Have you tried genever? Two new offerings from the Dutch distiller, Lucas Bols, are making quite a splash this year.
First things first. What Is Genever?
Genever is a juniper-accented spirit distilled from malt wine. It was first created by a Dutch doctor around 1650. It's the great-granddaddy of the London Dry and American-style gins we commonly know today - although genever's distinctive malty flavor puts the spirit in a category all its own.
Genever comes in two classifications: jonge ("young" or unaged) and oude ("old" - aged in oak barrels for at least one year).
The world's oldest distilled spirits company, Lucas Bols, recently issued an unaged as well as an aged version of their genever for the export market.
Bols Genever (Unaged)
Price: $39/750 ml
The Story: In a quest for authenticity, Bols looked deep into their archives and found an all-but-forgotten 1820 recipe for genever. In 2008, they re-released this spirit in a smoky-gray glass bottle decorated with the loopy typography typically found on the hand-painted signage in Amsterdam cafes.
Taste: Malty with a slightly funky nose. Made of a blend of distillates from a combination of rye, wheat, and corn; juniper; and other botanicals.
Ways to Enjoy: Don't try this one in a Gin and Tonic or Martini - the spirit's malty flavor is actually more similar to that of whiskey than that of gin. In Holland, unaged genever is traditionally slurped from a small tulip-shaped glass filled to the very brim, accompanied by a beer chaser. (This classic combo is called a Kopstootje or "little head butt.") But, if you want to take a New World approach to things, use it to mix cocktails calling for white whiskey.
Bols Genever (Barrel Aged)
Price: $49/750 ml
The Story: A new release from Bols, which became available in select American markets earlier this month. Made according to the same 1820 recipe used in the white genever above, but then aged for 18 months in casks made from oak from the French Limousin area, which gives the spirit a more complex taste and a pale amber color. It comes in a distinctive clay bottle that echoes the iconic design of old-timey genever jugs.
Taste: Rounder and mellower and more whiskey-like. Accents of vanilla and spice.
Ways to Enjoy: Use it the way you would bourbon: sipped neat or on the rocks, or in cocktails such as Manhattans or Old Fashioneds.
Nora Maynard is a longtime home mixologist and an occasional instructor at NYC's Astor Center. Her culinary writing has appeared in Food Republic, Leite's Culinaria, CHOW, and The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries. She previously covered food and drink in film at The Kitchn in her weekly column, The Celluloid Pantry.
Have you tried genever?
Related: 4 New (and Very Different) Gins to Try this Summer
Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturers did give us product for testing and review purposes.
(Images: Nora Maynard)
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
TW Salt Mill by Wil...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Could you use these in cocktail recipes that call for Holland gin? I.e. - the old style cocktails you find the The Savoy Cocktail Book or Jerry Thomas' recipes?
Jenever is delicious. When we have it in the house, it's kept in the freezer, as it's usually served ice cold here. It doesn't freeze, of course, but it pours thick and syrupy, only staying that way for a moment or two, before reverting to merely very chilled. :-)
Kopstootje = "little head butt."
PERFECT!!!
Zoot99, that's exactly what you should do! The malty character of genever makes for a hell of an old fashioned or Martinez. I also like using it in cocktails with grapefruit juice or orgeat or even green chartreuse. It's really versatile and the way it drinks like something between a gin and a whiskey makes it perfect for the transition into fall.
Bols gin is a very pale blue; nitroglycerin is also a very pale blue. =)
hehehehe...I couldn't resist...even though I doubt anyone will get that.
This is not correct: jonge ("young" or unaged) and oude ("old" - aged in oak barrels for at least one year)".
Actually "young" and "old" does not refer to age but to old and new style distilling techniques. Jonge/Young Genever can contain no more than 15% malt wine and 10 grams of sugar per liter. Oude/Old Genever must contain at least 15% malt wine, but no more than 20 g of sugar per liter. Most of the Old Genevers have been aged but "Oude" is not a reference to its age.