Renovare Distillery

Creative Agency: Thoroughbred Spirits Group
Managing Director: Scott Schiller
Creative Director: Benjamin Carr
Client: Renovare Distillery
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Location: Chicago, IL. USA
Packaging Contents: Spirits
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Paper

In 2011, when the craft movement for distilleries was well into its upswing, Keith McConnell, a commercial airline pilot, wanted in.

It took a few years and a couple of heartbreaking losses for him to take steps toward creating a distillery of his own. On a practical level, it made sense. Airline work put him on the road three or four days a week. That meant McConnell couldn’t care for his son, now 12, after his wife died of a brain aneurysm. So he quit and transitioned to Volkswagen, working part time as a contractor.

But after his brother’s death early this year and going through The Company Lab’s accelerator program, McConnell took the decisive step of committing completely to his startup, a craft distillery known as Renovare Distillery.

Renovare is a craft distillery that plans to feature the farmers who produce the company’s grains in order to show the link between its products and land and community behind them. The initial lineup is expected to include whiskey, vodka, gin and flavored variations. McConnell plans to disclose the process from the time the farmer plants the grain through harvest, along with the art and science of the distillation process. Whiskies will be four-grain.

Thoroughbred Spirits Group were tasked with designing a portfolio that represented the authentic spirit of Renovare, without yielding to the trends of the craft spirits movement. The result is a clean, uncompromising portfolio of spirits that are able to provide a premium outlook while highlighting Keith’s principles.