December the 6th around 1:00 pm me, and my mom went to Kings county Distillery for a tour. It is located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. This was on a side of Brooklyn that we don’t normally goes to, but the immediate area is nice enough. A little background on whiskey; per procedure whiskey is produced in pot stills made with grains, wheat, barley, etc. They produce moonshine which background came about during the prohibition, and is two things, one its a type of whiskey that is produced with corn, has a clear color like vodka/gin, and is very potent. Two 1 oz shots will have you seeing double vision. Reason comes from the second meaning behind its name is that its a name for alcohols that are illegally made. Moonshine became extremely popular, even long after prohibition ended, and now is a staple in the whiskey family.

 Upon arriving, and talking to the staff(the 2 was present), and was informed that the individual that handles the tour called out, but fair enough so we do the tasting which consists of three separate infusion whiskey flavors.

First one on the left is Jalapeno Grapefruit infused whiskey. Now at first though it would seam those flavors don’t mix, but surprise they do. With the grapefruit being the overall flavor there was present, but given that it tasted sweet I surmise it was pink grapefruit, plus it sweated the whiskey. The spiciness of the jalapeno was there the whole time, but not overwhelmingly spicy, more so mild.

The next one is the spiced whiskey. Now I am thinking this will be the best tasting one, but no I was wrong. The whiskey before I even tasted it was slightly overpowering with the spices that I picked up, such as; Cinnamon, ginger, star anise, cloves, and nutmeg. Upon tasting it I realize that it was harsher than originally thought, with the burn of the whiskey not helping. This one was a no go.

Last one that was tasted was the chocolate whiskey, again me being optimistic I think it’s going to be good, it was not. I know what chocolate they use, as I use the same for desserts. It was cacao, and because of the color, and how potent the smell, and taste was, I say it was about 80% cacao, because it was bitter, with the burn of the whiskey making it surprisingly better, with now hints of caramel behind the bitter. 

 Now I would of did more, but was starting to get an uncomfortable feeling as a one of the other customers that was there an older lady kept staring at me, and my mom for a few moments then turn away for the whole time we were there, but never really said anything to us, plus the two staff members who were working the bar was not really warm in terms of approach-ability, and even some of the other patrons doing the tasting felt the same way.

So me, and my mom wrap up up this visit, we take pictures; first of the shelf with their bourbons, moonshine, brandy, etc.

Photo of one of the navy yards original air raid instructions for when they had their drills.

Photo of their menu, and what they are offering. You see the infusion trio that I did

We ended the tour by buying a bottle of the Jalapeno grapefruit infused whisky, a bottle of straight bourbon, and a bottle of moonshine, all of them are 375 ml bottles, with the label stating where its from, and what’s in it.