Appearance: Amber and olive color neat. No noticeable sediment in the glass. {*edit: About halfway through this bottle I did begin to notice a floating sediment in my glass, black in color. Even after swirling the bottle before pouring. Kinda offputting, making me change appearance score from 4 to 3.*} Very Enticing color.

Louche: Begins with nice trails ending in rolling fog at 2/1. fully louched at 3/1 a golden amber green with a red aura. Beautifully opalescent. Hold it up to a light to see this effect really shine through.

Aroma: Neat it is energetic with a slight asringency.
Louched the aroma is of wormwood, spearment and genepi with a citrus twist. Heres where you can tell its going to get interesting.

Flavor: First thing to come to mind is fresh cucumbers on the vine and jalapeno peppers. Maybe cinnamon. Reminds me of a warm spring day down by the water.

Finish: Lip smacking good. Cooling like after you eat a peppermint. Limes and something like pine nuts. Not overwhelming and doesn't last too long.

Overall: Beautifully unique in character. A nice artisinal style. Refreshing, and different for sure. A unique American absinthe.
This is my second bottle and although the first took a little to get used to, this one is pleasantly familiar and quite enjoyable.

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!

* I revisited this, enjoying it more than ever, this time with my 4th bottle.

Sampled at 3:1 suggested ratio, no sugar as suggested by distiller. I went to 3.5:1, and love it there. It certainly does not need sugar.

Appearance: Natural blend of amber and emerald. There were some swirls of light sediment in the bottle.

Louche: built slowly, dramatically and evenly. A full, thick louche with just a tad of translucence. Clear layer hung in at the top until the very end. The final result was
a rich blend of green and copper.

Aroma: It is a crisp, clean and spicy aroma, but the traditional elements of the anise and wormwood are not masked. It had me looking forward to the first sip. The highlight of this absinthe for me.

Flavor: This absinthe has a strong "in your face" personality, and I mean this in a good way. I like it more than ever. The anise is simply delicious, it is spicy, but the trinity is clear and quality.

Finish: Clean and very sharp, nice lingering wormwood, pepper and spice. Stays with you just long enough for that relaxed sipping pace. The mouthfeel is full and rich.

Overall, it is a well-made absinthe with a unique personality. As far as bang for the buck, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this.

A natural green & dead leaf color, a shade darker than most, but natural.

A Pretty jewel like louche, with impressive trails as soon as the water hits the absinthe.

The VC smells like peppermint and sugarcane. And it tastes like it too. I meant these two as a compliment, as I liked it, and the fact that it is different from other absinthes.

After taste does remind you it's absinthe, but in a nice way, and the sweet pepermint flavor does linger, but not as much as I wished.

Overall a different, but tasty absinthe, and a most welcome addition to my hooch cabinet. Perfect after a meal or with a sweet treat. I do use a bit of sugar. My wife's favorite Verte.

Color: Shabba's description as a deep emerald/forest is dead on. I had to penalize it a bit for the sediment though. I believe absinthe's should be rewarded for being clear and free of sediment or haze.

Louche: I prefer this absinthe at 2.5:1, so naturally my louche was thick. It acquired that opalescence and was attractive. I'll nitpick though and say it could have built a bit better and more slowly. My barometer for a 5 in this category are the Edouard & Marteau, so it's a high bar.

Aroma: I found this to be complex, interesting and delightful. I really had trouble picking out what was going on in there outside of the holy trinity. I had to cheat and ask for the herb bill, and was surprised when I found out all but 1 ingredient (genepi) were common absinthe ingredients. I thought there were very unique things in here. Again though, my benchmark for a 5 in aroma are quite high, and to me Jade N-O & Belle Amie are a rung above all other commercials in this category. Like the L'Italienne, consider is a strong 4.

Flavor: Delicious. Like I said, my personal sweet spot for this absinthe is 2.5:1. At that ratio you still have a touch of alcohol heat, some (desirable) astringency from the genepi, and the flavors are robust. As you water this absinthe to more than 3:1 it falls apart IMO. It flattens out and there is a subtle note not unlike chlorine or bleach that becomes noticeable. It doesn't take well to over-watering, but then again, I've yet to meet an absinthe that does.

Finish: Semi-long and enjoyable with cooling, minty wormwood and creamy fennel.

Overall: This stuff has turned into my go-to absinthe because it's readily available on the shelves where I live, priced reasonably, and (above all else) I like it quite a bit. It also works well in cocktails, I think. I will always have a bottle of this on hand.