Black Button Distilling seeks funds to make, store bourbon

Black Button Distilling is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund barrels of bourbon.

The distillery at 85 Railroad St., which has not officially opened, is seeking to raise at least $20,000 to make and store bourbon. The bourbon will be the first legally made in Rochester since before Prohibition.

"The more barrels of whiskey we can put away now, the more bourbon we will have to share when it is ready," the distillery says on Kickstarter.com. The campaign ends Nov. 21.

The distillery received its state license recently and plans to start distilling gin Monday.

Black Button Distilling Starts Kickstarter Campaign

The distillery is leasing space from Rohrbach Brewing Co. Head distiller and founder Jason Barrett said he had originally planned to move into a nearby building, but that fell through. "It's a much nicer space," he said in an interview, but the increased expense has strained the budget. That prompted the Kickstarter campaign.

"Every little bit helps," he said. "Even $20 from lots of people add up and can help us reach our goals."

The distillery's system will produce about a barrel of alcohol a day, and the site on Railroad Street will have room to store about 240 barrels. Because bourbon must be aged for two years, additional storage space will be needed.

If Black Button raises more money beyond the goal, it plans to make other styles of whiskey.

• If it raises $30,000, it will make Double Barrel Bourbon, which takes three to four years to reach maturity.

• If it raises $50,000, we will work with its neighbor, Rohrbach Brewing Co., to make a scotch-style malt whiskey that will age in its used bourbon barrels.

• If it raises $80,000, it will make bourbon that will be finished in port and sherry casks.

• If it raises $100,000, Barrett promises to dress up as Paul Revere and ride through the streets of Rochester on horseback, waving his flag to announce that "The whiskey is coming!"

"I really will," he said. "I've already got a line on a horse and saddle."

Other Black Button products will include vodka, made from wheat; citrus-flavored gin; and unaged whiskey. For more information, go to blackbuttondistilling.com.