Skip to content
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
logo
rutte oude graanjenever

Rutte Oude Graanjenever

25 February 2018 0 comments Article Genever, Netherlands, Other spirits, Rutte, Tasting Notes

Genever, liqueurs, gin. Rutte Distillers has a distilling tradition that goes back centuries, and the current distillery has been housed in the same tiny building since it was founded in 1872. Situated in the city centre of Dordrecht in The Netherlands, there’s a lot of history in this quaint distillery.

I’ve visited a few times now, and I’ve interviewed current master distiller Myriam Hendrickx once. She is the first non-Rutte to lead the distillery, which is a task she takes very seriously. John Rutte was the last of the family to oversee production, but he died in 2003, just a month after Hendrickx joined the company.

Myriam Hendrickx (1)

Current master distiller Myriam Hendrickx

Nowadays the company is owned by De Kuyper, a Dutch company that’s probably better known internationally than Rutte is, in large part because of their focus on producing spirits for bartenders and cocktails. Walk into any bar in the world, and there’s a good chance you’ll find liqueurs from either De Kuyper, or Bols.

Because of the untimely passing of John Rutte, Hendrickx had to take on a lot of responsibility very quickly. When she arrived at Rutte, everything was very old-fashioned. There’s was one computer, which ran on DOS, an operating system that was outdated even 15 years ago. The weighing of botanicals was done on a scale with counterweights. It was a pre-historic operation.

Just a few of the botanicals in the small still room of Rutte

Now this may sound bad, but it actually turned out to be a good thing. Because of the reluctance of John Rutte to adopt new technology, lots of advancements (which often involved cheaper materials and methods) had passed him by. It meant that true craftsmanship was preserved. ‘Recipes were jotted down on scraps of paper, and kept in the safe’, Hendrickx says.

It meant chaos at first, but once order was restored, she realised she was sitting on a treasure trove. Hendrickx: ‘When we develop new recipes, we can always go back and look at our old recipes. Depending on what is going on in our industry, we can for instance study our old gin recipes, and incorporate botanicals that might be a bit unusual now, but were used way back when.’

I’ll explore more Rutte products in due time, but I want to start with this Oude Genever. It is a combination of malt wine, neutral grain spirit, juniper and seven other botanicals. The recipe for this Genever was developed at the start of the 20th century by Anton Rutte, the fifth generation.

Rutte Oude Graanjenever (35%)

Nose: A grainy foundation with light juniper notes, basil, subtle spices and soft floral touches.
Taste: There’s some sweet malt here, as well as coriander, and subtle spices (a touch of pepper). Slightly creamy.
Finish: Ending on greener notes.

Exactly what I want in an Oude Genever, meaning a malty base which is in good balance with the botanicals and the neutral grain spirit. Great with a snack (cheese or dried sausage). Drink at room temperature.

Thijs Klaverstijn Kingairloch 3
Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.

Tags: myriam hendrickx, oude genever, oude graanjenever, rutte distillers

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr

Most popular posts

  • Glendronach cask (flickr ti yab) GlenDronach Is A Lot Older Than The Label Says
  • waterford single farm origin ballymorgan 1.1 Waterford Ballymorgan 1.1 (2020)
  • tamnavulin sherry cask edition Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Edition (2020)
  • benromach 21yo 2020 Benromach 21 Years (2020)
  • caol ila 2008 12yo torsten paul rogers whisky company Caol Ila 2008 12 Years (Roger’s & Torsten Paul Whisky Company)

Recent blog posts

  • Upcoming: Blind Tasting Competition
  • Sexism & Misogyny in our Whisky Community
  • Monologue: Waterford’s Mark Reynier on Biodynamics & Terroir
  • Why The Whiskybase Gathering Should Be On Your Bucket List
  • Visiting Ballindalloch Distillery: Tradition & Patience in Speyside

Copyright Words of Whisky 2018