Celebrating the old and the new
A historic brand commemorates an important milestone, while a newcomer carves out its own place in the Dutch genever scene
THE OLD HAND
In 1872, Simon Rutte opened his small business in the heart of Dordrecht, a midsized city in the Netherlands. Now, 150 years and many generations later, his distilling company is still thriving. To celebrate the distillery’s anniversary, current master distiller Myriam Hendrickx has created a limited edition of Rutte’s acclaimed Old Simon Genever.
Rutte Distillery is still located in the same small building that Simon Rutte purchased in the 19th century. His family had established themselves as skilled distillers before then, but they had always been assistants and never held the top job. Simon initially worked in a supporting role too, before he and his wife Maria bought a modest pub. Immediately, the backroom was converted into a distillery, and after a decade of working in the employment of others, he finally had free reign to create.
Simon was fascinated by all that nature had to offer: spices from the Far East, local herbs and berries from the Biesbosch, the freshwater tidal wetlands next door. He distilled liqueurs and bitters, quickly followed by korenwyn and genever. He trained his son Anton, who introduced the first Rutte Gin in 1918. Later, Simon’s grandson Jan used empty wine casks to create the first aged Rutte Genever. Each generation further expanded the distillery’s portfolio.
One of the distillery’s signature products recently received a make-over. Rutte Celery Gin has been a darling of bartenders and gin drinkers for years, but was re-baptised Rutte Dutch Dry Gin. The recipe didn’t change and still includes celery, a botanical that has been part of the Rutte DNA for well over a century, but many of the botanicals are now being sourced organically.
Bearing the name of its founder,
Old Simon Genever is another
Rutte product that includes celery, but there are some other unusual botanicals among the 12 that it features, such as mace and roasted walnuts and hazelnuts. Myriam Hendrickx filled several casks with Old Simon Genever five years ago in anticipation of the distillery’s
150th anniversary. The result is now bottled as the Old Simon
Jubilee, a five-year-old cask-matured version of Old Simon Genever that is “extra nutty”.
The label is adorned with an image of Simon Rutte and the Jugendstil design he commissioned for the facade of the distillery building in the early 20th century.
THE NEWCOMER
LangDom Rye Genever recently became the youngest member of the
Dutch genever scene. The name is derived from the medieval Dom Church in Utrecht, one of the country’s largest cities. It was created by Henk Elshof, who lives in the heart of Utrecht and has a drinks company registered in the city. Utrecht does not have the genever tradition of other Dutch towns, such as Schiedam or Weesp, but is now home to at least two genever brands – Staffhorst being the other one.
Elshof has long worked in the drinks industry, mostly in beer. In more recent years, he caught the spirit bug and released a LangDom Dry Gin in 2020. The next logical progression was his own genever. “The first time I drank a rye genever, I was sort of caught off guard. Is it genever? Not really. But it’s not whisky, either. It hovered somewhere in between and that’s what I liked about it.”
LangDom Rye Genever is a 100 per cent maltwine genever and has been in development for more than 18 months, encompassing experiments with botanicals, the character of the maltwine, and maturation. Finally, Elshof settled on a combination of juniper, caraway, vanilla, licorice root, cinnamon and orange peel. “Then, once you start producing at a larger scale, the process starts all over again. It’s almost impossible to immediately recreate a very small batch and get the exact same result for your commercial product. That takes time.”
The flavour of LangDom Rye Genever is highlighted by a spiciness from the rye. That’s fairly unusual: most genever is made from a combination of grains. Elshof said, “I thought our maltwine was too dominant at first, and we’ve been working hard to achieve a better balance there. Our botanicals were very important during that process. Also, the maltwine aroma diminished noticeably after the genever had rested for a while.”
LangDom Rye Genever has spent 14 months ageing in virgin oak, all the while being closely monitored by Elshof. Whether there will be any future releases of LangDom Genever is still undecided, and depends on the success of the Rye Genever. But if so, Elshof already has a few ideas up his sleeve. “In the future, we might experiment with other cask types as well,” he says. “For example, I have a good relationship with a Cognac producer in France, so that might be a nice option. But for now, I’d like to focus on this release first.”