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Chapter 7 Juniper-based spirits
Chapter 7 Juniper-based spirits
Genever
Definition and history
Genever (which can also be spelled jenever and genièvre) is a juniperflavoured
spirit mainly consumed in Holland, but also in Belgium and Germany;
there is also very limited consumption in northern France. It was originally
made by distilling malt wine (moutwijn) and flavouring it with juniper berries.
Malt wine is distilled in copper stills from grains such as barley, corn, rye and
wheat.
The genever category is broken down into jonge (young), oude (old), korenwijn
(corn wine) and graanjenever (grain genever). Fundamentally, they are
different due to what levels of malt wine and sugar they contain or whether
they are aged.
Oude can contain no less than xx% m alt wine, whereas jonge contains no
m ore than xx%; k orenwijn has to contain no less than xx% m alt wine and
tends to be aged in oak casks. Graanjenever is made purely from distilled
grain.
Jonge genever came about with advances in distilling practices in the early
20 th century which allowed the distillation of spirits from sugar beet instead of
grain; these have a more neutral taste profile. The juniper berry has to be the
main overriding flavour and the optimum alcohol by volume is believed to be
around xx%.
Industry structure
Bols is the dom inant pla yer, with a xx% share of the m ark et with five brands –
Hartevelt, Bokma, Bols, Hoppe and Henkes. Established in 1575, Lucas Bols
lays claim to being the oldest continuously operating liquor company.
Naturally, there have been ownership changes and other upheavals during
that long period. The latest came in April 2006, when the company regained its
independence and was returned to Dutch control through a management buyout
from then-owner Rémy Cointreau. Huub van Doorne, former member of
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