Established: 2012
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Origins: Once sharing its old brick building in the Red Hook waterfront neighborhood with a chocolatier, Widow Jane expanded into the entire space as it blended sourced whiskey from across the country and grew its own distilling capabilities. “I’m a homegrown distiller,” says Sienna Jevremov (pictured above), who led tastings at the start before advancing to head distiller and blender.
Flagship bottles: Widow Jane 10 Year Bourbon is blended in five-barrel batches sourced from three states, delivering what Jevremov describes as the distillery’s goal of “bourbon that is intense and complex with layers of flavor.” Baby Jane includes a proprietary, high-oil heirloom corn grown and distilled in both New York and Kentucky for a “fun bourbon with a sweetness that’s more honey, butterscotch, and caramel, plus interesting herbaceous notes.”
What makes it special: “Water is a big part of our identity,” Jevremov says. Drawing from the same upstate mines that provided cement for building New York City landmarks, Widow Jane transports tankers of high-calcium, high-magnesium limestone water to Red Hook to use in proofing its whiskeys. “It gives sweetness more backbone. It feels like biting into a candy.”
Visitor experience: Weekend tours take visitors through the distilling and blending process and into one of Widow Jane’s rickhouses across the street, while the on-site bar, Botanica, offers flights and cocktails.
Where to find: Widow Jane expressions are available nationwide and at select international duty-free shops.
Steve Russell is a Garden & Gun contributing editor who also has written for Men’s Journal, Life, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. Born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee, he resided in New Orleans and New York City before settling down in Charlottesville, Virginia, because it’s far enough south that biscuits are an expected component of a good breakfast.