This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Awards set to ‘fuel growth’ for Kings County Distillery
Recent awards for Brooklyn-based Kings County Distillery will help fuel future growth, the company’s co-founder said.
The Brooklyn distillery was recently named ‘Distillery of the Year’ at the New Orleans Spirits Competition, which took place last month during Tales of the Cocktail.
Co-founder and distiller Colin Spoelman said he and his team were in town to celebrate the distillery’s other awards – its rye whiskey and barrel strength Bourbon each won best in category.
Spoelman said he has been attending Tales for years, but usually as an author, not a producer.
“Tales has always been a little quirky, a little intellectual,” he said. “I think of Kings County Distillery as a nerdier, geekier distillery and so maybe [it’s] not a huge surprise that one way, sooner or later, there was going to be some recognition from Tales.”
Kings County Distillery was founded in 2009, and moved to the historic Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2012.
In 2016, it opened The Gatehouses, a tasting room and cocktail bar at the Navy Yard’s Sands Street Gate.
The distillery has evolved over the years, adding line extensions and limited releases. More recently, a coffee whiskey and more affordably priced blended Bourbon have helped to expand its customer base.
Spoelman said the recent awards, and new releases, will help fuel the distillery’s continued growth.
“The hope is really that we can capitalise on the visibility,” he said. “I mean, it’s great to win an award. But hopefully, we want to use this as an opportunity to engage with bartenders, which has been, to some extent, not necessarily our core audience.”
Kings County has made a name for itself through stripped-down packaging, high-proof whiskeys, and a commitment to producing a range of styles and products.
Spoelman said while Tales is often populated by corporate spirits, he felt a different energy this year, with craft and independent producers more present.
As an independent distiller himself, he called the awards validating, and said he has already seen an increase in orders from various off-premise accounts. For him, that is what this moment really captures, an opportunity to engage with new customers, retailers and distributors.
“You kind of need all of those people to be enthusiastic,” he said. “It’s rare to have things that mean something to each of the three tiers; I think Tales of the Cocktail has that reputation.”