sampled thanks to a generous WWS member



Color: beautiful. Nice, clear, natural green. More saturated green than Trillium, and more saturated than I remember the Eichelberger, but you would not describe this as dark. Gorgeous and enticing.



Aroma (neat): The first thing that hit me was an aroma that seemed musty or earthy, wet dirt. Ainse is htere, and some grassy/herbal character, but the musty aroma is difficult for me to get past. There is a spirity/fruity alcohol component in the aroma, but it is nice. Not nearly as much "heat" as I was expecting from the high alc. content.



Louche: Everybody knows about the louche, my experience was no different. Slow to start, weak trails, and then a general haze develops. This was with a very slow drip of very cold water -- crushed ice and water dripped from a sport bottle. The completed louche is quite translucent with little or none of the milky/minty shades typical of a louched verte. Finished color is still attractive.



Aroma (after louche): The aroma expresses itself nicely during the louche; not "room filling", but it is escaping the glass and is noticeable without getting close to the glass during the louche. Anise and herbal character coming through more but I'm still picking up the musty character.



Flavor: The flavor is quite powerful, a surprise in contrast to the thin appearance of the louched glass. Herbal, on the vegetative side, with good anise and quite strong bitterness. With everything to this point being more extreme (beautiful color, strange aroma, poor louche), the flavor seems quite normal and pleasant.



Finish: Very nice, this is one where I found the anise and wormwood hang around and mingle for a while. So often I find the finish more "sequential", where flavors come and then fade, but this one was very long and complex, with anise, bitter wormwood, and other herbal flavors very nicely integrated.



Overall, quite a surprise and a bit of an enigma to me. Enjoyable to taste and analyze, and in the end I must say I like it, but it's a bit of an oddball. The unusual aroma and poor louche make it something that I'd probably frequently pass over if it were in the liquor cabinet, which is a shame, as the flavor and finish are really very nice.