The company was founded in 1695 by Petrus De Kuyper as a manufacturer of barrels and casks used in the transportation of spirits and beer.
[1] By 1752, the family owned a distillery in Schiedam which was then the leading center for the production of Dutch gin or genever.
The roster of flavors slowly expanded, and partnerships were formed with distillers in Canada (1932) and the United States (1934, strategically at the end of Prohibition).
After prohibition, De Kuyper sold the right to manufacture and market their brands in the United States to National Distillers.
In the same year, Erven Warnink - the leading producer of advocaat and cream liqueurs – was taken over by De Kuyper Royal Distillers.