National Jenevermuseum, Belgium

A really great official card I had received from Belgium!

BE-78495

This card shows the National Jenever museum in Hasselt.

It is said that the French have their cognac, the Scots their whisky, the Germans their schnapps, and the Russians their vodka. And the Belgians… they have genever and have been drinking it for more than 500 years. In the English speaking world it is known as the Dutch gin, the juniper-flavored and strongly alcoholic traditional liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium, from which gin evolved. Believed to have been invented by a Dutch chemist and alchemist named Sylvius de Bouve, it was first sold as a medicine in the late 16th century. In the 17th century, it became more popular for its flavour. In its long life, genever has taken on many different forms. In good times it was made from corn, in not-so-good times from molasses. In some regions it was spicy, in other regions it had a neutral taste. Some loved it and other loathed it, it was a source of joy, but also of intense irritation. The government had a love-hate relationship with genever, which on the one hand was a great source of income but on the other, represented a danger to public health.

and i ABSOLUTELY love the stamp on this card! maybe it is not a jenever, but it really matches the topic, and still, such a lovely picturesque stamp it is. It comes from an m/s of 5 stamps issued in 2010 depicting the La Hesbaye region in Belgium.

Someone feels like doing a *cheers* with a glass of wine? Or jenever? :)