Lucas Bols advertises itself as the oldest distillation company active in the world today with origins that trace back to 1575. After 440 years, the company has grown to become one of the leading global concerns in the spirits industry. Bols has a presence in over 110 countries selling liqueurs, vodka, gin, and genever. The wide range of liqueurs is particularly impressive. With 36 naturally flavoured liqueurs, the company can boast the widest range of liqueur flavours in the world.
According top the Bols Genever website, Lucas Bols began distilling Genever in 1664. In fact, genever is the juniper-flavored spirit from which modern gin evolved. Traditional genever is still very popular in the Netherlands. I remember as a child when my parents would go back to Holland (where they emigrated from), and when they would return they would bring back a bottle of dutch genever which was not available in our hometown.
Bols Genever is based upon a recipe which Luca Bols introduced in 1820. The spirit is produced from malt wine distillate which is made from long-fermented rye, corn and wheat which is triple-distilled in copper pot stills. This malt wine, is then infused with a carefully selected distillate of botanicals and brought to 42% alcohol.
Here is a link to my full review:
Review: Bols Genever
Please enjoy my review, Chimo!
The formulation provided by Engels is rather hard to follow because it bases its construction upon another early recipe, the Fancy Cocktail, which in turn bases its construction upon a more generic serving which Engels simply calls the Gin Cocktail. Weaving my way through the tangle of recipes, I have brought forward Leo Engels’ Gin Crusta from 1878. (The cocktail was a favourite of my tasting group at a recent tasting I held where we were comparing both different styles of gin and different gin cocktails.)
Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey is produced by 
And celebrating Irish culture is not a bad thing; it was after all the Irish who first distilled “uisce beatha“, which translates into English as “the water of life“. I could go into a long and detailed etymology, but suffice it to say that “uisce beatha” is probably very close to the original form of the word which would later become “whiskey”.
The Rum Howler Blog 