Tasted from a bottle labeled "Batch No. 3". Nice packaging but note that the bottle is tall, it does not fit on the shelf with my more standard-sized liquor bottles.



Color: olive oil, a bit on the dark side but pleasant and natural looking. Tasted previously, there was a floater in the glass, and I noticed a couple of chunks of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. This time it poured clear, and the other bottle I have shows no signs of sediment, so benefit of the doubt here and I'll rate a 3.



Nose (neat): Anise is there, not as upfromt as I've grown accustomed to, but there's enough there to know this is absinthe. Alpine/herbal notes are present, and there's pretty obvious citrus and gin character, leaning towards a spicy cologne/after-shave. I find it all really nice, the only knock is that the gin smell distracts me a bit; I'm trying to focus on this as an absinthe and something in my brain keeps whispering "gin" in my ear.



Louche: Louche is nice, trails develop and then the bottom of the glass begins to cloud. It comes on pretty quick, and I didn't get the beautiful "rolling clouds" that sometimes form, this was pretty smooth clouding from the bottom up, displaying nice separation during a slow louche. I finished at about 4:1 and the final look is a bit dark and opaque, but attractive enough.



Nose (after louche): I usually detect more anise after the louche, and the Sirene follows this trend. Anise is a bit more in the front, nice complex alpine background, a bit spicy/minty (perhaps wormwood is coming through now?). The gin aroma is still there, but it's sitting back a bit more now and I think it seems better balanced than it did when smelled neat.



Flavor: Tastes just as you'd expect after the aroma. Anise, definite citrus, gin/spice, and a pretty good wormwood bitterness to balance it all. Quite big and delicious.



Finish: I found the finish to be pretty simple, dominated by bitterness and tongue-numbing anise. The other flavors seemed to recede pretty quickly, leaving a nicely refreshing bitterness that was unfortunately overwhelmed by clinging anise. I'll rate a 3, but leaning towards a 2. The finish isn't bad, but you're hoping for more when everything before it is so nice.



Overall, I really like Sirene, and I don't regret that I purchased 2 bottles with my initial order. The gin notes take it a bit away from tradition, but I think they're a nice complement to the alpine/forest character. And from reading other reviews, I think it distracts me more than most others.