Windspiel was formed in 2008 when friends Sandra Wimmeler, Denis Lönnendonker and Tobias Schwoll bought the Weilerhof farm in western Germany, initially to grow Elephant Grass, before moving onto potatoes. While feasting on their home-grown potatoes one evening and enjoying a tipple of gin, the trio hit upon the idea of making a spirit out of their supplies.
Forming a coalition with master distiller Holger Bolchers, it took about two years for the first gin to be developed. The process began with Schwoll, with his background in agriculture, who harvested the potatoes. He then sent them to Bolchers, who grinds them up and mixes them with water to create a mash. When a gentle heat is applied to this mash, it becomes a sugar which, when cooled and mixed with yeast, acts as a stimulant to trigger the conversion to alcohol.
Distillation of this liquid occurs in a large continuous still to raise the ABV and purify the spirit, which gives it a smooth profile. The relatively neutral spirit is then further finished in a small 150 litre still. The result of this process forms the very basis of Windspiel’s excellent Barrel Aged Potato Vodka, but to create Windspiel Premium Dry Gin, botanicals are added.
There are six botanical elements used in total; juniper, lemon zest, coriander, lavender blossom, ginger and cinnamon, which are added to the spirit separately and distilled as individual components. The resulting concoction is left to rest for a few weeks after this procedure, before the team blends these distillates together to produce around 800 bottles a run.