Review Detail
2.2 12 0.5
Grande Absente - Not Very Grande At All
(Updated: June 18, 2008)
Overall rating
2.1
Appearance
2.0
Louche
3.0
Aroma
2.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
2.0
Finish
1.0
Overall
2.0
*Color Before Water*
From reading posts in the forum, I knew before hand that the color was artificial. However seeing a bottle up close and personal, which in itself I find tasteless and silly with it's bloated and comical type fonts. However the color is a bit brighter then expected, perfectly translucent with zero sediment.
*Aroma Before Water*
Weak and one dimensional. The heat of alcohol is strong and up front and there's a vague nose of Anise. This alone seemed strange to me as I usually find Anise and fennel to be up front and bold, regardless of brand. I was hard pressed to detect any Fennel whatsoever. I found no trace of floral and or herbal tones.
*Louche*
Not bad at all, in fact interesting in it's own right. Swirls of trails dance down towards the bottom of the glass and the Louche although not turbulent nor awe inspiring spreads out evenly and dense. The resulting color is a very pale lime green. It lacks the opalescent quality I've seen with other brands and it appears thicker than it actually is. As the mouth feel is more watery than one might expect, considering the density of the completed Louche.
*Aroma After Water*
More heady with Anise and a sweet, slightly medicinal nose. Sadly it stops here. Any herbal or floral characteristics is pretty much non existent. On a positive note there's no "funk" or odd, off putting aroma.
*Flavor*
One dimensional at best and candy sweet. It would be insanity to use sugar with this Absinthe. Unless you were having a glass for desert - or have a ferocious sweet tooth. It is most definitely sticky sweet with absolutely no bite of Wormwood or any bitter tang in the background to offset or balance it's syrup sweet flavor.
*The Finish*
A nice numbing of the tongue but the sticky sweetness lingers - and it lingers too long.
*Final Impression*
Too sweet for me, but others may enjoy it. I think at it's price point of $70 you're better off with any number of US offerings. It's not a bad drink but it does fall terribly short of any delicate nuances, notes and tones of the lovely flavors anyone with a love and respect of fine Absinthe would look for.
At 138 proof, Grande Absente packs quite a punch. To their credit there's an advisory on the back warning to drink it with care and moderation. I experienced no secondary effect whatsoever, just a dull headed buzz and a headache to boot.
From reading posts in the forum, I knew before hand that the color was artificial. However seeing a bottle up close and personal, which in itself I find tasteless and silly with it's bloated and comical type fonts. However the color is a bit brighter then expected, perfectly translucent with zero sediment.
*Aroma Before Water*
Weak and one dimensional. The heat of alcohol is strong and up front and there's a vague nose of Anise. This alone seemed strange to me as I usually find Anise and fennel to be up front and bold, regardless of brand. I was hard pressed to detect any Fennel whatsoever. I found no trace of floral and or herbal tones.
*Louche*
Not bad at all, in fact interesting in it's own right. Swirls of trails dance down towards the bottom of the glass and the Louche although not turbulent nor awe inspiring spreads out evenly and dense. The resulting color is a very pale lime green. It lacks the opalescent quality I've seen with other brands and it appears thicker than it actually is. As the mouth feel is more watery than one might expect, considering the density of the completed Louche.
*Aroma After Water*
More heady with Anise and a sweet, slightly medicinal nose. Sadly it stops here. Any herbal or floral characteristics is pretty much non existent. On a positive note there's no "funk" or odd, off putting aroma.
*Flavor*
One dimensional at best and candy sweet. It would be insanity to use sugar with this Absinthe. Unless you were having a glass for desert - or have a ferocious sweet tooth. It is most definitely sticky sweet with absolutely no bite of Wormwood or any bitter tang in the background to offset or balance it's syrup sweet flavor.
*The Finish*
A nice numbing of the tongue but the sticky sweetness lingers - and it lingers too long.
*Final Impression*
Too sweet for me, but others may enjoy it. I think at it's price point of $70 you're better off with any number of US offerings. It's not a bad drink but it does fall terribly short of any delicate nuances, notes and tones of the lovely flavors anyone with a love and respect of fine Absinthe would look for.
At 138 proof, Grande Absente packs quite a punch. To their credit there's an advisory on the back warning to drink it with care and moderation. I experienced no secondary effect whatsoever, just a dull headed buzz and a headache to boot.
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