Roquette 1797 - Reviewed by Experts and Consumers at The Wormwood Society

 
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Ordering
This is my style.
(Updated: July 16, 2011)
Overall rating
 
3.8
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
3.0
Aroma
 
4.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
4.0
Finish
 
4.0
Overall
 
4.0
The colour is clear peridot, very nice. There's a big, minty wormwood aroma with sweet anise underneath. Powdery and earthy.

The louche is very weak. Nice blue-green colour but very thin. With water it smells mostly of strong wormwood with some hyssop. Still earthy.

Powerful flavour, dominated by that minty wormwood. Not much anise, more hyssop. Much sweeter and less bitter than expected based on the herb levels. Screams to be paired with chocolate chip cookies. Very crisp.

There's a bitterness in the finish that rises from the depths and fades as the mintiness lingers.

This is my sort of absinthe, disregarding the louche. More wormwood, less anise. It's not what people think of as the classic absinthe flavour but it's exactly what I enjoy.
A
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The Horse He Rode In On
(Updated: April 28, 2023)
Overall rating
 
4.2
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
4.0
Aroma
 
4.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
5.0
Finish
 
4.0
Overall
 
4.0
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.
M
Top 10 Reviewer 53 reviews
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Oh yeah, I like this one...
(Updated: May 13, 2009)
Overall rating
 
4.2
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
3.0
Aroma
 
5.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
5.0
Finish
 
4.0
Overall
 
4.0
Color is a very appealing, natural looking light green. No sediment. Very bright.

Not surprisingly, the louche is slow to form and is rather thin upon completion. This was to be expected based on the producer's notes regarding the recipe. Using a glass dripper with crushed ice, I managed to take approximately 10 minutes or so to louche up. It's a nice ending color, but not very thick.

The aroma is exactly what I was expecting from a recipe that was more of a tonic than an aperitif. Quite medicinal and herbal with a bit of alcoholic heat. I might penalize a normal absinthe for the heat, but it seems to fit with what the producer wanted to do with it. I loved it. It covered the entire room with an herbal blanket.

The flavor is tough to beat. Some may not enjoy the powerful herbal flavor, but I for one find it simply decadent. It's complex yet well balanced. Nice and spicy with just a hint of sweetness. You'd be hard pressed to find an absinthe with as strong of a flavor as this one. It's wonderful.

Finish was a bit astringent (again not surprising) but still very enjoyable. Strong minty wormwood flavor at the back of the tongue with lots of other things dancing around.

Overall, I have to say that, even though I really enjoyed the original release of the 1797, this second version is leaps and bounds above it. Really a great job. Bravo.
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