A well-known face in the Dutch Spirit drinks industry took a big leap last year when he surprised his friends and colleagues by quitting his job, leaving everyone flabbergasted with a “see you soon” note. After trying for a while what it would feel like to sleep in, his inner Duracell rabbit was fully recharged…
Category: netherlands
De Bronckhorst
The eastern parts of the Dutch province Gelderland is known as the “Achterhoek” which translates easiest as a back-corner or, as we learned from our Scottish friends in Fife, a Neuk – which means something entirely different translated back to Dutch. The Achterhoek is a rural place with patches of forests, but mostly flat open…
Dungeons & Eagles
In our search for the next passionate Dutch distiller, we travel to the picturesque municipality of Doesburg, where medieval monastery “Het Arsenaal” has been converted to house several small businesses. Where a Grand Café, small cinema, game store, wine merchant and whisky specialist already had found their home, a micro distillery has joined inside their…
The Foam Party
The last couple of months we have been busy filling our days with work, trying (and failing) to avoid the flu epidemic(s), study, look for a new job, read, assess and review books (which feels close to studying), taste liquors and make notes on them, setup and create pictures, visit families who, apparently, need attention…
Whisky Weekend Twente
Whisky Weekend Twente 2017, what a great festival this was. Old familiars, well known acquaintances and new, yet to explore friendships and drams. A great atmosphere, created in the vip lounges of the local football stadium in Almelo, which was for the fourth time converted into a cozy whisky gathering of mostly local whisky enthusiasts….
Briny Dutch Moonshine
The Netherlands has lots of beautiful corners and stretches of nature and its own selection of wildlife. One of our favorite places to go to and relax for the past 20 years we have been together, is certainly one of the many Frisian Islands, better known as the Wadden Islands. This group of islands starting…
Catching the Distilling Bug – Stokerij Sculte
In the Eastern parts of the Netherlands we have seen many distilleries surfacing recently. We have visited the distilleries in Vroomshoop and Deventer already, and after another two hour drive on the A1 heading east, we return to the Province Overijssel, in the region called Twente. This time we are here to visit the small…
There is nothing above Groningen – Hooghoudt distillery
After our recent Scotland trip, we had to come back to the Netherlands and do some work to make some money and do it again (and again) next year (and beyond). Scotland is great, as you can see from our weekly articles these days after the road trip through the promised land, but hang on……
Apples and Oranges, ehrm… Pears. – van Leon distillery
This time of the year is in the Netherlands known as the time to enjoy the Queen of the Vegetables, the White Gold, the Asparagus. With family living in the province of North Brabant, where a large amount of the country’s asparagus are grown, we travelled towards them for a nice dinner with the traditional…
No Guts, No Glory – Wagging Finger distillery
On the brink of our latest adventure into Scotland, we decided to visit the youngest distillery in the Netherlands. In Deventer – one of the oldest Hanseatic cities in the Netherlands, the Wagging Finger distillery is put together with a lot of experimenting, love and passion, is already operational and bottling their first batch of…
Just act normal, that’s crazy enough… – Kalkwijck distillery
The Netherlands. According to some, cradle of the modern spirits. Aged and unaged Jenevers, Gins, Corenwines, Maltwines, Vieux and sweet liquors, and for almost two decades already, there are also some quite decent Dutch whiskies on the market. Discovering the world of whisky, we – as many whisky enthusiasts, started with Scotland to explore…
Clan MacMorland
Wullie & Gerie MacMorland When you are alive and breathing in the Netherlands and are in one form or the other enthusiastic about whisky and passionate about good food, there is a good chance you have heard about Wullie MacMorland from Hielander Scottish Restaurant in Alkmaar. Besides running the restaurant & whisky bar, he is…
WhiskySpeller 