Color: An alluring green and yellow-gold. Good, natural coloring, but below my benchmark (Jade Edouard) for a 4-5 score.
Could be because the bottle has been opened for about a month, however.

Louche: Nice opalescence immediately. Lime-colored spots wrestle with the un-louched absinthe from the top view. It shimmers when looking through the glass. Not as opaque as a benchmark absinthe however - it does not appear very 'creamy.' The end result is a pale lime color.

Aroma: I absolutely love the aroma of this absinthe. The mixture of herbs here smells like what I would imagine alpine plants to be like. It's a very 'fresh' scent. Small hint of creamy mint, mixed with fennel & wormwood. Floral notes dominate.


Taste: The taste is just like the aroma, which is great. Some absinthe has a fantastic aroma but the taste is somewhat anti-climactic. Not so with this one. This is very balanced. The absinthe is sweet - I used no sugar and the water ratio is about 3.0. It tastes like a sugared absinthe. I heard this absinthe contains Genepi, so perhaps some of the complexity in the flavor and the sweetness is due to this. I also noticed, as stated in other reviews, that the flavor becomes thin and flat very suddenly with even just a little too much water.

Finish: Good finish - it is not too abrupt and the flavor doesn't just die out. There is a pleasant bit of numbing/tingling on the tongue as it fades out. The tiniest suggestion of ricola. The mouth feel is smooth and light, but not as light as say, l'Italienne.

Overall: My first US distilled absinthe! This is literally what I've been waiting for since Nov. 2007! The price is right at $54.99 as well. The decanter bottle is up there with the best packaging/presentation I've ever seen. Definitely enhances the ritual. It does its namesake justice!