Andy Koenig

“Tamer of Seven Devils”

Andrew “Andy” Koenig’s story begins on Idaho soil but quickly arcs across continents before settling back into the Sunnyslope hills outside Caldwell, Idaho. There, Koenig would become one of that state’s earliest and most influential whiskey makers. Today he is recognized as the founder, president, and Master Distiller of Koenig Distillery, but the foundation of his whiskey career, its agricultural precision, its Old World discipline, and its devotion to high-quality raw ingredients, was shaped long before his first bourbon barrels were filled.

Koenig’s ties to the land run deep. His grandparents farmed in Idaho’s Treasure Valley, making wine during the lean years of the Great Depression and giving young Andy a front-row view of how fruit, farming, and family shaped rural life. A major shift came in middle school when his Austrian father moved the family to his own hometown of Lustenau, Austria. For Andy, Austria became a turning point. In that region, nearly every small farm had fruit trees and, under permissive local distilling laws, often produced eau-de-vie from pears, plums, apples, and cherries. He watched itinerant stills arrive at farms, transforming harvested fruit into crystal-clear brandy. The process of distillation, visible, local, and woven into daily agricultural life, left a deep imprint. Those early images of copper, vapor, and fruit-driven spirits became his first real education in what it meant to turn crops into something enduring.

Back in Idaho as a late teenager, Koenig leaned into agriculture with purpose. He enrolled at the University of Idaho, studying agribusiness, and graduated in 1995. That same year he and his brother Greg planted their first orchard and vineyard in the Sunnyslope region along the Snake River. While this early planting included a mix of fruit and wine grapes, the deeper significance lay in what Andy was building: a true “from-the-ground-up” raw-materials foundation that would later support grain- and fruit-based spirits. The farm became the literal source of the distillery he envisioned.

Still, the Old World pulled at him. In 1995 he returned to Austria, this time not as a student in a foreign school but as an apprentice at a 400-year-old Alpine distillery. For roughly two years he immersed himself in the craft at a professional level, learning the nuances of distillation: cuts, yields, fermentation, and the discipline required for consistently clean, high-quality spirit. That rigorous apprenticeship formed the technical backbone he would later apply to American whiskey.

By the time he returned to Idaho in the late 1990s, the Koenig family farm was established, and in 1999 Andy and Greg formally launched Koenig Distillery & Winery. The company initially produced European-style fruit spirits, a natural starting point given Andy’s Austrian training, but whiskey was already on Andy’s horizon. As the brothers’ paths eventually diverged, Greg focused on wine, while Andy directed all his energy toward distillation, methodically shaping the operation into one of Idaho’s pioneering craft distilleries.

A defining chapter began in 2010, when Andy filled his first bourbon barrels. These early casks formed the foundation of what would become the distillery’s signature whiskey line. Over the next decade, Koenig built out a robust whiskey program: laying down more barrels each year, experimenting with grain sources, and relying on spring-fed water from the Seven Devils Mountain range. The whiskeys that emerged, “Seven Devils Bourbon” and “Seven Devils Straight Rye,” found receptive audiences across the Northwest. Their character reflected Andy’s hybrid heritage: Idaho-grown grain and farming sensibilities combined with the precise, small-scale methodology he absorbed in Austria.

The distillery expanded as demand for whiskey grew. New rickhouses and a large barrel house capable of storing roughly 4,000 barrels, allowed Koenig to age whiskey for longer periods and maintain a steady supply of mature stock. The distillery estate, framed by orchards with views of the Owyhee Mountains and Snake River, became both a production site and a whiskey destination. Barrel-house dinners, tasting flights, and special releases drew visitors to Sunnyslope, and the Seven Devils brand secured regional partnerships, including becoming the official whiskey of the Caldwell Night Rodeo, which in turn inspired a dedicated Caldwell Night