Widow Jane

Named after the widow of a limestone mine owner in Rosendale, Widow Jane Distillery uses the same limestone-filtered waters to distil its artisan whiskeys and bourbons in the heart of Red Hook, Brooklyn, as it contains an unusually high mineral content. The warehousing, ageing, barreling, blending and bottling is all done in-house, using a pot still and unusual serial continuous distillation columns designed by founder and owner Daniel Preston, a former aerospace engineer. Widow Jane uses non-GMO ingredients and corn varietals such as ‘Baby Jane’ that are unique to the distillery. While distilling its own whiskies, the team has also released bourbons sourced from Kentucky, brought down to bottling strength with water from the Widow Jane mine. The distillery itself was built with restored bricks from the neighborhood, and is quirkily home to a brood of chickens and a peacock. Widow Jane shares the warehouse space with sister company Cacao Prieto, which makes organic chocolate, and they have taken full advantage of this odd pairing. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, but when life gives you chocolate, make a range of chocolate-infused bourbons!