Distilling in New York City has been going on since Europeans first arrived in the 1700s and after a big roadblock has finally continued to grow from there. In fact, the first distillery in the US was in Staten Island. However, on October 28th 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act or “The National Prohibition Act.” This law effectively made it illegal to produce, transport, buy or sell alcohol in the United States. This obviously put a chilling effect on the distilling of quality liquors all across the country. There was scarcely a trace of a distilling community in NYC until circa 2010, when a new boom in urban living sparked the start of a distillery revolution in North and Central Brooklyn.

Here are a few distilleries to check out in everyone’s favorite boroughs. Cheers!

8. Kings County Distillery

3D Model created by the Real Virtual Zone

We’ll start off at Kings County Distillery which is the oldest operating whiskey distillery in Brooklyn even though it was only founded in 2010. Kings County Distillery is also the first whiskey distillery founded in New York City since Prohibition ended in 1933. Kings County operates out of the Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The distillery’s products include Moonshine, Bourbon, and Chocolate Whiskies to wet your palette. Tours run Tuesday through Friday from 3pm to 5pm, with weekend tours every half hour on Saturday from 1-4pm. Be sure to check out their Guide to Urban Moonshining to expand your whiskey knowledge.