Color
Pre-louche it is perfectly clear and colorless. Louched it is milky grayish white with pewter highlights.

Louche
Starts out with thick entertaining trails, and clear delineation of louched/un-louched layer, but don't look the other way. FAST! It all goes cloudy real quick, even with a relatively slow drip. If you wanted to belly up with a batch of popcorn and watch the show, you would have to drip so slowly that you'd never get to drink it! Fully louched by 1.5:1. Final color is very straightforward... nothing wrong, nothing compelling.

Aroma
All anise and fennel pre-louche. Post louche, anise really predominates. Wormwood and fennel are there, but definitely secondary. Not particularly complex (it's the trinity), but very fresh and inviting. As the temperature of the drink comes up, the nose comes into better balance.

Flavor
Palate impression follows nose very accurately. Anise, wormwood, fennel, in that order. Clean and fresh, gentle, gentle drying from the wormwood. Really very pleasant and satisfying. The wormwood sensation, although dominated by the anise and fennel, builds gently in the mouth with each sip.

Finish
Follows palate very well. Nice soft drying on finish, and a little minty. Absolutely nothing wrong.

Overall
A very pleasant blanche. No surprises, no disappointments. Not challenging, but very refreshing. Solid. I would call this conventionally pretty as opposed to distinctive. I want this one around.

Revisit 7/04/09 - Most original observations persist, however I have lowered the scores for both Aroma and Flavor from 4s to 3s. A year of experience with this beverage, and my ability to detect a slight "off" aroma and flavor are the reasons for this. Also, in both categories, this absinthe doesn't quite exhibit the kind of completeness or complexity necessary to garner 4s. Still, an acceptable and refreshing beverage.

Done with a 1 ounce dose, diluted 3:1, and no sugar.

Kubler 53 USA 11/06/08, 11/08/08, 7/04/09.
All evaluations had consistent notes.

Color: It's perfectly clear. It's a blanche for goodness sakes!

Louche: Nice and not too thick. It does get there fast, though.

Aroma: Clean, fresh and herbal.

Flavor: Great start! Not much in the middle but the wormwood lingers in the end.

Finish: Nice Wormwood and a bit of tongue-numb but more flavor would be better.

Overall: I like Kubler. It's a wonderful everyday absinthe and I expect to keep a bottle in easy reach on my bar. Welcome to America, Kubler!

The US release of Kübler 53 reminds me a lot of a good arak. Well, the European one does, too, but I actually think this one is cleaner and better. The colour is perfectly clear. The louche is gorgeous but too fast, as anise is by far the dominant herb.

The aroma is very pleasant and typical of VDT blanches. A lot of anise wrapped in an ethereal, floral blanket. Wormwood is quite noticeable in the nose. Unfortunately it only barely carries over to the taste, which reminds me more of Razzouk arak than it does of any absinthe. It's anise, anise, and anise. At least it's really good anise, though, and not too sweet. Spicy and slightly camphorous. Wormwood is detectable with some effort, mostly as a floral quality on the roof of the mouth and then as a light, bitter kick in the long, anisey finish. The mouth-feel is creamy but too numbing.

The most noticeable difference between this version and the European release is the lack of the chocolaty, burnt taste that I found distracting in the latter. This is a lot more clean and appropriate tasting, although it could stand to have either the anise drawn back or the other herbs brought considerably forward. For absinthe, its suggested retail price of $49.99 without the added cost of courier shipping from Europe makes it very attractive. Yet it still costs 300% more than Razzouk while only tasting 30% better. A heftier wormwood profile would really help to fix that.

ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 10/8/07: Color is very bright and clear, as would be expected from a blanche.

Louche begins quickly and builds well, with nice oil trails, and a clearly defined layering effect. The heaviness of the anise definitely contributes to a quick forming, thick louche. Great to watch.

The aroma is herbal, light and refreshing.

Flavor starts out well, with a nice anise sweetness which finishes with an alpine wormwood bitterness. Simple, yet extremely enjoyable.

Finish is light and creamy. Doesn't last long. That could be uninteresting while drinking solely, but advantageous if drinking while eating.

Overall: To be honest, I can't pick out any glaring differences between this version, and their European offering. It's quite good. When I'm in the mood for a blanche, this will be at the top of the list. Given the fact that I can get it for so much cheaper than the European version, there's no doubt I'll be picking this one up at the local liquor store. This absinthe makes me extremely excited to see what's going to be coming into the states in the near future! OVERALL SCORE: 4.2



UPDATED REVIEW 9-13-08: As with my Lucid review, I was forced to update my original review based on a host of new products entering the US market. On a whole, this still is a great, everyday absinthe. It's not a stand out, but it's nothing I'd recommend passing over either. It's still very clean and refreshing. Great for summer days. Although my review rating has fallen because of the wealth of comparable products, I still like this one a lot.