A Visit to Kings County Distillery
Come for the Whiskey, Stay for the Distillery Cats
A Visit to Kings County Distillery
Late Sunday afternoon, as the rain that had been pounding down all day let up and the unseasonably balmy temperature dropped and the gale-force winds picked up, I made way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a guided tour and whiskey tasting at Kings County Distillery. While I was looking forward to learning more about the operation and sampling their award-winning lineup of whiskey, I was also pretty excited for a meet-and-greet with their two distillery cats, Harold (Chief Attention Seeker) and Maude (Chief Napper).
I had been invited by Kings County’s Senior Tour Guide, Rick Kelaher, who often shares photos of the cats’ exploits on his Instagram, and I’ve featured the feline duo many times on @distillerycats, where I chronicle and spotlight the many spirited and hard-working cats punching in at distilleries, bars, wineries, pubs, and bottle shops. The @distillerycats Instagram began as research for my book Distillery Cats: Profiles in Courage of the World’s Most Spirited Mousers, but quickly turned into its own thing and now has more than 37.3K followers.
Rick Kelaher had also invited two other NYC cat enthusiasts, Jenny Pierson of The Cat Museum of New York City, and Sheila Massey, founder of Hard Hat Cats.
Pierson, an editor and freelance book publishing consultant, is a TNR-certified (Trap-Neuter-Return) volunteer and the Founding Executive Director of the Cat Museum of New York City, a proposed brick-and-mortar space which plans to curate and feature cat art exhibitions and educational programming to connect the public with the community of those dedicated to caring for cats (here’s her own rescue cat Churro). Pierson is also a certified New York City Sightseeing Guide and will be working this spring with Cats About Town Walking Tours, which offers historical cat tours in Brooklyn Heights (who wants to join me?!), the Financial District (which Pierson will lead), and the Lower East Side.
Massey’s TNR work with feral cats across New York City inspired her to create the non-profit organization Hard Hat Cats, which is dedicated to cat rescue and the elimination of rat poison by helping place feral and stray cats from the city animal shelter system in steady “jobs” at breweries, distilleries, hotels, shops, and gardens where the cats live healthy, independent lives doing what they do best: non-toxic pest control. Just look at this lineup of cats with a new lease on life thanks to Massey (she was also responsible for landing gainful employment for Harold and Maude at Kings County Distillery).
Although I pass by Kings County Distillery on a regular basis whenever I visit the nearby Wegman’s, I realized I hadn’t actually been inside since 2013 when I attended the book party for my friend Daniel Vaughn’s The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue, hosted by Anthony Bourdain (RIP) (The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue was the debut titles in Bourdain’s eponymous imprint with the publisher, Ecco) and featuring plenty of whiskey, beer, and smoked meats courtesy of Delaney Barbecue.
Kings County Distillery, the first legal distillery in New York City since Prohibition and the oldest operating distillery in the city, was founded by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell in East Williamsburg in 2010 and moved operations to the Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2012. The original location of the Paymaster Building, where workers in the Brooklyn Navy Yard would pick up their paychecks back in the day, was closer to the water, but rather than raze it due to continued development the historic building was moved wholesale to its current location.
Bordered by DUMBO, Fort Greene, and South Williamsburg, and located at the basin of Wallabout Bay, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is an expansive compound with dozens of buildings, which was first founded in 1801 and through the 1960s served as an active shipyard for the U.S. Navy. Major renovations and upgrades in the 2000s have since transformed the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a 300-acres commercial hub for more than 500 businesses and manufacturers like Kings County Distillery as well as Steiner Studios, Russ & Daughters, The Market @77 Food Hall, Brooklyn Grange, and Wegman’s.
We met up with Kelaher at The Gatehouses, a pair of small castle-like enforcements which originally served as an entry point to the protective wall bordering the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While it used to be better known as the entrance for the nearby NYPD Brooklyn tow pound, it now serves as King County Distillery’s tasting room and cocktail bar.
Kelaher led our tour group on a foggy walk to the Paymaster Building and base of operations of King County Distillery where we officially began our extended 3-hour tour in the shadow of their two hand-hammered copper pot-stills from Forsyth's in Scotland (the bigger of the two is named “Dumbo” while the smaller one is “Maeve,” which in Gaelic means “she who intoxicates” according to Kelaher).
Kelaher then shared a fascinating talk and presentation that wove the background of Kings County Distillery and the Brooklyn Navy Yard into the the larger history of distilling in America, from Colonial times through the American Revolution, the Civil War, Prohibition, and World Wars I and II. It touched upon agriculture, immigration, politics, taxation, violent protests and rebellions, and so much more.
He then walked everyone through the grain-to-glass process of making their whiskeys, passing around samples of the various cuts throughout the distillation process. Kings County Distillery produces 55,000 gallons annually, “about the same amount George Washington was making,” [at his distillery Mount Vernon, Virginia], noted Kelaher.
