Purchase tips for Genever - PRICE NO LIMIT

Personal top 10 purchases in a liquor store-PRICE NO LIMIT
After i shared my tips on Genever purchases under 30 euro, now it is time to break the seal on the fancy stuff. Awesome tasting products where money plays no role. Although genever has insane production value at the time of writing, matched only by Sherry perhaps there are a few luxury products there. However, compared to most other aged spirits, the prices are still very fair, and productions are in most cases truly limited.

As last time, for this list i was not paid in any way for my suggestions. So it is based purely on my own experience and taste. That experience however is built on having tasted virtually all genever on the market, and having been head of purchasing spirits for bars for over twenty years. So, you know, it is not completely silly.

The rules
I didn’t want this list to consist of truly impossible to find products. So i consulted the assortment of the most common liquor stores both online and offline. So at time of writing, you CAN get your hands on all of these if desired. I also excluded vintage bottles, and Catawiki, again to keep things attainable. After all, it is a drink, NOT an investment or a painting!

I only feature every brand once. This to keep the selection wide, and also the most fun to read. The liquor stores searched are in the Netherlands, as in most other countries selection would be much too narrow to be any fun, and prices of course vary vastly by country, especially by continent. I mostly considered deliciousness neat, but consideration was given as well to mixability. All genever, or in fact as i firmly believe all spirits, should be fit for mixing by a bar professional.

Next up
If you have not read my Purchase tips for genevers under 30 euro, be sure to read that, too! On a next article i will delve deeper on really hard-to-find gems.

The list
1 Van Wees 20 year Old ~100 €
Desert island bottle for me. Hard not to love this bottling, being both approachable and characterful at the same time. Not cheap, but what 20 year aged liquid is?

2 Old Duff 100% Maltwine ~35€ The only unaged product on the list, and why would it? If the liquid is this good, why soften it by oak? One of the more bold bottles from the list; when in need of something lighter, mix this number in a delicious Martinez.

3 Mworveld Kaore 4 Madeira Cask ~40 for 500 ml bottle € Kaore is a real craft producer. Impress any spirit connaisseur with a bottle of this honest product. Their #3 is a real head-turner too, but for this list we went with the even fancier #4.

4 Filliers 12 year Old Calvados Cask ~50 € The only non-Dutch Genever on this list. This is not due to its inexistence, but rather its availability in the Netherlands. This unique bottling has a Calvados-cask finish, to my knowledge the only one out there.

5 Hooghoudt 25 year old ~240 € Woof. Single-barrel Ex-Oloroso Cask. Barrel Strength at 65,5% ABV. Bring your wallet. And your liver. And you will experience this raisin richness akin to an top aged Balsamic vinegar. Big.

6 Schermer Old Schiedammer ~38 euro for 500 ml bottle. Tiny production aged in tiny barrels for a unique and traditional fantastic product. You can’t go wrong with this premium bottling.

7 Boomsma 10 ~30 euro. The number 1 producer in the <30 euro category returns for more. Their 10 year old remains class, although it perhaps is outspent by the others as in this list it is the most affordable in the list.

8 Wynand Fockink 11 years old, ~50 € Although we really wanted to include the 21 year old that one was simply too rare for this purpose. Great value for money, and excellent all-round liquid.

9 The Stillery “Ouwe” ~30 € for 500 ml bottle. Award-winning and distilled in Amsterdam. With 6 months on American oak it is the only Organic Genever in the list as well. It also boasts some unusual botanicals such as hops and poppy seeds.

10 Zuidam Madeira Cask No 39 3 y.o ~40 € The second Madeira finish on the list, this excellent entry by Zuidam is different from their other offerings but still delicious.

Honorable mentions
A few did not make the cut, but are nevertheless tasty for sure.

-We LOVE Herman Jansen 100% Maltwine genevers. There are a lot, but the 10 or the 15 year old are exquisite as well as some of their special editions. We were unable to find any available online, so we will wait to talk about this one in our “hard-to-find” section. The same goes for a few Rutte rare bottlings, and Zwart Nazareth rare editions.

-Bobby’s Five Year Old is mighty interesting, but a bit too hard to find.

-The Same goes for Bokma 10 year old. Great liquid, but it seems to have been a bit too popular (or costly) so availability has dried up.

-Old Schiedam officially does not sell outside of the Genever museum liquor store, so i have excluded their offering.

-Bols Corenwyn 10 and 100% Maltwine ended just outside the top 10. Both are very welcome glasses at any table we are sure, though!

All quality producers making an honest genever product: we tip our hats off to you!

Be Weary of, or the list of shame.
As Genever is not a hip product -thank god!- there are only very few dishonest producers or bottlers that try to swindle the public with overpriced spirits. Here are some red flags to watch out for in the premium range:

-Private labels, where genever is not made by themselves have additional explaining to do. One needs to ascertain malt wine %, aging if any and in which type of barrels. Be weary of “vague” numbers or statements that imply age but do not state it in as many words.

-Vintage is not always better. The 70s and 80s were a particular tough time for genever production. Although a bottle was made 50 years ago does not automatically make it good liquid!

-Although you do not expect to buy a 100 € bottle in a plastic container, be careful about overly expensive or decorative bottles. We are buying what’s inside the bottle after all. If not, perhaps a nice flower pot might be a better choice?

For the home enthousiast
Every home deserves -several- genevers. Now go out there and grab some quality liquid, preferably at your local, small-business liquor store. If unsure on what taste you like the best, head over to Dutch Courage and try some for yourself. Proost!