Distillers Companies - Lucas Bols (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 185. Not illustrated. Chapters: Lucas Bols. Excerpt: Lucas Bols is a privately held Dutch company in the business of production, distribution, sales and marketing of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest Dutch company still active and the oldest distillery brand in the world. Its brand portfolio consists of Bols, Galliano, Vaccari, Pisang Ambon, Goldstrike and a large group of Dutch genevers and liqueurs. It produces about 3 million cases a year, with yearly revenues exceeding 95 million euros. Bols is an old family name from the Antwerp, Belgium area. In Old Dutch, Bols means arrow. As a result of the Eighty Years War between the Netherlands and Spain and the Spanish Inquisition, part of the family fled to Germany. There is a record of a reverse emigration back to Amsterdam. Although there is a lack of hard historical evidence, it is claimed by the company and generally accepted that in 1575 the Bols family arrived in Amsterdam and opened their distillery t Lootsje (English: ). The distillery was located outside the city walls on the post road to Haarlem, situated next to a stream. By 1612 the city's walls had expanded to encompass the distillery, and the stream was dug out into a canal called the Rozengracht because of rose nurseries in the area. Around the same time, a new stone building was constructed to house the distillery. The first official mention is in 1634 in Amsterdam town papers, where Pieter Jacobszoon Bols is documented as operator of t Lootsje on the Rozengracht. Lucas Bols was born in 1652. His era corresponded with the Dutch golden age, when the Netherlands were a colonial power, and led the world in international commerce. The Dutch East India Company, of which Lucas was a major shareholder, brought exotic herbs, spices and fruits back to Amsterdam, and these were used to create new liqueurs and genevers. Many...