Absinthe - The Green Fairy

Un Emile 68, one I have thrown an interested eye many times but not bought before now. It's suposed to be a good absinthe for newcomers to the Green Fairy, and since I'm a relative newcomer to absinthe myself I think that sounds promising. Of course it's made by the Emile Pernot distillery in a traditional way without added aromas, colorings, sweeteners or other artificial crap, a real absinthe in short. If you have tried this absinthe before it may be worth it to revisit it, the recipe was modified during 2005, although I don't know in what way. Apparently this is not uncommon and if you have tried Un Emile before 2005 and try it again, please leave a comment bellow telling us about your thoughts.

It's bottled in a short, bulky bottle of dark glass. Not only is this charming like hell (to me) but to use dark glass is the more sensible way to store a verte so it may keep its color for as long as possible. The label is also quite beautiful, having a vintage kind of look with banners, crests, shields and what not, big thumbs up from me. It's just short a small layer of dust to finish the vintage look. However, I didn't buy the full-sized bottle, I got myself a smaller bottle of just 20 cl. This one was not as charming: made from clear glass in the shape of a pocket flask and a screw-off cap instead of a cork stopper. It's ok though, I just won't keep it among my nicer bottles that doubles as decoration ;)

Aged: No
Distillery: Les Fils d'Emile Pernot
ABV: 68%
Category: Verte
Real/Fake: Real
Origin: France

Color and Louche: A very light but nice green color with a golden tint that reminds me of Mr. Jekyll. Although that one was artificially colored and this one is not. The louche starts of with oil-streaks and reaches its climax as a somewhat thin mist after about 1,5-2 parts water..

Aroma: The alcohol is very prominent, both from the bottle and the glass, but there is also green herbs with a pungent bitterness that is a bit hard to identify. There is also an, for loss of a better word, electronic small to it. If you have ever smelled a hand remote or a video game controller you might have some idea of what I'm referring to. There is also this kind of sour note that you can feel when you go to a recycle station to leave electronics. Copper maybe?

Taste: An odd but not unpleasant taste of pine resin and lots of the green herbs from the aroma. There is also something very prominent here that I have not found in any other absinthe so far, it's very hard to describe but I like it... in small doses. It also has a thick and smooth, oily texture and together with taste it makes for a quite pleasant experience.

Final thoughts: I would definitely say that this is a verte that stands out from the crowd, nothing like anything I’ve tasted before. Because of that I wouldn't choose this to introduce someone new to absinthe with. It's quite complex and interesting, but I'm having a hard time to decide if this is a good absinthe or not. The aroma is… complicated, I’m not sure if it’s good, but it’s not bad either. Further more, the absinthe has some attributes that reminds me of a fake absinthe: the color, the oily texture (reminds me of a blend of oily essences), the oil streaks that is more prominent than the louche and the somewhat artificial taste. This ISN´T a fake absinthe however. Also, I can only drink it in very small doses before it becomes overwhelming. Maybe it will be like with Valkyria or Mansinthe, maybe I’ll get used to it with time and even grow fond of it? I´d like to give it a rating between 2,5 and 3, and since I’m SUCH a generous man *wink wink* I’ve decided that a full 3 is probably fair.