Kings County Distillery has a legitimate claim to being New York City's most important whiskey producer. Founded in 2010 in a 325-square-foot room in East Williamsburg, it was the city's first distillery since Prohibition, and it has spent the years since earning that distinction with genuine craft. Today it operates out of the 1899 Paymaster Building inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a campus that already has its own industrial history as a hub of American shipbuilding.

You come here for bourbon and rye, but the distillery keeps pushing into less expected territory too -- peated bourbon, coffee whiskey, and Irish-style expressions that don't fit neatly into any category. The American Distilling Institute named them Distillery of the Year in 2016, and the New Orleans Spirits Competition gave them the same honor in 2023. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition has handed over Double Gold medals more than once.

The tasting room, called the Gatehouses, sits in the original 1896 entranceway to the Navy Yard. It's a handsome historic space open seven days a week for flights, individual pours, and cocktails built on the house spirits. New York wine and beer round out the drinks list for anyone not in a whiskey mood. Every Thursday at 7pm they run a free open-house called A Night at the Boozeum: a floor tour, barrel room tastings, and discounted cocktails with DJ sets. It regularly fills up, so arriving early is worth it.