ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 7/27/07: Tagged even by Ted Breaux as a 'Jade light', this is the first authentic absinthe to be released for purchase within the U.S. since the early 1900's.

The color isn't as bright as the Jades, but very natural and pleasant. There's just a hint of murkiness.

The louche starts with wonderful oil trails and builds slowly from the bottom to the top, with a clear delineation of green and milky white.

The aroma is spicy and herbal with nice amounts of anise and fennel. Quite powerful. The use of beet spirit instead of grape spirit is noticable, but not off-putting.

Upon tasting, I didn't expect as much anise as I got. Given his notes that he had reduced the amount of anise to comply with American tastes, I was taken by surprise. The balance of anise and fennel and wormwood is much better than I anticipated. It also leaves nice legs on the glass when drinking or swirling.

The finish has a hint of the same spiciness that I taste with the PF 1914 vintage. Almost peppery. When asked about this at the Tales of the Cocktail 2007, he attributed this to the use of commercially available herbs, which have different qualities and tastes than the small scale harvesting of herbs that he uses for the Jades.



Overall, this is a great introduction of absinthe to the US. It's an absinthe that doesn't overpower the novice, and will leave them wanting to try more. A success as a door opener. OVERALL REVIEW: 3.8



UPDATED REVIEW 9-13-08:

Most of my opinions above still are valid, but with the recent influx of high quality absinthe into the US market, the original scores just couldn't hold up to the competition. It's still a great introduction to absinthe newcomers, but it's a mid-range absinthe. Made th right way, with the qualities one looks for in authentic brands, just not a blockbuster.