Appearance: nothing to say, a medium peridot green, with no sediment.

Louche: thick oily trails from the very beginning, then a lot of orange at the bottom of the glass, with a clearly distinct top layer. At 1:4 the green color is still very intense, more than I expected given the original color. At 1:5 the louche starts weakening but still keeps its green color and some orange and blue reflexes.

Aroma: Before adding water the aroma is not very strong. One can perceive mostly anise and fennel, with some alcohol. With water the aroma does not intensify much, and wormwood becomes more evident.

Taste: More wormwood than anise, the taste is neither intense nor complex. Rather bitter than sweet, one could say it is a dry absinthe. Very fresh, neat.

Finish: some bitterness and some tongue numbness.

Overall: this could be the right absinthe for those who are not too fond of anise and like dry beverages. The price/quality ratio is not bad, but I fail to find something remarkable here.

Color- Inviting peridot with light gold edges under natural light. No sediment at all in the sample bottle.

Louche- Very nice think cascading trails right off the bat with a slow pour but it ends too soon and may be a tad too thick when finished.

Aroma- Sweet anise & fennel with some herbs I’ve never smelled before. It’s nice but some points need to be deducted since it’s undetectable after a minute.

Flavor- Overall I would say this is both fresh and flowery- probably due to the wormwood. There’s a decent amount of quality anise & fennel mid palate and ends with a creamy finish. There’s an herb in here that I can’t pick out (probably veronica as Brian points out) that lends a tea-like creaminess to the flavor.

Finish- Minty & fresh with a bit of fennel. I would describe the finish as a tad drying/bitter as opposed to sweet. Somewhat long lasting as well.

Overall- Congrats to Martin for putting together a quality absinthe from the Czech Republic. I’m looking forward to this being available in the states. Hopefully other Czech ‘absinthe producers’ can take note.

Color: Pale olive with no haze. It looked natural.

Louche: Started very quick but was fun to watch while it lasted. About 1:1 and then it thinned a tiny bit.

Aroma: I just couldn't detect much aroma. We louched with ice cold water and very little if any aroma wafted through the air. That changed a bit after it had warmed to room temp but the glass was empty.

Flavor: I gave it a 3 because 3=Appropriate but unremarkable.

Finish: I finished my glass. I like to see if the drink changes much as it gets less cool. The numbing was strong and lacked flavor. It didn't make me ask for another. The numbing hid any flavor from me.

overall: The drink wasn't bad and it showed promise. I haven't tasted the earlier version. I sampled this about an hour after dinner. I treat a review as I would being on a jury, yes or no. If half points were allowed the score may still be the same or maybe a bit higher as I wanted it to be a good drink. I really did. Perhaps a little more tweaking and less numbing would help. I have some left and will re-review it another day under different conditions. Age may help.

Color: The color was nice and natural. Olive with a little straw, and perfectly clear. For a verte, and for being only a few months old, I would expect a bit more green, but nonetheless, it's very nice.

Louche: I loved that the louche was a really nice bottom-up with lovely trails that gradually thickened. However, before even reaching a 1:1 ratio, it was almost completely louched. So a little quick, and ended a little thick. Perhaps the star anise.

Aroma: For me, this was an easy decision to rate. Uncapped, there was very little aroma. While louching, there was certainly no room-filling aroma, but even at 12 inches away, I still couldn't smell anything. After sticking my nose deep into the glass and really pulling in a scent, I was barely able to get much aroma at all. Odd. This changed when the drink warmed up some, and could have been a 3 if it smelled the same at the start. But no other absinthes I've tried have presented so little aroma, which made this rating somewhat easy for me.

Flavor: I gave this a 3 because it just didn't have anything at all that I would call home about. It didn't present anything dramatically, except for the wormwood and a bit of sweetness. They weren't entirely balanced, but aside from that there was a sort of emptiness to the flavor.

Finish: There was quite a bit of numbing here, and it lasted for some time. But otherwise unremarkable.

Overall: Aroma only presented itself as the drink warmed, and the louche was between a 3 and 4 for me. I think tweaking the recipe in these two areas would up the ratings by 1 in each of those rated areas, which would bring the overall up. But as is, the best I can honestly rate this absinthe is basically right down the middle. It's definitely not bad. Not at all. But it could be better, and I'm looking forward to tasting the next batch.