Vieux Pontarlier seems like it could have been great absinthe that hits all the right notes and has a pleasant flavor. But there is a hint of an odor and flavor that I can only describe as a vegetal flavor mixed with “burnt rubber”. This being one of my First bottles I had to power through it and drank the whole thing, but I’ve later found out that this flavor is that of the “tails”.

For newcomers this is the bit of fluid at the end of the distillation, the “tail”. It shouldn’t be collected with the body of the distillation that is to be bottled, as it gives the Absinthe these strong vegetal flavors. Artichokes are the common descriptor used when trying to explain what the tails taste like.