in Black Button Distilling. The investment was made through Constellation’s venture capital group that identifies and invests in premium, emerging brands in categories that provide strong scalability, consumer appeal, and a unique niche or point of differentiation in the market. Black Button will continue to manage, produce, market and sell its high-performing, award-winning spirits such as its Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Citrus Forward Gin, Seasonal Lilac Gin and Bespoke Bourbon Cream.
In response to the shortage of hand sanitizer caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Black Button is manufacturing hand sanitizer according to FDA Guidelines. They will be provided to local hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other at-risk communities at cost. In the event that production can be increased, the effort will be expanded to other places like interested hospitals, homeless shelters, senior citizen centers, paramedics, fire stations, daycares, and other high-risk operations.
More about the company and their products can be found at blackbuttondistilling.com.
