UNDER THE CORK

Have you ever wondered what’s inside a KLM house? Guess what, if you remove the seal, in the chimney, you’ll come across a neat little cork, measuring only 22 mm x 12,5 mm x 8,5 mm. Cork used as a cap is actually a 17th-century invention, and about the same time genever, or Dutch Gin was created. This is what you find under the cork in the chimney of a KLM-house. The story of the cork itself is fascinating too…

Stripping the outer bark of a cork oak tree in full growth is a delicate operation. The harvesting of cork is performed by hand, and happens about 15 times during the life of the tree. The harvesting generally improves the trees health and vigor. The cork of a KLM house comes from Portugal, where it is harvested by members of the family Kies, the oldest Dutch cork company of the Netherlands, established in 1845.