Less than 10 minutes into Kelaher’s presentation, I noticed Maude slinking by before disappearing behind a shrink-wrapped pallet. I tried to play it cool but quickly repeating “Oh, my goodness… Oh, my goodness…” while pointing at her briefly drew the attention away from Kelaher (though I’m sure working alongside two cats he’s used to this occurrence).
Kelaher took a moment to mention Carlos and Jeffy, the distillery’s OG mousers, who were featured in my book, Distillery Cats. Carlos, according to Spoelman, was “a gregarious tuxedo cat who succumbed to an urban feline illness.” The more introverted Jeffy lived out the remainder of his feline life at a farm upstate (a literal farm, not the shield your children from the truth “farm”).
He made a point to thank Massey from Hard Hat Cats for connecting the distillery with Harold and Maude, securing their full-time employment at Kings County Distillery. Massey shared that the two cats had been rescued from a hoarding situation and due to their feral nature were deemed “unadoptable” and would likely be euthanized. But through Hard Hat Cats the pair received a reprieve and a new lease on life. Massey was truly touched to see how much the cats have become more socialized since joining the team, proving that life is all about second chances (and hanging on to as many of those precious nine lives as you can).
We then made our way upstairs to the gift shop, tasting area, and barrel-aging room, and immediately came upon Harold and Maude cozying up together on a sofa which, unsurprisingly, is their go-to hangout. Our trio of professional cat enthusiasts cautiously made our way to the pair—who we had obviously interrupted—doing our best to not scare them off, but Maude, the shy calico, quickly scampered off, though Harold mostly hung around the rest of the tour.
Shifting our focus back to whiskey, we entered their Barrel-Aging Room. This was where I remembered drinking beer and eating brisket at that book party back on that very hot spring evening. The dozens and dozens of various-sized barrels represent only a fraction of their inventory. They have many more barrels squirreled away in two warehouses on Long Island and one in Bushwick.
And then we got down to the business of tasting, with a curated whiskey flight featuring three of Kings County Distillery’s Flagship Whiskeys—Blended Bourbon, Straight Bourbon, and Peated Bourbon—along with their Barrel-Strength Empire Rye. In the straw-poll following the tasting everyone was divided on a personal favorite. I was drawn to the Blended Bourbon as an everyday pour for cocktails, but think the Straight Bourbon would make an excellent Manhattan.
We then gathered in the gift shop, where they had bottles of whiskey and gift sets and a wide assortment of merch for sale, along with a selection of books on whiskey and distilling, including Spoelman and Haskell’s The Kings County Distillery Guide to Urban Moonshining, Dead Distillers: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits, and Spoelman’s latest release, The Bourbon Drinker's Companion: A Guide to American Distilleries, with Travel Advice, Folklore, and Tasting Notes.
I had a nip of their Distiller’s Proof Moonshine which was a real surprise with its pleasing profile of green apples. And I took the opportunity for a pour of their popular Chocolate Whiskey, which is an annual limited-edition run sold for Valentine’s Day. The garnet-hued whiskey came on with an earthy background with notes of dark chocolate. I was really curious how it might play in a chocolate Boulevardier.
Maude had high-tailed it the Barrel-Aging Room to steal away from the tour group, but I stepped away from the gift shop and came across Harold, zonked out and splayed alongside the radiator. I took the opportunity to lean down to pet him and he even rolled over to offer his toasty belly for a welcoming scritch.
After hanging with him for a while I took my chances and gently scooped him up in arms. When I came back into the gift shop with Harold in my arms the cameras came out and I felt like Clooney on the red carpet. The attention was a bit much for an admittedly overstimulated Harold, who let me know his feelings with a firm but gentle nip to my thumb.
I set him down and he took off as I said my farewells to the gathered group. On my way out I noticed the front door was ajar and Harold had stepped outside for some fresh air and posted up on the front steps in a very Batman looking over Gotham City manner.
Kelaher had mentioned the cats are primarily indoor cats as Harold can be a little too friendly with strangers when he does roam the grounds, so I let him know the cat was outside as I didn’t want to startle him. We managed to encourage Harold to come back inside where he very likely made his way back to that comfy sofa for a well-earned nap.
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Rick gives a terrific tour, it should be on "Best of NYC" lists, and Harold is a sweet old chonk! Great description of both; I need to go back to the tasting room again soon, it's such a cozy space!
Brad, you're my 1st Substack subscription. Do I need to sign in to check in on you or will your posts show up in my email? I get busy and don't trust myself to sign in.
Would you like me to post your KCD Distillery Tour story? My followers are mostly cat people who would love knowing about your "Distillery Cats" book and IG account (which of course I can link to/ Tag). I'll promote you any way you'd like with whatever pix and texts, stories, etc you prefer. Just LMK.