Our story starts as most stories do (at least the ones we tell) over a round of drinks. The blueprint for The Vale Fox Distillery was sketched out by Eral Gokgol-Kline and his brother Arman on a cocktail napkin over a round of drinks – negronis if memory serves. Eral, who spent a decade analyzing and investing in businesses globally, is the managing principal of the distillery and the distillery is rooted in his love of single malt whiskies and gins, his deep appreciation for the power of craftsmanship, and his understanding of what makes a business successful.

Eral was introduced to single malts by his mother, an avid whisky enthusiast. But, it turns out the family’s roots in spirits run much deeper. Eral and Arman’s great, great (truly great) Dutch grandfather founded a distillery in New York State in 1651, just over an hour’s drive from where The Vale Fox Distillery is located. Whether it was an ancestral calling or simply a beautiful coincidence, Eral left behind his life investing in businesses to construct an exceptional full-scale distillery from the ground up with a team to match.

Eral recruited an all-star team of experts including: