Kings County Distillery
I'll forever appreciate stories of individuals taking things they enjoy and figuring out ways to turn them into brilliant business ventures. With little to no direction on how to move forward, they just employ the age-old "trial and error" and see what results. I think it's what intrigued me the most about Kings County Distillery and how it grew from questionable home experimenting to a Brooklyn staple.
Quick background --
Colin Spoelman and David Haskell were college classmates at Yale and later, roommates in Brooklyn. Colin, a Kentucky guy, began brining moonshine back to NYC from his trips home, which became a big hit at the local parties. Obviously, that's a hell of a drive, so Colin and Evan began conjuring up whiskey of their own. They began gaining notoriety for their home distilled spirit, which, by the way, was slightly illegal, so they ultimately decided to go legit. Lucky for them, around this same time, New York State enacted the NY Farm Distillery Law, significantly reducing the cost of a state distilling license from thousands of dollars to only a couple hundred per year. And just like that, Kings County Distillery was born -- first NYC distillery since the end of Prohibition.
A walk around the old Paymaster building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard gives a behind the scenes look at an operation that perfectly reflects the creativity and innovation of its founders. While the rundown of Brooklyn's whiskey history and Kings County Distillery's origins will grab your attention, the left side of the "Boozeum" lures you into a trance -- a wall of mad science with rows of bottles housing whiskey prototypes and creations ranging from wheated to rice-based expressions. Then, head through the double doors to find a room full of small to medium sized barrels working their magic on Kings County's award winning whiskies -- including a seven year old bourbon and a rye whiskey that ensures the distillery's contribution to the Empire Rye movement.
And finally, the main event -- whiskey tasting. I ended up grabbing a taste of three of their exclusive whiskies -- each very unique and pretty damn good.
Moonshine - The opposite of what you expect when you hear "Moonshine." Instead of getting backhanded by the taste of unrelenting rubbing alcohol, this unaged whiskey puts your assumptions to sleep, delivering a refreshingly smooth taste of sweet corn.
Christmas Whiskey - Everything about this whiskey screams December 25th. Every smell and taste you'd associate with Christmas morning has found a home in this whiskey -- nutmeg, peppermint, gingerbread and cinnamon. This was perfect on its own, but even better as an addition to your favorite eggnog or warm cider.
Chocolate Flavored Whiskey - Their moonshine infused with cacao husks from Mast Brothers Chocolate. This whiskey conjures up the best memories you've ever had with your favorite piece of dark chocolate. I was also told that this could be the secret ingredient used to take your baked brownies to the next level.
Kings County Distillery was the first I was able to visit in NYC and their craft operation set the bar pretty high. And after hearing what they'll soon have coming down the pipeline, I'll be keeping a close eye on them. In the meantime, I need to start experimenting with this chocolate flavored whiskey and these brownies...
