Despite the rainy weather on Saturday morning, Carrie and I stopped in for opening day of the Black Button Distillery to see what Jason Barrett had created. We were excited to see the new tasting room space and the reception of the public. When we arrived around 9:30 in the morning, there were some decent lines to get the first bottling run of the wheat based vodka, but things were moving along well and everyone seemed in good spirits (ZING!).
The tasting room was well appointed with plenty of cocktail related items on display including bitters (Fee Brothers amongst the selection), flasks, ice makers and glasses. The serving bar built on sliced barrels turned out fantastically and samples were being given out to the crowd for both the vodka and their barrel aged maple syrup. Carrie had a sample of the vodka which she enjoyed and, unlike many, Jason’s has a distinct character to it from the Upstate NY wheat used to make it.
I had tried the barrel aged maple syrup before and the flavor of it keeps on impressing me. It takes good maple and adds complexity from the bourbon barrels that is kind of hard to describe. With a touch of smokiness, the sweetness becomes more than one dimensional and the vanilla aspect of maple syrup is emphasized. Great stuff and worth a try.
If you didn’t get out for the vodka on opening day, keep watching the Black Button Facebook page for when the next batch of vodka and the first run of gin and moonshine will be ready. Congrats to Jason and the whole crew at Black Button for their opening day success!
