Wenneker is a Dutch beverage company, founded in 1812. During its history, the company has produced several alcoholic beverages and also owned many distilleries, but today it mainly focuses on liqueurs. Wenneker is less known than bigger Dutch players DeKuyper and Bols. But in innovation, the smaller ones often win. Carrot is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you start to plan different liqueur flavors. However, Wenneker has found it and 24 Carrot is a liqueur made from carrot seeds and flavored only with natural aromas. The packaging is also innovative, liqueur is bottled in a jar usually used to preserve jam. A 50 cl can of carrots cost €12.
The color of the liqueur is bright orange and opaque, not visible but not particularly cloudy either. The original aroma appears already when opening the jar and pouring into the glass. However, it is not a particularly strong smell. It has carrot, citrus and a sweet, sugary note. Also some kind of earthy spiciness. The mouthfeel is thick and the liqueur is really sweet. The carrot aroma is light, but still recognizable. Raw carrots don’t taste very strong either. However, there is a slightly essential nuance in the taste. Perhaps an aroma enhancer has been added to bring out the carrot’s natural aroma a bit better. However, I wonder why the liqueur has to be so syrupy. Much less would have been enough and the liqueur could be quite pleasant to sip neat. Now it’s way too sweet and the sugariness is too much already after the second sip. When mixed 1:1 with water, the taste starts to resemble carrot juice, although it certainly lacks the freshness of a raw carrot. The alcohol content is also at a good level, the alcohol has a suitable bite and cuts off the sweetness. With this sugar content, the alcohol level could be even higher.
When making cocktails, carrot liqueur proved tricky. It didn’t seem to go well with anything. The original, vegetal flavor seemed to ruin all the drinks I made from it. Probably only well-experienced bartenders know how to conjure cheerfully colored and tasty drinks from it. I do not recommend this for a home bartender, it will probably end up on the shelf collecting dust after a couple of drink attempts. A jar is also not a particularly good choice for a liqueur bottle. It was rather difficult to pour exact measures from the jar. Still, it’s a nice try-out and the orange jar looks original and distinctive on the shelf. However, I don’t recommend it to anyone other than very
skilled bartenders.
77/100
