Distillery Spotlight: Black Button
There are thousands of distilleries across the country, each with their own way of doing things. However, some focus on quantity, others profit, and some, like Black Button Distillery in Rochester, NY focus on quality and sustainability.
Black Button Distillery is a grain-to-glass distillery. They focus on local and sustainable ingredient sourcing, allowing them to catch the terroir of New York in each glass. When you taste their grain-forward whiskeys, you taste a true New York whiskey packed with bold flavor or northern-grown ingredients.
The distillery was founded in 2012 by Jason Barrett, a fourth-generation entrepreneur. He used to spend much of his time in his family’s button factory in Rochester, a business he could have taken over. However, he decided to pursue another venture, and two years after their founding they opened their bar and tasting room.
It’s here that Jason has poured out his passion for spirits. Surrounded by an amazing team, Jason has overseen major growth in his distillery over the years. Since 2014, Black Button’s sales have tripled, and they are now eying a significant expansion that’s focused on maintaining their high-quality standards. When we talked with them, they really stressed that their first focus is on continuing their quality over quantity approach, and they have painstakingly and meticulously planned their expansion centered around that vision.
Or trip there was enlightening to say the least, as we listened to each of the team’s stories of passion and dedication to creating great craft spirits. We got to sit and sip from nearly their entire lineup and watch as they mixed their mash. Each step of the Black Button process is intentional and purposeful as they move through the distillation process.
We got to take a trip to the local malthouse where they get their grains malted as well. And, just like the rest of their process, they are supporting small local businesses rather than giant commercial operations. It feels like Black Button takes every chance to do business with people who share the same values and inject business and funds back to the local community.
Overall, we very much enjoyed our time at Black Button and would recommend them to anyone who likes tasting the difference in locally sourced ingredients and fans experiencing different terroir (and just fans of good spirits in general).
If you’d like to learn more about Black Button, you can click here to check out their website, or you can watch the video below to check out more about our trip to the distillery!
