By The Dutch Old Genever

Old Genever is the Dutch spirit that gin descends from — and By The Dutch makes it to a recipe dating from 1942. It starts with a wash of malted barley, corn, and rye, distilled twice in a copper pot still and then a third time in a column with juniper berries added, producing the maltwine that gives genever its whiskey-like body. That maltwine is then split three ways: one portion redistilled with botanicals including hops, cloves, anise, licorice, ginger, and citrus; another redistilled with juniper alone; and a third redistilled clean. All four components are blended to the 1942 formula and bottled at 38% ABV (76 proof). "Old" refers to the traditional, malt-heavy style rather than barrel age, though the pale gold color hints at the oak. Difford's found buttery dough balls, pastry dough, and piney juniper on the nose with faint chamois leather, vanilla, clove, nutmeg, and cracked black pepper, then black pepper, vanilla, leather, and dry pine on the palate with light zesty lemon, finishing on buttery vanilla dough with pepper and cinnamon spice — a malty, characterful oude genever with generous juniper. It sits alongside the brand's Dry Gin and Batavia Arrack as a doorway into Dutch distilling heritage. Sip it cold and neat the Dutch way, as a kopstootje with a beer, or use it where a 19th-century recipe calls for Holland gin: a Martinez, an Improved Gin Cocktail, or a Collins with real weight.

Buy By The Dutch Old Genever online with fast shipping right to your door.