Thread: St-Pol Graan Jenever

Another treat from Belgium!

Apart from beer, Jenever is another Belgian specialty.
It is distilled from grain, and left to mature in oak casks from 0 to ~10 years.
Belgium has hundreds of different distilleries, and there is a lot of difference in color and taste.

Personally I like my Jenever to be strong. Between 45 and 54 alcohol %.

This specimen is St-Pol, which is one of the more prestigious ones.
It comes in different alcohol %, but this one is the highest at 54%.

It is colorless, and for a Jenever, it has a surprisingly smooth and subtle taste. Most jenevers contain quite a bit of juniper berries (hence the name 'Jenever') and other herbs, giving it a very special taste.
This also explains the use as a digestif, and as a nightcap.

Here it is:

Interesting. Are the young ones quite a bit like gin? How do they differ from gin?

In what kind of barrels are the aged ones aged?

Yes, the young ones are a lot like Gin. I usually don't like them. Too strong of taste (herbs and juniper berries), and bottled at 35 % alcohol.

The young ones aren't matured at all I thought (been a while since the tour) or sometimes only a very short time.
The old ones are usually matured on oak casks.
A lot are matured on old sherry or bourbon casks.

One of my favorites is Filliers (the 8 year old), which is honey golden of color, and is aged on oak.