Heritage - Reviewed by Experts and Consumers at The Wormwood Society
Product Details
Available in USA?
Style/Color
Degrees ABV (% alcohol)
Country of Origin
Distillery
Editor reviews
2 reviews
View most helpful
Disappointing
Overall rating
2.9
Appearance
3.5
Louche
3.5
Aroma
3.5
Flavor / Mouthfeel
2.0
Finish
2.0
Overall
2.5
Appearance: Almost more of a forest green compared to a peridot. Not incredibly bright, but still inviting and essentially 'correct'. No visible sediment or haze.
Louche: Green, white and yellow hues. Not really opalescent, but still attractive.
Aroma: Quite sweet and inviting, with lots of anise and just a hint of herbaceousness from the other herbs. Aromatic and enjoyable, but just a little too much star anise.
Flavor: Over the top sweet. Too much candy-like star anise. So much so that it almost ends up tasting artificial. Almost metallic. Especially once it has had time to breathe. Lots of numbing. If the anise was toned down quite a bit, and maybe swapped out for green anise, it would be a much more enjoyable drink. Overall, it's not terrible, but terribly unbalanced.
Finish: The metallic aftertaste is what I'm picking up most on the back end. I find myself scraping my tongue with my front teeth to try to liven up my tongue again after the numbing has set in.
Overall, it's not quite to the level of 'sub-standard', but I wouldn't put it up in the 'acceptable mid-market' absinthe either. I don't think it would turn off anyone who is new to absinthe, but I don't see it being a go-to brand for experienced absintheurs either.
Louche: Green, white and yellow hues. Not really opalescent, but still attractive.
Aroma: Quite sweet and inviting, with lots of anise and just a hint of herbaceousness from the other herbs. Aromatic and enjoyable, but just a little too much star anise.
Flavor: Over the top sweet. Too much candy-like star anise. So much so that it almost ends up tasting artificial. Almost metallic. Especially once it has had time to breathe. Lots of numbing. If the anise was toned down quite a bit, and maybe swapped out for green anise, it would be a much more enjoyable drink. Overall, it's not terrible, but terribly unbalanced.
Finish: The metallic aftertaste is what I'm picking up most on the back end. I find myself scraping my tongue with my front teeth to try to liven up my tongue again after the numbing has set in.
Overall, it's not quite to the level of 'sub-standard', but I wouldn't put it up in the 'acceptable mid-market' absinthe either. I don't think it would turn off anyone who is new to absinthe, but I don't see it being a go-to brand for experienced absintheurs either.
User reviews
4 reviews
Overall rating
2.7
Appearance
3.3(4)
Louche
3.1(4)
Aroma
2.8(4)
Flavor / Mouthfeel
2.1(4)
Finish
1.9(4)
Overall
2.6(4)
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Kinda Gross
Overall rating
2.2
Appearance
3.0
Louche
3.5
Aroma
2.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
1.0
Finish
1.5
Overall
2.0
Very green in appearance... almost too green.
Louche action is nice - but too quick.
Nice, thick louche when completed. Not thin at all.
Taste is very unbalanced and rough.
Coloring herbs really dominate and overpower everything else.
Overall it is like tasting a thick, rough tea made with absinthe herbs.
[sampled as part of a set of 5 absinthe samples from Alandia... the more you know...]
Louche action is nice - but too quick.
Nice, thick louche when completed. Not thin at all.
Taste is very unbalanced and rough.
Coloring herbs really dominate and overpower everything else.
Overall it is like tasting a thick, rough tea made with absinthe herbs.
[sampled as part of a set of 5 absinthe samples from Alandia... the more you know...]
J
Sweet, but 2 dimensional
Overall rating
2.8
Appearance
3.0
Louche
3.0
Aroma
3.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
3.0
Finish
1.0
Overall
3.0
Appearance: A natural vegetation green.
Louche: Easily forms and is thick, a light natural green color. Not bad, but not outstanding.
Aroma: The aroma is sweet and floral with anise overtones.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: This is an anisebomb, but the flavor is gone almost as soon as it arrives. This is one of the sweetest absinthes I've tried, and no sugar was added. Sugar would certainly make this absinthe sickeningly sweet. I can taste some wormwood mixed in with the initial flavor, but it's mostly star anise. The progression of flavors to me goes, really sweet, a dash of wormwood and then woody bark star anise on the finish. And then most of the flavor is gone. The mouthfeel is kind of thin to me, and only after a few sips there is a lot of tongue numbing going on.
Finish: I find the finish very lacking in this absinthe. It fades very quickly and when it fades, it's almost all gone. It's kind of like drinking star anise flavored water.
Overall: I do like this absinthe, but as a sweet, dessert like absinthe. It is about what an average absinthe should be considered. I like it more than a lot of the popular average brands like Lucid or Kubler, but it's not a good absinthe like Vilya, Pacifique or Vieux Carre. Not bad, I'd gladly have a glass every now and then when I'm in the mood for a sweet absinthe, but it's not something I would go out of my way to have in my collections on a regular basis.
Louche: Easily forms and is thick, a light natural green color. Not bad, but not outstanding.
Aroma: The aroma is sweet and floral with anise overtones.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: This is an anisebomb, but the flavor is gone almost as soon as it arrives. This is one of the sweetest absinthes I've tried, and no sugar was added. Sugar would certainly make this absinthe sickeningly sweet. I can taste some wormwood mixed in with the initial flavor, but it's mostly star anise. The progression of flavors to me goes, really sweet, a dash of wormwood and then woody bark star anise on the finish. And then most of the flavor is gone. The mouthfeel is kind of thin to me, and only after a few sips there is a lot of tongue numbing going on.
