Review Detail

1.7 45 0.5
Belle Amie, 2nd edition
Overall rating
 
4.2
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
5.0
Aroma
 
3.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
5.0
Finish
 
4.0
Overall
 
4.0
This review is for the Belle Amie 2nd edition 2008. tasted at approx. 3:1, no sugar

color: very natural, nice peridot with hint of olive. maybe just the slightest hint of haze, or perhaps my glass isn't as crystal clear as I'd like.

nose (neat): good anise, but a pretty big hit of a musty aroma was hiding anything else. We'll see how it goes after the louche.

louche: very cold water drip. Very good louche, started with great trails and rolling threads and the high alc. allowed this to continue for some time before the clouding started. Quite surprising, obviously very different behavior from Belle Amie 1. Separated nicely, had a good clear layer on top until at least 2:1. Aroma is opening up some with the water, but not room filling. Finished color is very nice, maybe leaning slightly towards the brown but with nice almost blue-ish highlights at the surface rim. Fairly opaque, but some translucence when looking up through the glass at an angle. Very attractive.

nose: musty smell has mellowed and faded with water, but it's still there and more than I would like. There is more herbal character coming through now, and nicely balancing the anise, with anise still a bit more in the lead, the way I like it. Overall aroma is somewhat muted and restrained. Reduce or eliminate that musty character and bring everything else up a bit and I'd really like this.

flavor: Very nice anise, this is my preferred style. Nice bitter character, and other herbs there as well, but they're all letting the anise shine through nicely. Very good mouthfeel, not too heavy but not thin. There is an interesting flowery flavor that comes and goes, it is not difficult to pick out, it reminds me a bit of the smell of baby powder. That's a new flavor for me, so it seems slightly out of place to me, but it's actually kind of nice and something I wouldn't mind getting used to. DIfficult to decide whether to score 4 or 5 for this, but I think the only thing that would keep me from going a 5 is probably attributable to the aroma, so a 5 for flavor.

finish: anise and spice, and then replaced by mild, pleasant bitterness. The "baby powder" noted earlier makes a short appearance in the finish, quite unusual. Slightly tongue numbing but not heavy. It really had me wanting another sip.

overall: I really enjoyed this one. If that aromatic note that I didn't care for could be toned down a LOT, I'd probably have this up in my top few. Nicely balanced, learning towards the anise which is what I'm finding I prefer. I'll certainly enjoy drinking the rest of the bottle, but it's probably going to be one of those things that I'll always be thinking "if only for that smell ..."
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