Color
Unlouched, a light green with an overtone which is more yellow than gold. Like peas and corn (with Gump accent). Crystal clear and clean, pleasing and very natural looking. Louched, better retention of the green than I expected, with a golden-yellow influence overall.

Louche
More translucent than most, lovely nonetheless. Very correct for this style of absinthe. Celery green, and an amber interior with myriad other subtle colors changing with light source and movement. Nice action while forming, due to a relatively high abv (75%), and restrained anethole. May not satisfy the "thick louche" crowd, but I like it very much.

Aroma
Very clean both before and after louche. Balanced slightly toward the herbal side, however the anise and wonderful fennel are present and in adequate support. A great wormwood, mint, and floral impression. Nice sense of hyssop and a very clean base. I really like this when it warms a little.

Flavor
A nice, dry, herbal impression up front. A.a., A.p., and hyssop in nice tandem, combined with a great combination of spice and dryness. Slightly more anise than the nose led me to expect, lends good balance with a slight impression of sweetness. Very clean, smooth mouthfeel. A little tingle and a slight mintiness are the icing on the cake.

Finish
Right in sync with the whole package. An initial sweet impression leading to the wormwood and other herbs, combined with a soft pull on the palate. Bright, fresh, and minty with a spicy tingliness that eventually segues to a slight astringency and powderiness. Long, satisfying, and enjoyable.

Overall
I like this one a lot. It's herbal, spicy, honest, and clean. Very absinthey. I really don't get all the comments I've read about this, for years now, referring to it as "medicinal". I suspect, however, that some of those comments result from mis-preparation. Because of the translucent nature of the louche, I think some are moved to under-water this. At lesser dilutions (under 4.5:1), it's my opinion that its herbal forward quality and the degree of alcohol combine to create that impression. One must remember this is an absinthe bottled at 75% abv. As such, it needs a good deal of water to bring it to a conventional final abv. At even 4.5:1, the final abv is 13.63%. I think this needs more like 5:1 - 5.5:1 (12.5% - 11.54%) to really show correctly.

So my suggestions to maximize your enjoyment with this one are; 1. Utilize icy cold water and a slow drip or pour to develop the best louche. 2. Watch your dilution ratio. 3. Let it warm a little to enhance the aromatics. 4. Giddyup!

Done with a 1 ounce dose, diluted 4:1, 4.5:1, 5:1, 5.2:1, 5.5:1, and no sugar.

Absinthe Roquette 1797, 3/03/10, 5/02/10, 11/12/10, 4/23/11.
All evaluations had consistent notes.