Kings County Distillery, New York City's premier whiskey distillery and one of America's leading craft distillers, announces the release of a new, custom 750ml bottle as well as the completion of a four-year project to increase its distillation capacity at its factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This marks Kings County'sevolution from a small, experimental distillery to an established craft distiller with a steady pipeline of aged bourbon, rye, and other American whiskeys. 

New Bottle 

Kings County Distillery's original bottle, a 200ml flask released in 2010, immediately became an international sensation and an exemplar of the Brooklyn artisan and craft distilling movement. Today, the distillery releases three of its flagship whiskeys—Kings County Straight Bourbon, Kings County Peated Bourbon, and Kings County Single Malt whiskey—in full-sized (750ml) bottles, custom designed and imported from England. They will retail at $69-75 throughout the tri-state area starting in June and will be nationally available just in time for the fall whiskey season.

"We built our business off of 200ml and 375ml bottles, which is unusual but was a fit for our home audience in New York City, who were people shopping on foot and happy to slip a flask in their pocket. Small bottles also allowed customers to take a risk on something new. But as we now have regular customers asking for larger bottles, as well as distribution in 20 other states and 6 countries, our sizing has grown up. Bars and restaurants that will be especially grateful of the new format, and for our regular customers, it means more of our whiskey at a better price," says Co-Founder and Head Distiller Colin Spoelman.

Increased Capacity 

When Kings County opened in 2010, it was the first distillery in New York City since Prohibition—as well as the smallest licensed distillery in America. It operated with five hobby stills in a 300 square foot room in East Williamsburg. In 2012, the distillery moved to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and installed a pair of pot stills imported from Scotland. Those stills are now joined by a new 1350-gallon still, a "submarine-style" horizontal still with a Scottish-style swan neck designed by Vendome Copper and Brass in Louisville, the only one of its kind in the world. The new still, cooker, and fermentation capacity will allow Kings County to expand five-fold over the next few years.

Spoelman continued, "Compared with other distillers right now, this makes us only a medium-sized craft whiskey maker—which is still orders of magnitude smaller than what goes on from the big guys in Kentucky. We committed to making whiskey on true pot stills, which are appreciated internationally but rare in the U.S.  Our production will always be small and distinctive compared to the column stills of most American whiskey. But the arrival of our third pot still will allow us to continue to grow at a measured pace that we believe anticipates increased interest in regionally focused whiskeys, like our Empire Rye, and creative whiskeys such as our Peated Bourbon."

More Accolades

2019 marked the distillery's most successful year in whiskey competition to date. The distillery picked up two double-gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (Straight Bourbon and Rye) and two of only four gold (highest) medals awarded at the American Craft Spirits Association Awards (Bottled-in-Bond and Peated Bourbon).  Kings County's Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon also won a Platinum medal at the Great American International Spirits Competition and a Gold medal (highest) from the American Distilling Institute.

All told, the increased capacity, more convenient sizing and broader award recognition are all markers that Kings County Distillery has transitioned to a serious, established yet fully independent player in a maturing craft spirits landscape.

KINGS COUNTY DISTILLERY is New York City's oldest, largest, and premier whiskey distillery. Founded in 2010, Kings County makes handmade moonshine, bourbon, and other whiskeys out of the 120-year-old Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Kings County uses New York grain and traditional distilling equipment to make whiskeys that have been praised by the New York Times, Wine & Spirits Magazine, GQ, and Whiskey Advocate and is recognized as one of the preeminent craft distilleries in the United States, having been named Distillery of the Year in 2016 from the American Distilling Institute.

Source: PRNewswire

Image Source: PRNewswire