women in whiskey
Meet the women shaping the whiskey industry
December 2021
Jennifer Blair Tells us a Story
The Canadian poet, Atticus, once said “I feel like girls who drink whiskey tell good stories”. This month, Jennifer Blair (Kings County) tells us hers.
A Creative Background
Jersey girl Jennifer Blair came from a family of creativity and medical science. Her grandmother worked in advertising during the Mad Men era, and her Lithuanian--American parents were headhunted to build a medical center in Texas. The move occurred when she was a pre--teen, and her teen years were spent growing up in a rural town reminiscent of “True Detective” right outside of Dallas.
At a young age, Jennifer knew that she wanted to be an actor. At 18, she trained at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City. Then she returned to Texas, completing a Bachelors in Theatre & Dance at the University of Texas (Austin) with a minor in linguistics, comparative folklore, and Russian and Eastern European studies.
While she briefly considered pursuing a government career in linguistics, Jennifer decided to pursue her acting dream instead. She shuttled between Austin and Los Angeles while also paying bills as a journalist focusing on nightlife. But she snuck off to New York City whenever she could to enjoy all aspects of nightlife -- from the burgeoning cocktail scene to dance clubs. Meanwhile, she continued to write freelance pieces on films, food & drink (such as bar openings), entertainment, and related industries including fashion and beauty.
New York, New York
Her agent wanted Jennifer to move to LA full--time. It forced her to consider whether she was a West Coast or East Coast girl at heart. While she knew LA would be better for her acting career, she decided to take the riskier option and moved to New York City.
Though Jennifer struggled at first to find her footing, she knew deep down that she had made the right choice. She ended up joining the Drammers Club, an in--person whiskey membership club dedicated to building a global network of industry and enthusiasts that would meet regularly.
Jennifer became a part of the New York City whiskey community and continued to write as she worked at bespoke Single Malt Whisky events. She ended up connecting with Kings County Distillery and they asked her if she was interested in leading tastings. Her creative curiosity led her to working at the Distillery in both Sales and Marketing. With her creative background, Jennifer decided that she would focus on Marketing and ended up as their NYC Market Specialist.
Kings County Distillery
This role would be more hands--on vs. other distilleries as Kings County is self--distributed in New York State, though they do distribute internationally. She works closely with Gaby Eisenman, their National Sales Manager, to build and promote their national PR, provides support to their partners, and gets involved with the day--t-o-day of distribution. (Random fun fact: they operate under a farm distillery license as 75% of their product features New York ingredients, in this case, grains.)
Founded in 2010 by the great--grandson of a Prohibition--era bootlegger from New York (David Haskell) and a former Kentuckian rooftop moonshiner (Colin Spoelman), Kings County is New York City's first whiskey distillery since Prohibition. Though it began in a room in East Williamsburg that was less than 400 square feet, it is now at the 120--year-old Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, site of the 1860s Whiskey Wars. (These clashes between distillers and government in the Fifth Ward, also known as Irishtown, was the result of the government attempting to reinstate a federal tax on the distiller.)
Their Kings County Whiskey style is a mash up of different cultural distilling methods featuring:
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Base grains of New York organic corn and rye with UK malted barley (for bourbon, it comes from England; for peated bourbon and single malt, it comes from Scotland and is 15 PPM)
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Open air fermentation in tanks or wooden vats
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Two copper pot stills, one Scottish (Forsyths) and one Kentuckian (Vendome) featuring double distillation
Their Portfolio is comprised of three categories:
Flagship: Straight Bourbon, Peated Bourbon, Peated Single Malt
Allocated: Barrel Strength, Bottled--in--Bond, Empire Rye
Unaged: Moonshine, Flavored including Chocolate (I have this one and can personally recommend it) and Grapefruit Jalapeño
They were named 2016 Distillery of the Year by the American Distilling Institute and have won awards from the American Craft Spirits Association, the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition, ASCOT, the Great American International Spirits Competition, and the International Whiskey Competition.
But if you’re not an “Awards” person and prefer “average person on the street” feedback, they have a level 5 rating on TripAdvisor and a 4 ½ star rating on Yelp.
Like many other distilleries, at the outbreak of COVID while they were shut down, Kings Country pivoted towards making hand sanitizer that they donated to first responders. Later, as hand sanitizer inventory was replenished, a bottle of their hand sanitizer was collected by the New York Historical Society for their Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine exhibit. They were then able to return to limited production runs of their whiskey, followed by virtual tasting kits.
Once they were able to re--open, they were able to showcase their outdoor space in addition to welcoming people back to The Gatehouses, which historically was an old guard stand.
They have 3 aging rooms, two in Brooklyn and one in Long Island. Their barrels come from a few different sources including The Barrel Mill and Independent Stave. And like other small craft distilleries, they also have a Private Barrel Program.
JENNIFER’S FAVORITES
It’s a bit of irony that Jennifer ended up working for an American Whiskey Distillery as her first memory of whiskey started off with Jameson on the rocks (“probably some bar in midtown” as she puts it) and it was really Scotch that had drawn her to the industry.
But when asked to name one of her favorite whiskey memories, Jennifer stated that this time, now, is so important to her as she feels like she is a part of helping to keep the New York City hospitality afloat. Her creative arts background was a big asset with virtual events, and if you haven’t checked her out on Instagram (“Art of the Still”), I highly recommend checking it out -- you might be pleasantly surprised at how she captions her photos in a storytelling format, sharing bits of literature, or sometimes her own original observations.
And speaking of recommendations….
Jennifer recommends: Past Life Regression
In the well--known holiday story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts that end up making him reconsider his life. One of them was the Ghost of Christmas Past, so it seems fitting that Jennifer’s cocktail for our Whiskey Network holiday edition be aptly named “Past Life Regression” featuring their Peated Bourbon.
PAST LIFE REGRESSION
2.5 oz. Kings County Distillery Peated Bourbon
1 Bar Spoon Black Tea Syrup (Jennifer recommends Bellocq Tea No. 54, Gypsy Caravan)
1 Bar Spoon Nocino (Italian walnut liqueur)
Cinnamon bitters
Garnish: Orange Twist
Tea Syrup Recipe: Brew the tea in 1 cup of hot water; strain. Add an equal portion of sugar to the tea and stir until dissolved. (Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.)
Combine the tea syrup, nocino, bitters, and bourbon in a mixing glass over ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
Join us in January for a chat with Deanna Powell from Glen Moray Scotch Whisky!
