Bols Genever

One of the favorites, mass market, but quality

Rating: 15/23 N: Rich, vegetal, herbal. It's really hard to describe the particular scents here, which unfortunately I think suggests that there's a muddling of flavors. The caraway peaks out from time to time and there's sort of an anise character mixed with the rich but mellow component of black licorice and a little bit of something savory but not meaty. I get a dash more grain too, but that may be the caraway. P: This is a more floral, sweeter, more mineral, and slightly fruity version of the nose. It's still really rich with a solid fullness. I get that caraway freshness mixed with some herbal boldness that blends nicely into the rich anise with mellow black licorice backing. I'm actually getting more complexity out of this than I'd expected. And those occasional floral notes fit in nicely. F: The caraway bitterness combined with freshness lingers for quite some time. I get floral and mellow black licorice notes too adding to the complexity, but the caraway forms the core of the finish. - Conclusion - I've been contemplating this bottle for a while and I'm starting to understand what genever is a little bit. I didn't like this when I first opened it, but it's grown on me since. I appreciate the bold flavor and have since learned that it's pretty good in eggnog (yeah, this review has been some time coming). Overall, it isn't terribly complex and isn't something that I can see myself wanting to sip on any sort of a regular basis, but I do appreciate it. Now I want to look for better genever. I found this to be very difficult at first, but it's kind of sippable now. It's at least a 14, though I'm skeptical that it's higher than a 16. A 17 is as high as I can currently imagine going. Based on some side-by-side comparisons, I'm going with a 15 here. I was a little on the fence with Plymouth (14) and Ford's (15), but Roku (16) seemed like it was probably better.

earthy and grassy end