BUFFALO BUSINESS FIRST

James Fink, Reporter

Grain-to-glass distiller Black Button Distilling has agreed to lease the former Handlebar space in downtown Buffalo.

The deal brings the Rochester-based distiller into the Buffalo market.

Black Button’s tasting room is slated to open in June in the Swan Street building that was renovated and reopened four years ago by developer/architect Jake Schneider.

The Handlebar closed last fall.

The three-year-old Black Button produces a variety of gin, bourbon, vodka and moonshine.

“Buffalo, like Rochester, has a growing food and beverage community. and it features our largest base of consumers outside of Rochester, so it’s a natural extension for us to grow west,” Jason Barrett, Black Button president and distiller, said in a prepared release.

Barrett said the Buffalo site will just be a tasting room for its seven products. No distilling will take place at the property.

The featured products include: Four Grain Bourbon, Lilac Gin, Citrus Forward Gin, Apple Pie Moonshine, Bespoke Bourbon Cream, Port-Finished Bourbon and 20-Plate Vodka.

Other New York state-produced beverages will be sold in the tasting room, as will a limited tapas-style menu.