The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Black Button Distilling, the Rochester NY craft distillery, will celebrate the launch of its signature product, Four Grain Bourbon, with a tasting event on Friday, September 25th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the distillery.
Black Button describes its Four Grain Bourbon as a “true grain to glass product,” with the company involved in the production from the field all the way to the bottling of the product. A single farm in Groveland, NY grows all Black Button’s grains, and the varieties are picked out to ensure maximum flavor, a point which makes the grain sometimes much more expensive. “But good whiskey is grown and great grains is the place to start,” said Jason Barrett, Owner/Head Distiller.
Aged in new American White Oak, Four Grain Bourbon is 60% corn, 20% wheat, 9% rye, 11% barley, but still 100% New York State grown grain.
Once the grains are ground they are brought to Black Button’s silos in the heart of Rochester, where they are mashed, fermented, distilled and aged in both small and large barrels. Smaller barrels are ready in a year, with the age of the whiskey blend ranging from 14 to 26 months. “We are constantly tasting and working the barrels to develop optimal flavor. And when that flavor is just right, when each barrel is ready, we find the right blend to call our own. And that’s how we get Black Button Four Grain Bourbon,” said Barrett.
Bourbon is what led Barrett to open Black Button Distilling in the first place. “Bourbon Manhattans were my grandfather’s drink,” said Barrett. “Every family dinner I would watch him pop the ice in the glass, measure two pours of bourbon and a portion of sweet vermouth into the glass. […] When the chance to learn to distill came along, I jumped at it. When it came time to sell my house, leave my job and move back to my hometown to start Rochester’s first grain to glass distillery since prohibition, it seemed like destiny. How could I not take this chance, start this journey, follow this path that I had spent years crafting?”
A 750 ml bottle of Black Button Distilling Four Grain Bourbon goes for an MSRP of $49.99, and will be available in the Black Button Distilling tasting room following the September 25th launch, and then at the finest liquor stores, restaurants and distributors throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan.
