Koval Distillery, Chicago

The KOVAL distillery is a young company founded in 2008 by Robert and Sonat Birnecker. The couple left their academic careers to start producing whisky, liqueurs and other spirits.

Their wish is to make organic spirits from scratch, without artificial colouring or additives. The Birneckers only use the heart cut of the distillate, creating a new style of spirit. All the Koval whiskeys age in 30 gallon single barrels, where they develop their unique and delicious flavour.

The Birneckers see great importance in controlling each step of the production process. First, they select the best ingredients from local organic Midwestern farms. They distil in their own facilities, with a traditional pot still made in Germany by Kothe company, using water from Lake Michigan. Finally, they bottle the spirits and label.

The KOVAL distillery is one of the first urban craft distilleries in the USA and a leader among independent spirit manufacturers. Since 2008, the company has achieved fame in the States and has now arrived in Europe. We are proud to be a part of making it more available to the rest of the world. We can deliver to most countries in the world, including the USA.

But what does KOVAL actually mean? In many Slavic languages, Koval means “blacksmith”, and in Yiddish “black sheep”. It was the nickname of Sonat's Austrian great-grandfather after he emigrated from Vienna to Chicago in the early 1900s.

A pure coincidence, Robert's grandfather's name was Schmid, which happens to be the German translation of “blacksmith”. Robert learnt everything about distillation at his grandfather side. In honour of both men, Robert and Sonat decided to name their whiskey enterprise Koval.

This American whisky of Austrian descent has already been awarded several Gold Medals, both in the USA and in Europe.