America’s Best Craft Distilleries: Bourbon, Rye Whiskey, Gin, and More
The nation’s best craft and artisanal distilleries use better ingredients and longer ageing to create exceptional bourbons, ryes, other whiskies, gins, vodkas and specialty liqueurs.
I get pitches and samples from a lot of small and independent distilleries, which does not mean the same as craft producers, since a lot of startups simply buy a still, commodity ingredients, and start marketing so-so product in the hopes of making a big splash. In many cases, small distillery products cannot compete with the big brands, mainly because of the rush to market, no old inventory and way too short ageing times. Most of the color and most of the flavor in aged spirits comes from time spent in woods, and while there is no viable shortcut, many producers still try to get around Father Time.
However, once in a while I get to try a standout that joins the elite ranks of America’s Best Craft Distilleries, and this month my latest entrant is Rochester, New York-based Black Button Distilling, which wowed me with its products across several categories. While creating even one exceptional spirit can be a challenge, in this case the key to doing it multiple times turns out to be deceptively simple – source the best quality ingredients and take the time and care to make produce superior goods before releasing them.
Overproduction Issues in Whiskey
I am always being asked if there is really a Bourbon shortage, and if so then why don’t they make more? There is a short answer and there is a long answer to these questions. The short answer is yes there is and yes they are making more. The long answer is much more complicated.
The problem with making whiskey is that you really need a crystal ball to see into the future to know how much whiskey to make. Because of the aging process, the distiller needs to estimate how many cases of whiskey he will sell, not tomorrow, but 4, 6, 8, 10 or more years from now. Once they have decided on the number they have to figure out how many barrels are needed to make that many cases and then figure out the angel’s share for the number of years the brand ages and increase the number of barrels accordingly. The next step is to hope that you did not overestimate and become stuck with barrels you don’t need.
