I’ve written about Van Wees and distillery De Ooievaar, when I reviewed their 15yo genever, so I suggest you (re)visit that post if you want to know a little more about this family-run company. For now, I’ll just quickly move on to the task at hand, which of course is tasting another one of their genevers.
This time it is a genever that has received only a minimum amount of maturation. Thinks months instead of years. The Amsterdamsche Oude Genever is a so-called ‘Dubbel Gebeide’ genever, which means the genever was made with extra, or double (dubbel), the amount of juniper berries.
Van Wees Amsterdamsche Oude Genever (35%)
Nose: Big and vibrant juniper notes, supported by citrus (mainly lemon peel) and a good amount of resin and pine needles. A whiff of spices, mainly pepper.
Taste: The texture is a bit thin, but the taste is allright. Some menthol, subtle flavours of lemon, and some coriander too. Quite spicy, with a good hit of pepper, as well as cloves.
Finish: Lingering spices, before progressing into soft juniper.
While enjoyable, I wouldn’t mind if it had more of a grain forward base. While this is absolutely a grain distillate, there’s not much here that gives it away.
