Zuidam Oude Genever

Nose: Malt spirit and gin-typical spice notes (juniper, anise and liquorice). Similar to gin but much deeper and full-bodied. Palate: Sweet, herbal/spicy and malty on the arrival. The entry expands in the delivery, showing more of the same notes but with greater presence and complexity. The spirit seems to grow on the palate and towards the finish a very agreeable spicy warmth shows through. The mouthfeel is rich, satiny and oily. Finish: Medium/long. Cereal and malt notes in the aftertaste with a zesty juniper and licorice note. A very good “oude” (i.e. "old") style genever that is full-bodied, soft and luxurious. More mellow than the brighter toned Bols “zeer-oude” (very old), although that is also good in its own way. Genever has much in common with mixed-mashbill white-dog so if you enjoy unaged grain spirit I’d definitely recommend a taste of this. This has a mashbill of corn, rye and malted barley that is tripe-distilled in pot stills. A portion is then distilled again with botanicals and the two distillations are blended. The term “oude” does not refer to the age of the genever but the fact that it is "old-style", as opposed to the more modern “jonge” ("young") style that is lighter in profile and contains less malt-wine. Aged oude Genever is generally called “zeer-oude” but the terms are a bit loose. Zuidam also produces Genever with age statements (up to 15 years I think) and there is a bottling with a 1 year age statement. This bottle I’m tasting is the baby of the Zuidam genever range and has no age statement at all, but I’m not certain whether it is completely fresh off the still or if it receives a short rest in casks before bottling. However the fact this is unaged has no bearing on the flavour or quality. Aged Genever shows a different character to the unaged spirit but both are equally enjoyable, just different. Delicious sipped neat at room temperature or chilled, excellent when paired with a good beer, and despite what some may say it is delightful with tonic water and in mixed drinks. Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the classic cocktail books were being written this is the stuff they were talking about when a recipe called for “Hollands Gin”. Try using it in place of London dry gin in your next gin-based mixed drink. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)