Absenta Montana 55
I had a period about a year back when I bought samples of different fake absinthes, this is one of them. Although this one is a fakesinthe, it's suposed to be based on the traditionally made Vintage 1969 Montana Absenta. Why it's called Montana in the first place I have no idea.
It is sold in a variety of different bottles: from the smalest of 4 cl to the the largest of astounding 3 liters (!). It looks like the smaller bottles are made of glass, but the three liter bottle (you can see a picture of it above) must be made of plastic. When I was in the USA I saw three liter bottles of whisky and thought that this drink can't be good since they sell it in such big bottles (if it was good it would cost more and it wouldn't be lucrative to sell it in such large quantities), but they were sold in a bottle that was pretty much a bigger version of their original bottle. This one looks like a monstrous version of a pack of rapeseed oil from the store, or like something that would be sold to a fast food restaurant. I couldn't imagine anything less luxurious. My bottle in particular had a label that was coming off and felt (and looked) like it was printed on a €20 printer at home. Also, the metal cap kept coming of and it was barely more than balancing on top of the bottle. So far I'm not impressed with the presentation.
Aged: No
Distillery: Destilerias Montaña S.A
ABV: 55%
Category: Verte
Real/Fake: Fake
Origin: Spanien
Color and Louche: Montana 55 has a intense yellow color that probably could be used to paint with. The louche is nonexistent throughout the whole process and I can´t even see oil-streaks.
Aroma: Straight from the bottle i smells like pizza dough, never found that in an absinthe before. This pretty much disappears when it's poured into the glass and I can only detect a very faint, oily scent that once again make me think of rapeseed oil. Water is added and only now can I find something of herbs here: a quite feeble aroma of anis.
Taste: I can barely feel any taste at all after 5 parts water, only the oily texture and the sweetness from the sugar. Actually, the sweetness is overpowering, and when I say that it´s saying something. You probably shouldn't add any sugar to this, at all.
Final thoughts: While Spanish fakesinthes are seldom good, this was particularly bad. There is nothing good with it, louche, aroma, color, taste and packaging: all bad! If this isn't a crapsinthe of rank, then I don't know what is, I wouldn't use it in drinks or pancakes, much less drink it as is. I give it a rating of 1, and then I'm feeling generous. What saves it from a rating of 0,5 (the worst rating I can give) is that while it doesn't taste anything, at least it doesn't taste bad.
