Kings County Distillery is New York City’s oldest operating whiskey distillery, the first since prohibition. Founded in 2010, Kings County makes handmade moonshine, bourbon, and other whiskeys out of the 118-year-old Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Kings County Distillery use New York grain and traditional distilling equipment to make distinctive spirits. I visited Kings County Distillery on April 13 with my aunt. We both got there little early before the tour started and everyone else. I was able to do a quick look around on the 2nd floor building where the tour starts at.

The law in the United States requires that straight whisk (with the exception of corn whisky) must be stored for at least two years in new, charred oak containers. Other forms of whisky aged in used barrels cannot be called “straight”.

Whiskey barrels made from Oak have three broad effects on the spirit As an additive. It adds to the taste and aroma of the spirit by providing desirable elements from the cask. Charring essentially opens the wood up, making it easier for bourbon to extract flavors. It also catalyzes key chemical changes that are essential to bourbon.

This is a picture of two guys that blend whisky  Their job is to blend different types of whiskeys and sometimes also neutral grain spirits, coloring, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher-quality straight or single malt whiskies with less expensive spirits and other ingredients.

The production of whisky from barley to bottle (top), swan necked copper stills. large fermentation tanks where yeast is added. Yeast is a micro organism that eats up all the sugar and converts it to alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process is called fermentation and it is the same method used for making beer. Alcohol needs to be extracted from the wash and this done using a process called distillation. The wash is transferred into large copper pots called stills.

During the tour I got to try all 5 of these flavors.

1.Straight bourbon. It was smooth, the smell was really sweet to me, easy to taste.

2. Peated bourbon, this is mixed with scotch

3. Honey Moonshine, this is parfit for drinking in the spring I was told.

4. Chocolate whiskey, I really enjoyed this one.