Tommyrotter Distillery A Spirit for the Spirited
At Tommyrotter Distillery, nonsense is good sense.
Tommyrotter Distillery is named for a band of mischiefs, the original Tommyrotter Club — a rebellious group of 19th-century artisans from Buffalo, New York, who formed a secret society by breaking rank from the Arts and Crafts Movement to create for creation’s sake. Champions of the craft, they believed that art and enjoyment should go hand in hand — and that you needed to be absolutely free to embrace the absurd.
Honoring their spirit, hand, and heart, Tommyrotter Distillery crafts small-batch spirits that are true originals, blind to convention and exception. While each batch is made according to the same proprietary recipe, its truth is crafted by bringing out its individual beauty — mastering the time, place, and ingredients that go into making it. The distiller relies on handcrafted processes every step of the way, from crushing juniper berries for gin to hand-bottling every finished batch.
The Buffalo distillery opened its doors in July 2015 and was founded by Bobby Finan and Sean Insalaco — a pair of “suits and ties” who dreamed of building a business from the ground up, taking risks, and keeping the independent spirits category alive and fresh. Tommyrotter Distillery takes refuge inside the old F.N. Burt Box Company factory, located in Buffalo’s Hydraulic District, the city’s first manufacturing district. All distilling, bottling, labeling, and packaging takes place in the humble 2,700-square-foot production facility.
From Small Batch Vodka to American Gin, or the incredible Cask Strength Bourbon Barrel Gin and Napa Valley Heritance Bourbon, give Tommyrotter a try. There’s craft and mischief in every pour.
Tommyrotter Distillery Highlights
Although Tommyrotter was only founded in 2015, the distillery resides in a 116-year-old factory in Buffalo, NY.
Tommyrotter Distillery already has the critics’ attention. The Distillery holds Double Gold, Best in Show, and silver medals from the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, as well as the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Tommyrotter has developed a loyal following for its great-tasting products and striking, clean packaging.
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Founded
2015 -
Location
Buffalo, New York, United States of America
Buffalo’s Bounce Back
Located in upstate New York, Buffalo was an epicenter for industry throughout the 20th century. With the advent of the railroads and the Erie Canal, the city had become a major player in steel, grain, and even spirits production. Tommyrotter Distillery is housed in the former factory of the F.N. Burt Box Company, which was once the largest manufacturer of small paper boxes anywhere in the world.
Over the past decade and a half, this part of Buffalo has evolved from a once-abandoned industrial site to a thriving, mixed-use urban district with incredible entrepreneurial energy and investment in the future.
Small-Batch Production, Award-Winning Spirits
In honor of the Tommyrotters, the master distillers here have spent years honing the formulas and approaches to create spirits that are true originals, blind to convention and expectation.
The smoothness of the Small Batch Vodka comes from an innovative filtration system that was perfected over a two-year period of experimentation using a rigorous charcoal system to ensure a smooth finish.
The American Gin is new-age gin, baby! Vapor-infused to create superior depth and balance, it is made using a specially designed gin basket that maximizes the time the gin vapor interacts with the proprietary botanicals. A unique mix of 12 botanicals in this gin basket results in vapors that are 20 times the number of botanicals seen in typical gins.
The Cask Strength Bourbon Barrel Gin is Tommyrotter’s golden child. We’re certain there’s no spirit on the market like this one. Referred to as “gin with a bourbon identity crisis,” it starts with American Gin as a foundation, barreled at high proof using an approach developed over three years that has resulted in a secret aging formula with a perfect balance of barrel char, size, and time in the barrel. It’s then bottled at cask strength to intensify flavors.
The Napa Valley Heritance Cask Straight Bourbon Whiskey was Tommyrotter’s first foray into whiskey and was extraordinarily well received. A unique four-grain mash bill developed over the course of three years, it is the perfect balance of corn, wheat, rye, and malted barley. It is then finished in barrels shipped from Napa Valley that were originally used to age Taub Family Vineyards Heritance Cabernet Sauvignon. This is an award-winning, four grain, over proof, non-chill filtered straight bourbon whiskey.
