Known for its handmade whiskey, Kings County Distillery is the oldest distillery located within New York City. Although it has been around since the prohibition era, it was only recently founded in 2010. The distillery was previously located in Williamsburg but now it located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. They offer tours and tastings Tuesday through Sunday. I had the opportunity to visit on a Thursday afternoon. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and it started off with Lai, the tour guide, giving us a lot of background information on the distillery and historical facts about the prohibition era. The tour guide was very well informed and enthusiastic to tell us about the distillery.

The distillery not only makes whisky, but they also make bourbon and moonshine. I learned that moonshine is whiskey that hasn’t aged. She told us that the name moonshine comes from the prohibition era when people making alcohol in the dark or at night.

First Whiskey legally made in New York City

One thing that the distillery takes pride in is the fact that they use organic corn sourced from an all organic farm in the finger lakes.  Lai informed the group that that in order for a whiskey to be classified as a whiskey it has to be made of mainly corn. The distillery also has their own mash bill, which is a mix of grains used to make bourbon. The distillery uses alembic copper stills heated by steam to make their spirits. The alembic was actually invented by a woman, Mary the Jewess, an alchemist in the third A.D. century. At the top of the still there is a pipe where the alcohol is evaporated and condensed into a steel tank to make low wine.

Alembic Copper Still

In the mash the cooked grains are mixed with barley and warm water. There is an open fermentation vessel where the wort, sugar water, is pumped out too. Once yeast is added the wort now becomes wash.

Fermentation Vessels and an Employee checking on the Mash

The Barrel Room where the whiskey and bourbon ages

Master Blender John, tasting and mixing the whiskey

After showing us the manufacturing process of the whiskey, she then took us to the barrel room which is located on the same floor where the tour began.  In this room there were a bunch of different barrels with either whiskey or bourbon inside of them aging. There was an empty charred barrel which the tour guide allowed us to see. She explained that bourbon must be placed inside charred oak barrels which have never been used before. In the barrel room there is climate control allowing for the alcohol to interact with the seasons shifts. As the temperature gets warmer the barrels expand allowing for the alcohol to breathe and in the cold the barrel contracts. Since there is no climate control, they depend on their master blenders to blend the whiskey in order to achieve consistency in their products. After the tour there was a small tasting which consisted of straight bourbon, peated bourbon, honey moonshine, and chocolate whiskey.  Overall visiting the distillery was a great learning experience and recommend it to anyone who enjoys whiskey or wants to learn more about it.

Different types of whiskey they sell and make. Such as moonshine, straight bourbon whiskey, and chocolate whiskey. The chocolate whiskey is made by letting the cacao husks soak in the whiskey for about a month.

Awards that the distillery has won. In 2016 they won Distillery of the Year

Whiskey of different ages