Review Detail
3.7 3 0.5
Vintage Absinthe
Quite a unique absinthe
(Updated: August 01, 2012)
Overall rating
4.2
Appearance
5.0
Louche
4.0
Aroma
4.5
Flavor / Mouthfeel
4.0
Finish
3.5
Overall
4.0
To start, I'm pretty bad with picking out specific flavors in any beverage I taste, but I'll do my best.
Prep: Ice cold fountain with an unnaturally slow drip. Hey, it's not every day I louche up a ~150 year old absinthe. No sugar of any type was added.
Appearance: Unlouched, it looks like an attractive scotch. A nice, pretty, feuille morte. No complaints.
Louche: Just a tad bit of water, and I already see a cloudy layer forming! Quickest louche I've yet seen. The final louche lacks some opalescence that I'd hoped to see, but still a strong, amber-colored louche.
Aroma: Ho boy. Very unique aroma coming out of this one. With an herbaceous baseline, the hints of medicinal iodine as well as a certain sweetness hit me. Quite interesting but not something that makes me want to magically turn the stuff into a candle and take it everywhere I go.
Flavor: It starts with a bit of butterscotch and then the herbs hit me. Wormwood and fennel. There's also some other herb playing around that I can't name. See? I told you I suck at this. While sipping this guy, there's something about it that made me put it down for a bit. I needed to take breaks from sipping it. Not sure why, I just suppose the flavor's appeal didn't last. There some absinthes that I need to constantly have near my face, but unfortunately, this isn't it. I also did note a tiny bit of a moldy flavor in there, but that may be just placebo effect. I really couldn't figure that out.
Finish: Oddly, a bit bitter. I didn't mind it, as it wasn't overwhelming. It had a bite to it, and I did feel the need to drink a bit of water after. It did also finish dry. By dry, I mean literally making my mouth dry (the effect didn't set in until about half way through the glass). I've never experienced that in an absinthe before, but I can recall quite a few cognacs and scotches that had a similar effect.
So yeah. It is nothing like a modern absinthe. It reminds me a bit of L'Ancienne mixed with a more traditional tasting absinthe (like MoL). This is by far the most interesting combination of flavor, aroma, and finish I've yet experienced in an absinthe.
Prep: Ice cold fountain with an unnaturally slow drip. Hey, it's not every day I louche up a ~150 year old absinthe. No sugar of any type was added.
Appearance: Unlouched, it looks like an attractive scotch. A nice, pretty, feuille morte. No complaints.
Louche: Just a tad bit of water, and I already see a cloudy layer forming! Quickest louche I've yet seen. The final louche lacks some opalescence that I'd hoped to see, but still a strong, amber-colored louche.
Aroma: Ho boy. Very unique aroma coming out of this one. With an herbaceous baseline, the hints of medicinal iodine as well as a certain sweetness hit me. Quite interesting but not something that makes me want to magically turn the stuff into a candle and take it everywhere I go.
Flavor: It starts with a bit of butterscotch and then the herbs hit me. Wormwood and fennel. There's also some other herb playing around that I can't name. See? I told you I suck at this. While sipping this guy, there's something about it that made me put it down for a bit. I needed to take breaks from sipping it. Not sure why, I just suppose the flavor's appeal didn't last. There some absinthes that I need to constantly have near my face, but unfortunately, this isn't it. I also did note a tiny bit of a moldy flavor in there, but that may be just placebo effect. I really couldn't figure that out.
Finish: Oddly, a bit bitter. I didn't mind it, as it wasn't overwhelming. It had a bite to it, and I did feel the need to drink a bit of water after. It did also finish dry. By dry, I mean literally making my mouth dry (the effect didn't set in until about half way through the glass). I've never experienced that in an absinthe before, but I can recall quite a few cognacs and scotches that had a similar effect.
So yeah. It is nothing like a modern absinthe. It reminds me a bit of L'Ancienne mixed with a more traditional tasting absinthe (like MoL). This is by far the most interesting combination of flavor, aroma, and finish I've yet experienced in an absinthe.
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