This is from a four year old bottle; I thought I had already reviewed this.

The blanche has a light yellow tinge. There's also debris that looks like black pepper. Debris in a blanche? That's screwy. The aroma is nice. Floral wormwood, chamomile, and grape. Before water this absinthe smells great.

It louches to textbook appearance, opalescent white with tinges of platinum blue. The grape fruitiness is intensified, with some talcum powder and a little sweat. Doesn't smell as good as it did before.

Tasting it, there's a brutal upfront smack of sweaty funk, but for me this dissipates quickly and I don't taste it after the first two sips. I wish that weren't there because after it's gone the flavour is actually pretty nice. Refreshing, good sweet-bitter balance. Mostly anise and grape base, it reminds me of arak. The wormwood is there but contributes little more than a camphorous character.

Finish: like its sister Verte de Fougerolles, the finish is lackluster. The flavour dies quickly and leaves little more than a numb tongue. I might be able to taste a very pale phantom of a bubblegummy sweetness.

Edit: Considering the unusually low score I gave this absinthe compared to other people's reviews, I feel that I should point out that my bottle may not be like others. Sometimes with absinthe one encounters deviations not representative of the brand. The debris issue could be a unique problem, meaning it should receive a 3 or 4 instead of the 2 I gave it. The composite score may have been dragged down pretty hard by this. If I get another opportunity to try it in the future I will make sure to revisit this review, either to confirm or adjust my thoughts on it.