Rochester, NY’s first grain to glass craft distillery, Black Button won a silver medal for its Bespoke Bourbon Cream at the Spirits of the Americas Competition, besting Buffalo Trace, one of the largest bourbon makers in the country. Having only launched this particular craft spirit in July, Black Button has struggled to keep up with demand, despite having produced over 10,000 bottles in the last four months alone.
“It’s quite a feat for a startup operation like ours to take on the largest distilling company in the United States,” said Black Button Distilling head distiller and president Jason Barrett. “But we have always believed that the agricultural community here in western New York has some of the best resources to offer and every one of our products works to highlight that fact.”
“Our bourbon cream is a mixture of fresh local cream from right here in Western New York, select batches of our hand-finished bourbon, and just a hint of caramel,” said Barrett. “Once we had the recipe together we knew it was going to be a hit -- but selling out of the first batch in mere weeks and having to ramp up to meet this demand has been quite an adventure.”
Black Button Distilling typically makes only 1,400 bottles a week of their Citrus Forward Gin, Apple Pie Moonshine, and Four Grain Bourbon, but the team on Railroad Street has been working overtime this fall to keep up with demand.
“It’s been a seven day a week operation since August,” said Barrett. “And I’m so lucky to have the great team of people we have here. Without them I don’t know where we would be.”
Black Button Bourbon Cream is available at their tasting room in Rochester, NY, as well as finer bottle shops and restaurants throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan.
