New York Whiskey Producer Breaks Ground on $5 Million Distillery, Tasting Room

From left to right, Chris Zeltmann, Regional Director for US Senator Chuck Schumer; NY Senator Jeremy Cooney; Jason Barrett; Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce CEO Robert Duffy; Congressman Joe Morelle; Monroe County Executive Adam J. Bello; and City of Rochester Mayor Malik Evans. Black Button Distilling has announced a major expansion. (Photo: Black Button Distilling)

Black Button Distilling, the first grain-to-glass craft spirits producer in Rochester, New York, since Prohibition, last week announced groundbreaking on a $5 million tasting room and distillery in Rochester.

The new location will allow Black Button Distilling to increase its total space from 5,000 to 28,000 square feet and boost its average annual spirits production from 1,000 barrels of spirits per year to as much as 4,500 barrels in the first few years, Black Button Distilling said in a news release. Furthermore, its retail tasting room space will grow from 1,500 to 4,500 square feet.

Black Button hopes to open the new location in late spring or early summer 2023.

“After 10 years of phenomenal growth we’re excited to enter the next phase of Black Button’s future,” Jason Barrett, Black Button Distilling founder and master distiller, said in the news release. “When I first opened our location on Railroad Street in 2012, I couldn’t have imagined a day when we would need more space. Then, when we expanded twice, I thought that would certainly be enough. Now, 10 years later, we once again need to increase our infrastructure to support our hard-working team and accommodate the demand for our craft spirits.”

The expansion is expected to add nearly 20 jobs to the company within the first year and up to 50 jobs in the future, according to Black Button Distilling.

Last October, Black Button Distilling launched a bourbon blending program, allowing companies to blend their own, custom bourbon whiskeys.

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