Jenever

Jenever (Dutch: [jəˈneːʋər], English /dʒəˈniːvər/), also known as genièvre, genever, peket, or in the English-speaking world as Dutch gin or Hollands (archaic: Holland gin or Geneva gin), is the juniper-flavored national and traditional liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium, from which gin evolved. Traditional jenever is still very popular in the Netherlands, Belgium and nearby French and German regions. The European Union regulations specify that only liquor made in these two countries, two northern French departments and two German federal states can use the name jenever/genever/genièvre.

Jenever was originally produced by distilling malt wine (moutwijn in Dutch) to 50% ABV. Because the resulting spirit was not palatable due to the lack of refined distilling techniques (only the pot still was available), herbs were added to mask the flavour. The juniper berry, jeneverbes in Dutch (which comes from the Latin Juniperus), hence the name jenever (and the English name gin), was used for its alleged medicinal benefits.

There is a tradition that attributes jenever as an invention by the Dutch chemist and alchemist Franciscus Sylvius de Bouve, and it was first sold as a medicine in the late 16th century. The problem with this theory is that Dr. Sylvius was born in the 17th century and that during his fourteen-year tenure as a professor at the University of Leiden, his research included distilling medicines with juniper berry oil, but none of his research papers contains any reference to jenever. The dates also do not add up: Dr. Sylvius certainly was not the first to distil with juniper or call a concoction jenever, as proven by written references to jenever in 13th century Bruges, Flanders (Der Naturen Bloeme) and 16th century Antwerp, Flanders (Een Constelijck Distileerboec). The latter contains the first printed jenever recipe.

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