The difference between young and old jenever
If you think that Oude Jenever has been in the barrel longer than Jonge Jenever, you are really wrong! But what is the real difference between young and old jenever?
Emergence of young gin
We have to go back in time for the difference between young and old jenever. Around 1900, the art of column distillation was introduced, with this new distillation process alcohol could be distilled to a percentage of up to 96%.
During World War II grain was very scarce. As a result, the traditionally distilled malt wine in the pot stills was replaced by grain alcohol or molasses alcohol. By leaning less on malt wine and more on spices, a new jenever recipe was created. The popularity of this new recipe increased enormously during the war.
This new method was called distilling the young jenever recipe and that is how the name "young jenever" came about.
Difference between young and old jenever
The difference between young and old jenever therefore has nothing to do with the number of years that a jenever has been in the barrel. Old jenever does not necessarily have to have been in barrels! And if you find a young aged jenever in a liquor store, this is also possible.
The difference between young and old jenever therefore has nothing to do with the number of years that a jenever has been in the barrel.
According to the 'older' recipes, jenever is made with a higher percentage of malt wine than the 'younger' recipe. It's all about the malt wine! But what is the difference in taste? Due to the higher malt wine percentage, old jenever has a fuller and grainier taste. Due to the neutral alcohol, a young jenever is tight, fresh and spicy. Come join us in the Graanrepubliek visit and discover our flavours!
The facts at a glance
- Young grain jenever = Jenever with a maximum of 15% malt wine, a minimum of 35% alcohol.
- Old grain jenever = Jenever with more than 15% malt wine, minimum 35% alcohol.
- Graan Jenever = Jenever whose alcohol is 100% prepared from grains. The final product must contain at least 30% alcohol.
- Malt wine = Traditionally in a copper boiler fired grain porridge. Provides the unmistakable grain flavor, important in jenevers.
