In the summer of 2013, friends Cam Formica, Jordan van der Heyden and Nolan van der Heyden got together and shared a dram around a question: Wouldn’t it be cool to distill your own whisky? The process itself didn’t seem too complicated given people have been distilling in remote areas on rudimentary systems for years. May as well give it a shot. Right? It was decided in those early days that the van der Heyden’s 100-acre family farm would act as the perfect backdrop for a new farm distillery outside the Village of Ayr. A new barn-like facility was to be built on the property utilizing original materials from their century barn, lending an truly authentic farm experience. The fields would be used to grow grain that would one day supply the distilling operation as well as provide other ingredients that could be macerated in a variety of spirits. It was all that simple…

Fast forward through 4 years of planning, permits, distillery visits, education, experimentation and tastings and Willibald opened its doors for the first time but not with whisky – with gin. Although the passion for whisky was the driving force behind the operation, they fell in love with the near infinite possibilities gin provided that even whisky could not. The result was a series of gins that really pushed the boundaries of the category and was available at the time in the Province. We initially launched our Barrel Gin – a gin aged in new oak casks – followed quickly by our Pink Gin – a gin aged in new oak casks and lightly sweetened with a drop of raw honey from their own hives. In recent years two seasonal gins were added to their lineup – Strawberry Rhubarb Gin and Gingerbread Gin – and even more recently started canning gin cocktails. Needless to say, gin has become part of the Willibald DNA and they have no intention of easing up on new gin creation any time soon.

Since the distillery’s opening in 2017, a restaurant and brewery were added to the farm along with a seasonal biergarten to fully embrace the seasonality of the property. Although gin may no longer be the only product Willibald is focusing on, it will always be at their hearts. So stop by the farm and taste what their latest gin lineup has in store for you!