The Giniverse

Gin in Amsterdam

Before gin there was jenever. Amsterdam's tasting rooms have been pouring it for centuries, one of them since 1650.

  • Wynand Fockink (Tasting room, De Wallen): Serving since 1679. Known for three- and five-year-old malt jenevers aged in oak. You bow to take the first sip.
  • De Drie Fleschjes (Tasting room, Behind the Nieuwe Kerk): Established in 1650 and said to be the oldest tasting room in the city.
  • A. van Wees · De Admiraal (Tasting room, Nine Streets): Opened in 1973 by the van Wees family as the tasting room of their distillery, on the Herengracht.
  • Distilleerderij 't Nieuwe Diep (Distillery, Flevopark, Oost): A small distillery in a former pumping station in the park, making its own jenevers and liqueurs. Orders through a hatch.
  • House of Bols (Museum, Museum Quarter): An interactive tour through the story of Lucas Bols, which traces itself back to 1575, ending at the Mirror Bar.
  • National Jenever Museum (Museum, Schiedam (day trip)): In an 18th-century distillery where barley and rye are still malted. Around 1850 hundreds of Schiedam businesses distilled malt wine and flavoured it with juniper.