I recently got invited to a virtual liquor tasting event thanks to The Hague and Van Kleef. Over the lockdown having virtual drinks has been really fun and I have learned so much more about wine and the history of gin, originally Jenever.

After having a brief summary of The Hague, it made me realise how much I want that city break. I am not ready to get on a plane just yet so, for now, I will just keep growing my “places to go list”.

I was gifted a package with 3 liquors, 3 tasting glasses, olives & peanuts. It was the perfect virtual tasting session especially with the great tutor we had, Fleur Kruyt, owner of Van Kleef.

A bit about The Hague..

• 3rd biggest city in the Netherlands and the only one with the sea
• one of the greenest cities in the Netherlands, with lovely national parks
• multicultural & quietly cosmopolitan
• it prides itself in being sustainable
• from the city, it is only a 15-minute bike ride to get to sandy beaches
• home to beautiful 11km stretch of sandy beaches and also Hollands most famous seaside resort, Scheveningen
• it is the political heart of Netherlands and the location for the parliament buildings
• the King lives and works here
• good location for surfers

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There is so much to do in The Hague and the fact you can get both city and beach life within minutes is a selling point for me. For more information visit their website.

Van Kleef

The distillery was founded in 1842 and is the sole surviving jenever & liqueur distillery that continues to operate today. They pride themselves in quality, craftsmanship, and history. I had a glimpse of Van Kleef virtually and hope to go and visit the distillery in person. We tried three liquors on the evening:

1. Volmaakt Geluk: This was my favourite out of the three. Also known as “perfect happiness” and traditionally enjoyed after couples made love, the purple drink is smooth and goes down well on the rocks. This had a combination of violet, rose, almond, cinnamon, orange and vanilla. The aromas were well balanced and the flavours just went really well together.
2. Orange Bitter: Made with oranges including the peel, it had a light bittersweet flavour yet is so fresh. It would work perfectly with some champagne or prosecco. I have to experiment some cocktails with it because it is almost like Aperol and would work well with some gin.
3. Oude Jenever: This traditionally made Dutch jenever (gin) is blended with selected herbs and spices and aged in barrels ( similar to whiskey making techniques). It tasted like pure gin and was a bit too strong on its own but combined with a few mixture I can see this going down a treat. Interesting fact: Gin as we know it today came into existence because of Jenever (juniper berries).

You can find out more about Van Kleef on their website.

Have you been to The Hague? It is somewhere I would love to visit now I know more about it. Paired with a sound of a traditional distillery tour I think this is the perfect city beach break.

Neha

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Disclaimer [AD]: This was an invite/gift. All views, opinions and photos are my own unless otherwise stated.