Finish: I find the finish very lacking in this absinthe. It fades very quickly and when it fades, it's almost all gone. It's kind of like drinking star anise flavored water.
Overall: I do like this absinthe, but as a sweet, dessert like absinthe. It is about what an average absinthe should be considered. I like it more than a lot of the popular average brands like Lucid or Kubler, but it's not a good absinthe like Vilya, Pacifique or Vieux Carre. Not bad, I'd gladly have a glass every now and then when I'm in the mood for a sweet absinthe, but it's not something I would go out of my way to have in my collections on a regular basis.
B
Nope.
(Updated: January 01, 2014)
Overall rating
3.2
Appearance
4.0
Louche
3.0
Aroma
4.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
2.5
Finish
3.0
Overall
3.0
Appearance: Bright olive with no sediment.
Louche: Upon adding water this forms a thick, unpenetrable louche that's somewhat unattractively colored...it was creepily reminiscent of pleghm.
Aroma: The scent is big and sweet like bubble gum while louching, and is pretty pleasant. Seems like it has a wine base? Once louched, there's something peppery like allspice.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: The anise isn't overwhelming but it's pretty jellybean-like. It's extremely sweet, and peppery without being heated. Swishing it around in my mouth opened up the flavor in a BAD WAY.
Finish: Extremely tongue-numbing, dry, and velvety (although I think the velvety texture is from the sugary-ness).
Overall: If I didn't know any better this absinthe would probably be appealing as it wouldn't completely turn me away from exploring absinthe and it has intriguing aspects...but tasting the breadth of absinthes that I've experienced, this one is not I would want to drink regularly.
ADDENDUM: To confirm my sugar suspicions, this was kept in a sample-sized bottle, and is now CRAWLING with mold. Yuck.
Louche: Upon adding water this forms a thick, unpenetrable louche that's somewhat unattractively colored...it was creepily reminiscent of pleghm.
Aroma: The scent is big and sweet like bubble gum while louching, and is pretty pleasant. Seems like it has a wine base? Once louched, there's something peppery like allspice.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: The anise isn't overwhelming but it's pretty jellybean-like. It's extremely sweet, and peppery without being heated. Swishing it around in my mouth opened up the flavor in a BAD WAY.
Finish: Extremely tongue-numbing, dry, and velvety (although I think the velvety texture is from the sugary-ness).
Overall: If I didn't know any better this absinthe would probably be appealing as it wouldn't completely turn me away from exploring absinthe and it has intriguing aspects...but tasting the breadth of absinthes that I've experienced, this one is not I would want to drink regularly.
ADDENDUM: To confirm my sugar suspicions, this was kept in a sample-sized bottle, and is now CRAWLING with mold. Yuck.
A
Iron Curtain of Badine
Overall rating
2.4
Appearance
3.0
Louche
3.0
Aroma
2.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
2.0
Finish
2.0
Overall
2.5
Appearance: A heavy, dark and grassy olive-green hue colors this clear and haze free absinthe.
Louche: This absinthe brings on the thickness. The clouds burst into gelatin like rolls during the louche. The final appearance is akin to a green tinted heavy cream. Nothing really pretty about it.
Aroma: Badine (star anise) dominates the scent. There is a lot of sweetness as well. A slight grassy and floral aroma is present but you have to work to find it behind the Iron Curtain of Badine.
Flavor: Sweet, overly so. I don't use sugar in my reviews and this tastes as if it has added sugar. The badine dominates in taste as much as it did in the aroma. The flavor and sweetness become a very “liquid licorice candy” quality that is hard to taste past. The floral note appears as lavender and is hard to seek out. On the back of the tongue an astringent bitterness is present but more as a texture and doesn't add to the flavor.
Finish: This absinthe leaves a very sticky and cloying mouthfeel that coats every inch of your palate. The lavender comes out a bit while the sides of my mouth notice a feeling reminiscent of sugar burn. Towards the end it just becomes bitter.
Overall: It is almost as if this absinthe is trying to live up to the licorice candy stereotype. Whether intended or not, it does so with full force. I don't know anything specific about this absinthes production and I tend to taste anise as sweet, but I would guess that there is some added sugar in the recipe as well.
Louche: This absinthe brings on the thickness. The clouds burst into gelatin like rolls during the louche. The final appearance is akin to a green tinted heavy cream. Nothing really pretty about it.
Aroma: Badine (star anise) dominates the scent. There is a lot of sweetness as well. A slight grassy and floral aroma is present but you have to work to find it behind the Iron Curtain of Badine.
Flavor: Sweet, overly so. I don't use sugar in my reviews and this tastes as if it has added sugar. The badine dominates in taste as much as it did in the aroma. The flavor and sweetness become a very “liquid licorice candy” quality that is hard to taste past. The floral note appears as lavender and is hard to seek out. On the back of the tongue an astringent bitterness is present but more as a texture and doesn't add to the flavor.
Finish: This absinthe leaves a very sticky and cloying mouthfeel that coats every inch of your palate. The lavender comes out a bit while the sides of my mouth notice a feeling reminiscent of sugar burn. Towards the end it just becomes bitter.
Overall: It is almost as if this absinthe is trying to live up to the licorice candy stereotype. Whether intended or not, it does so with full force. I don't know anything specific about this absinthes production and I tend to taste anise as sweet, but I would guess that there is some added sugar in the recipe as well.
E