Kings County Distillery was founded by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell in 2009, spurred by changes in New York State law regarding the licensing of microdistilleries.

[1] It officially began production out of its 330 square feet (31 m2) warehouse[1] in April 2010.

[2] In 2012, the distillery moved into the Brooklyn Navy Yard and installed copper whiskey stills imported from Scotland.

The distillery also makes Empire Rye, a project to establish a new standard of identity for New York made rye with other craft distillers.

In 2016, Kings County Distillery opened The Gatehouses, a tasting room in the historic Sands Street gate of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.