Bols

In 1575, the Bols family started a distillery called 'het Lootsje' where they would distill liqueurs and also genevers from 1664 onwards. This was the starting point of what would become the world's oldest distilled spirits brand. In 1652, Lucas Bols was born. He was an influential business man, living in the Golden Age, when Amsterdam was the world’s major trading city. Lucas Bols managed to turn Bols into an international brand and greatly expanded the range of liqueurs. After years of prosperity the last male member of the Bols family died in 1816. The widow of the last male Bols heir sold the company on the condition that the Bols name would be used in perpetuity on all its products, thereby ensuring its status as the world’s oldest distilled spirits brand.