Craft Spirits Weekly
Welcome to the 23rd issue of Craft Spirits Weekly, a service dedicated to bringing you the news most important to the craft spirits distiller. Check your inbox every Thursday to find a curated selection of articles and news pieces from the American Craft Spirits Association.
High Wire Distilling Puts Craft Spin on Negroni Week 

Campari is a natural sponsor for Negroni Week, now in its fifth year, since most beverage experts agree the bittering agent is a defining element of the hugely popular cocktail. But a Charleston event timed to coincide with Negroni Week challenges those assumptions, showcasing a number of Negroni riffs that depart from the standard Campari script. Eight of the 20 drinks designed for High Wire Distilling Co.’s Amazing Hat Trick Negroni Tour are essentially Campari-free. (The Post and Courier)
Black Button Buffalo Tasting Room Opens Friday

New York State liquor law allows wineries to set up five tasting rooms away from their production sites. Breweries can establish up to three. Distilleries? Only one. Jason Barrett, president and chief distiller at Black Button Distillery in Rochester, picked Buffalo for his. The Black Button tasting room will open about two blocks east of Coca-Cola Field on June 9. (The Buffalo News)

Austin Breaks Ground on First Distillery in City Limits Since Prohibition
In a city that prides itself in local beer, wine and spirits, it’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 100 years since Austin has opened its own whiskey distillery. But in The Yard, an unassuming industrial park off St. Elmo Street, Still Austin Whiskey Co. has broken ground on what will soon be the first whiskey distillery within city limits since Prohibition. (Paste Magazine)

Next Generation Buys Charbay Distillery

Charbay Distillery & Winery has grown into two separate companies, as the next generation, Marko and Jenni Karakasevic, has purchased the distillery. The new owners will concentrate on the artisan releases of whiskey, rum, fresh fruit vodkas and brandy for which Charbay is known. (Napa Valley Register)
N.C. Craft Distilleries Bill Passes State Senate Committee
Senate Bill 155 slid through the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and, slowed by only the usual dissenters, advanced to the Rules Committee with nary a soft grimace nor a lingering burn. (Courier-Tribune)

California’s Greenbar Re-Brands with New Label Imagery
Greenbar Distillery recently announced that it has unified its seven core spirits lines under a new heart brand that evokes the company’s origins as a love story between the two founders, Litty Mathew and Melkon Khosrovian. (Advertising Industry Newswire)  

Pennsylvania’s York County Develops Craft Spirits Trail

Pennsylania's York County Convention and Tourist Bureau is looking to replicate the success of the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail with the creation of the Keystone Craft Spirits Trail. (PennLive)
New Book Explores New England’s Craft Beverage Scene

It was, Erik Ofgang acknowledges, a fun job: driving around New England and sampling beverages, and telling the stories of, some of the breweries, distilleries and coffee houses in the region. The end result of the 18-month project was “Buzzed: Beers, Booze & Coffee Brews,” published last year by Islandport Press. (The Ellsworth American)
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