Black Button Distilling announces new location

Rochester, New York – Black Button Distilling has been around for a while, from producing hand sanitizer to reaching their 2 millionth bottle, celebrating 10 years in business, and now expanding and moving to 1344 University Avenue.

They want to start operations in the 2023 summer.

The distillery has invested a total of $25 million in the new area. From 5,000 square feet to 28,000 square feet, it would also treble their usable area, which will include distillation space, a tasting room, and other amenities.

“It’s a big undertaking… It’s a lot of money,” said owner Jason Barrett. “Especially for a guy who started this with a $50,000 dollar loan and some big dreams.”

Black Button plans to add at least 50 jobs throughout the course of the space’s life and raise its daily barrel production from 4 to 40 by a factor of 10.

“We’re excited not only for the businesses that are here, but the businesses that we think might be coming,” Barrett said. “We think this is an opportunity to continue to revitalize this part of Rochester, and it’s great that being in walking distance of the Park Ave area, I think we’ll have lots of folks from downtown, but also it will become an attraction for people who want to come downtown from the suburbs.”

Barrett’s grandfather, who ran a button factory in Rochester, gave the distillery its name. Black Button claims to have made Rochester’s first bourbon following Prohibition.