This is my first review, though not my first absinthe. Lucid's general status seems to be in the "damned with faint praise" category, so I'm interested in seeing how I score it out. Some things unrelated to score - I like the newest bottle design, the prior version with just the "cat's eyes" graphic has rubbed me the wrong way on viewing it. The new version, with a silver-and-green wormwood motif, with the cat's eyes still there but more subtle, is a big improvement, in my opinion. I'm using my second glass of the evening for the purposes of this review.

This bottle was opened yesterday, and it seems that on freshly opening a bottle I always get a strong whiff of alcohol. Having sat opened for a day, the aroma from the bottle is more anise-y and almost a caramel sort of scent. It smells sweet. Pouring it into a glass, the sweetness fades away and it's more anise and fennel. There is no "funk" coming from the bottle or neat from the glass.

APPEARANCE: No haze that I can see on raising the glass parallel to the light, but a somewhat pale, golden/honey color. It should be noted this bottle is from a holiday gift pack that had gone unsold in a local liquor store, so it's been sitting for at least 4 months. It's clean and attractive, but a little pale, overall.

LOUCHE: Not too thin, not too thick; I would not describe it as opalescent, but it's a bit one-dimensional. There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but also nothing outstanding.

AROMA: Not a hint of alcohol. Mostly dominated by anise and fennel, but there are some faint, trailing odors of flowers and pine. It's an attractive, enticing aroma; somewhat above average.

FLAVOR/MOUTHFEEL: Probably the area where I feel Lucid is strongest. The texture is very smooth, not at all oily or grainy, and is somewhat creamy - it feels good to move it over and around my tongue. The upfront flavor is dominated by anise and fennel, with some woody/flowery notes I'm not really able to properly identify, with some bitterness and peppery notes hitting later on. Very satisfying.

FINISH: Unfortunately, those bitter and peppery notes hijack the finish to a degree that seems excessive. There's some additional heat, here, as well. As good as this absinthe tastes, the finish is somewhat poor. Not enough to ruin it, but in my opinion it's a sub-par finish.

OVERALL: Overall, I feel this is a slightly above-average absinthe. It's not in the same league as the other, more highly-acclaimed absinthes I've had before it, but I think it deserves a little more acclaim than it gets. Lucid is one of the most widely-available absinthes in the U.S., and there are many other industries that would be lucky to have this "level" of product to be as good as this. It's not amazing, but it is a good, solid absinthe.

Review was done with a 4:1 ratio, with sugar.