Saar Dry Gin

Saar Dry Gin from Ferdinand's with Riesling from the Saarburger Rausch vineyard

Saar Dry Gin from Ferdinand's Spirits is a German dry gin at 44 percent ABV, which combines over 30 hand-picked botanicals with a Riesling infusion from the steep Saarburger Rausch vineyard. The distillery produces the base alcohol from spelt, wheat, and rye.

Saar Dry Gin is the Riesling gin from Ferdinand's Spirits in the Saar valley, distilled at the Avadis Distillery in the small town of Wincheringen-Bilzingen. It is named after Ferdinand Geltz, the Royal Prussian Forest Master who lived from 1851 to 1925 and co-founded the VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. The 0.5-liter dark glass bottle has featured his signet ever since.

Vineyard peach, lavender, and a core of juniper

There are over 30 botanicals in this bottle, and most of them grow less than a hundred meters from the distillery.

Directly behind the distillery building are the trees for red vineyard peaches, quinces, and Rubinette apples. The lavender comes from fallow vineyards in the Konzer Tälchen valley, and the herbs are grown in their own garden. Apple mint, lemon thyme, and lemon verbena provide freshness, coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon add spice, and the juniper sets the tone.

Fruity, floral, and spicy, this gin is milder than its 44 percent alcohol content would suggest. This is due to the Riesling infusion from Spätlese grapes, which drapes itself over the herbs like a fine veil and takes the edge off the alcohol.

A tonic with sage and dried lemon

Saar Dry Gin works well neat over ice, but its real stage is a restrained, dry tonic.

Three centiliters of gin, a leaf of sage, and a slice of dried lemon on top, and the floral side remains audible instead of disappearing under the quinine. Those who want to further emphasize the wine note can add a splash of Riesling from the Weingut Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken. This brings the story full circle to the site from which the grapes originate.

The gin also holds its own in a Martini, as it does not interfere with the vermouth, but rather provides a fruity foundation. It gets sweeter and softer with the Saar Quince made from Muscat quinces, the "little brother" from the same house. The two go well together: one brings the structure, the other the fruit.

Four friends, two traditional houses, one gin since 2013

Behind Ferdinand's are four people from the Saar region who teamed up in 2013 to bring their home to a bottle.

Siblings Denis Reinhardt and Erik Wimmers are both at home in spirits distribution and came up with the idea for a Riesling gin. Andreas Vallendar, master distiller at the Avadis Distillery, developed the recipe on the same estate where his family has been distilling fruit since 1824. And Dorothee Zilliken contributes the grapes from the Saarburger Rausch, a south-facing steep slope on Devonian slate.

"We want to make a gin that reflects our terroir and our region with all its highlights and peculiarities," Denis says about the early years. The jury at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition agreed in 2015 with a double gold medal. Today, the gin is on shelves in 42 countries, and you can find the entire Ferdinand's range here under one roof. Hats off.