Pierre Ordinaire Absinthe
As I said before: I had a period when I ordered some "not great absinthes" and this is the next one in line for judgement: Pierre Ordinaire. The name naturally comes from the doctor that, according to some sources, invented the first absinthe recipe and later sold it to Henriette Henriod. However, most people I've heard discussing this agrees that this was not the case, Henriette Henriod (or the Henriod sisters) were the ones to invent the recipe and later sold it to Major Dubied who together with Henri-Louis Pernod commercialized it.
On the website it says that "it is made by hand exclusively from natural products", but it also says that it is pre-sweetened so I'm skeptical as to what that means. There is another version, simply called "Absinthe Ordinaire", that is stronger and not sweetened. Both are described as very bitter but Ordinaire more so. I'm gonna bet my sweet behind that this is a macerated fakesinthe and not a distilled one. Further more, they are bragging about the high thujone content and that is a sure sign that this product is not made by an absinthe enthusiast. Frankly, when people make that claim I wonder if there is any thujone at all in it, not that it is important. Regardless if this is distilled or not (I see your sweet behind and raise you a unicorn), it's probably not going to be the greatest of green fairies out there, maybe a little green goblin.
As you can see the label is covering almost the entire bottle, maybe they wanted it to look like it is wrapped in paper, I know some producers that are. The label has a green frame with the name and a green fairy, not the most inspired label, but far from the worst I've seen. A screw-on cap crowns the bottle, not the most luxurious choice but it suites the bottle just fine I think. But now, let's pop this cap and see whats inside.
Aged: No
Distillery: The Ulex-distillery
ABV: 55%
Category: Amber
Real/Fake: Fake
Origin: Germany
Color and Louche: This is suposed to be an amber, but mine is unmistakably a verte. The color is not super strong but has a nice shade of green, a very natural looking mix of lime and lemon (not like the picture from the website). I'm actually quite pleased with it. The louche is quite shy, the first thing I see is oil-streaks, but after about one part water I see some mist taking form and after 1,5 parts water in total it has reached it's climax. As I said, a bit shy and not super strong but enough for an absinthe I'd say.
Aroma: The scent from the open bottle mainly gives away anis, but there is a lot of alcohol that pricks my nose. From the bottle to the glass and now I can only feel the alcohol. I waited a bit to se if I'd find something more, but no. Adding water mellows the alcohol and now I find mainly citrus and a little bit of wormwood. No anis unfortunately. Might be this absinthe needs a bit less water because the scent is really faint by the time I'm done with it. Still this alcohol sharpness though...
Taste: Holly crap this is bitter! It starts quite innocent, but by Cthuhu that shit hits you later! My tongue scrunches up like a snail covered in salt, horrible stuff according to my taste. Can't say I detect very much apart from that, alcohol and sugar of course, but not much else. YUCK!
Final thoughts: I knew from the start that this was not a real absinthe and probably wasn't going to be great, but the louche and color gave me some hope (actually, before I tasted it, this seemed like a really decent fake absinthe). However, the taste really didn't live up to my standards and the strong bitterness convinces me even more that this is a macerated absinthe and not a distilled one. If Absinthe Ordinaire is even more bitter and have a higher ABV than this, I imagine it would be like taking the worst parts of this absinthe and cranking it up to 11, needless to say I won't buy it. It didn't cost me much though and some people really like a strong bitterness, and that is fine, just don't think that you'll get a traditional absinthe if you buy this. I'm going to pour this one out though (I just can't imagine this one getting better with time), and then go brush my teeth. This little goblin gets a singel green fairy from me today.
