Rutte distillery celebrates 150th anniversary

09 Jun Rutte distillery celebrates 150th anniversary

You celebrate a birthday in itself every year, but not an anniversary.
And certainly not your 150th birthday.
Exactly that long ago Simon Rutte started his first business in 1872 in the heart of Dordrecht.
Hardly anything has changed in that time.
Distillery Rutte distills its products at the same place where Simon once started.
Still small-scale and with only natural ingredients.
And still with an inspired master distiller at the helm: Myriam Hendrickx.

Simon Rutte, the^4th generation of an old distiller’s family, decides to start his own business with his wife.
It is the spring of 1872.
Dordrecht has an important function as a commercial city on the busy Merwederivier.
Simon’s father, a burner’s servant in Rotterdam, came to the city as early as 1830 because there was plenty of work for craftsmen.
His son Simon does not want to remain a servant.
He has a hundred ideas.
After 10 years of distilling for others, he buys his first business.
Finally Simon can make what he wants for himself.
He is fascinated by all the beauty that nature has to offer; spices from the Far East, local herbs, wine sold in barrels in the harbors of Dordrecht and berries from the Biesbosch, the wetlands next to the city.
He starts working with liqueurs and bitters; corn wines and genevers soon follow.
Simon trains his son Anton, who adds gin to the range in 1918.
Simon’s grandson Jan, uses the empty wine barrels for the first wood-aged genevers.
And so each generation adds something to the extensive portfolio, but especially botanical knowledge.
The creative nature of the family has been very important for the products and survival of this special company.
It is unique that Rutte is still located in the same place and that almost nothing has changed.
Where the family used to eat and sleep, guests are now received for a tasting or workshop.
The building has been completely renovated over the past two decades, but everything else has remained as it was; the methods as well as the botanicals, although Rutte also moves with the times.
Think for example of the beautiful Dutch Dry Gin with organic botanicals and hand peeled oranges; for a fresh gin tonic or cocktail.

Jubilee product: Old Simon Jubilee

Old Simon Genever is one of the oldest products, named after Simon Rutte.
It symbolizes who Rutte is: a creative botanical distiller.
Old Simon has 12 botanicals, including mace, celery seed and berries, as well as toasted walnuts and hazelnuts; unheard of in the gin world.
Five years ago, several barrels were filled with this distillate to mature into Old Simon.
Especially for this special milestone, the current generation created a limited edition: extra nutty and wood-aged.
The label shows Simon Rutte and the Jugendstil pattern he applied to the facade at the beginning of the ^20th century.
Because it is Rutte’s birthday, the price has been kept low, including a nice gift tube.
Suggested retail price: €24.99. Visit Rutte for a tasting, gin-making workshop or a headshot tasting: premium gins paired with craft beers. www.rutte.nl