• History

    Shortly after the discovery of the island in 1499 the Spaniards planned for, amongst others, the agricultural development of Curaçao. One of the plants they carried with care on their long sea voyages from Spain was the so-called “Valencia” orange.
    But the sizzling sun and arid climate were too much for the colorful sweet oranges and changed this juicy fruit to a kind of bitter, almost inedible product. In short the project was forgotten and the "misfits" of the once proud "Valencia" oranges grew wild and abandoned, not even touched by our infamous goats. It was not till decades later (the exact date is lost in history) that someone discovered that the peels of this orange, thoroughly dried by the sun, contained etheric oils with an extraordinary pleasing fragrance. By this time, the stepchild of the Valencia orange had received its own botanical name: “Citrus Aurantium Currassuviensis”, meaning “Golden Orange of Curaçao”. In the local tongue simply named “Laraha”. The family Senior & Co. produces its ancient old liqueur in the famous Landhuis Chobolobo. Landhuis Chobolobo was built in the early 1800's. It is located in the center of a piece of land which has an area of 10,500 m². (2 ½ acres). The property's history is rather sketchy, but we do know that in the early 1900's it belonged to the Family Jesurun. In 1947 the property was purchased by N.V. Senior & Co. and since then Landhuis Chobolobo is the home of the Genuine Curaçao Liqueur.