Nat Z.
Yelp
Black Button hits some targets and misses others. It's a fun, though compact space. There's a range of cocktails-- tasty and, though mostly nothing to write home about, they are reasonably affordable considering that the whiskey selection is universally exorbitant. $150 for a bottle of port-finished bourbon, for example, which is about twice what I'm paying for comparable, sherry cask finished single malt Scotch.
The tastings, too, were spendy ($16 for the "premium" grade), and did not offer the "discount if you buy a bottle" arrangement that is pretty common in distilleries and wineries for tastings. This only irked me by way of how expensive the whiskeys were. In a world where you can get a great bottle of bourbon for $35, Black Button is charging $50, $60, or $75. I'm not a whiskey snob, by any means, but, while I enjoy a good bourbon, I have a harder time appreciating something that isn't mind-blowingly boutique quality but manages mind-blowingly boutique prices. I enjoyed the "single barrel" bourbon. The "double barrel" was good, too, but neither that nor the port-finished were out of this world. Part of this is a preference thing-- I think port flavor added to the cask-finished bourbon can sometimes add a dark, sort of cloying sweetness that is not present with something like a sherry cask-aged whiskey, which is less spicy and more aromatic.
Last thing here that frustrated me was pretty weak service. It managed to get busy in here after we were well into our beverages on a midday, but vaguely paying attention to patrons when you're busy isn't exactly rocket science.
In spite of an unremarkable experience, I will say that I'm all for promoting local distilling operations, especially when they distill their own spirits, serve them, and offer a range of good tastes for clientele, so, while I didn't have the greatest experience of all time, I'd definitely be back to try more.
