Maxxium UK launches Bols Barrel Aged Genever

Beam Suntory and Edrington alliance Maxxium UK is to launch Bols Barrel Aged Genever this month.

Maxxium UK is bringing Bols’ traditional genever to the UK market.

Described as an “authentic cocktail spirit”, Bols Barrel Aged Genever is the work of Lucas Bols master distiller, Piet van Leijenhorst, and based on a 19^th Century recipe.

The 42% abv Dutch spirit is made from over 50% malt wine and blended with traditional genever botanicals (hops, cloves, anise, liquorice, ginger, juniper and others).

The spirit is then aged for at least 18 months in French Lumousin oak before being blended in an “updated version” of the traditional genever clay jugs.

Its traditional classic serve from The Netherlands is a kopstootje, a glass of full flavoured beer alongside a tulip glass of Bols Barrel Aged Genever. The spirit can also be served ice cold or at room temperature, as an aperitif, a digestive or in classic whisky cocktails.

“Genever, a spirit ingrained in Dutch culture, is being re-discovered by bartenders in the UK,” said Johna Penman, Maxxium UK’s marketing controller for Bols.

“It is an expanding category with more and more bars having genever on the back bar and in cocktails, cementing its place as one of the original cocktail ingredients through history. Bols Barrel Aged Genever not only offers versatility derived from the botanicals, but also offers depth of flavour in cocktails, provided by the ageing process.”

Bols Barrel Aged Genever is described as pale golden in colour with “powerful wood-infused flavours, with apricot and vanilla notes.

Earlier this month Bols announced it was bringing back its Blackberry liqueur flavour and launched two new liqueur variants: Date and Pineapple Chipotle.