My review is mostly a comparison with Lucid, since these are the only half-real absinthes available in most all New Jersey liquor stores. I must either travel to NYC or order mail order to get high-quality absinthe here.

Color: The color is a nice bright green, but it's artificial and that fact is reflected in my score.

Louche: Very nice louche, oily trails take time clouding up into an opaque, lime green color. Good show.

Aroma: Hot alcohol aroma from bottle, but anise and lemon balm (?) seem quite apparent. Not unpleasant.

Flavor: I haven't tried it neat, but louched the citrusy flavor is pleasant when compared with Lucid. I taste some wormwood, certainly anise and lemon balm (?).

Finish: Better than Lucid, which seems to insist on using an inferior beet liquor base that causes terrible hangovers. Citrusy notes linger and are quite pleasant. No bad aftertaste but strong alcohol flavor stays on the tongue along with some wormwood flavor. Pleasant "secondary" feeling.

Overall: I hate Lucid, even though I gave it about a "C" for its naturalness. Maybe I'm personally allergic to some of the ingredients of Lucid? I don't know, but Pernod has better flavor and the liquor seems cleaner. I know there are "natural flavors" added and the artificial coloring is obvious to see, but to me it still beats Lucid for flavor, after effect, side effects and secondary "buzz." Need a good sugar cube to cut bitterness. It is over-priced though. For something mass produced, it shouldn't cost more than $4o, unless they're not telling us something we should know about the ingredients. Maybe it's my mood, maybe it's because I just took an allergy pill, but I like this. It deserves at least three points overall.