Isaac Castelló worked in a bank, and his partner, Pilar Martínez, in a laboratory. Both were tired of their respective jobs. “He was more of a salesman than a banker,” recalls Castelló. Just before the covid pandemic, they left their respective jobs to turn their habit of making ratafía in San Juan into their new occupation. Bearing in mind that they live in Llançà (Costa Brava), the members of the mythical music group Sopa de Cabra would say that it was a decision made by the north wind.
“We started making ratafia, but soon we dared with more drinks, such as herbal liqueur, coffee, chamomile… up to the current 20 liqueurs that we make today,” explains the founder of the liqueur firm, which they called Quevall. “The truth is that the name of the company does not have any special meaning, you just had to look for one,” acknowledges the entrepreneur.
The couple took advantage of the confinement due to the covid to devise what, these days, is being their star product in many media: the first Catalan whisky. “I saw that there was no one in Catalonia who made whiskey the way it is done in Scotland and we got down to work,” says Castelló. The liquor has been aging in a barrel for two years and, although it still has another year to go on the market, entrepreneurs do not stop receiving purchase orders.
Quevall liqueurs are handcrafted from local ingredients, such as green walnuts from Abella de la Conca, quinces from Corbí or apples from Castelló d’Empúries. They produce around 30,000 bottles a year, which they sell through distributors throughout Catalonia and, soon, also in Germany. The turnover of the company is about 300,000 euros per year.
Entrepreneurs are looking for a new location because the current one is getting too small for them. “We have done works seven times already!”, affirms Castelló. On the other hand, in February they plan to open a malting plant to convert barley into malt. “We will use a new technology, based on infrared, which requires less energy, less time and less space”, the founder of the company proudly states.
