GSN Review: Black Button Port Finished Barrel Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon

GOOD SPIRITS NEWS

DECEMBER 29, 2016 BY FRODELICIOUS

Founded in 2012 and housed in a 5,000-square-foot space near Rochester’s historic Public Market, Black Button Distilling is the first grain-to-glass craft distillery in Rochester, NY since prohibition. Black Button Distilling specializes in farm to still products, using unique and all-natural ingredients from local farms to craft 1,450 bottles of award-winning spirits each week, distributed in 12 states.

They recently released their latest expression which has aged for a minimum of two years in white oak and then another year in a freshly harvested port cask from Port of NY Winery in Ithaca, NY.

“Our Port Finished Barrel Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon is the finest reflection of what it means for us to live large in small batches,” said Jason Barrett, Black Button Distilling President/Head Distiller. “This spirit — made with the best local ingredients — truly represents the best of what Black Button Distilling has to offer.”

Limited release: Three hundred and twelve 375ml bottles are available at the distillery and at area liquor stores in Western New York at a SRP of $100.

Port Finished Barrel Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon (110.8 proof)
Visual: Orange-red copper.
Nose: Obvious fruit forward port layered on top of a denser, woody Bourbon.  Dessert-like, but also quite masculine in strength and intensity.
Taste: In spite of the near brain-melting proof, this is remarkably smooth tasted undiluted.  A lot of oak wood caresses the bourbon, but is offset by a more subtle and tempering port veneer.  With a splash of water, the port fades a bit, but the bourbon opens up and becomes more expressive.
Finish: Medium long with the corn and the port barrel playing touch tag back and forth.
Overall: Another of the unusual experiments from Black Button that works quite well.  I’d love to see this aged in the port barrel for a few more months to play off the sweetness of the corn, as well as have this more widely available in future.
GSN Rating: A-