This week’s review is going to be a little different. This started as a love story of me trying my first absinthe, but has become more complicated the more I learnt about this spirit, and eventually my opinion has matured into something you might not expect. The subject that caused this? The french absinthe Absente.
Bottled at 55% ABV, Absente definitely looks the part. The packaging and brand imagery evokes its rich history as the absinthe of choice for many famous artists, the one they push the most being Vincent Van Gogh. The bottle’s design is downright gorgeous, antique in its origin but still sleek and modern. The packaging is the one part of this spirit that my opinion on is simple and straight up positive.
As this is an Absinthe, I will be breaking down my flavour roundup into two parts: the spirit when neat, then the spirit with water and sugar, as it is meant to be enjoyed.
Without water, Absente is clear and incredibly green, and it has a very strong anise smell to it. Flavour-wise it’s a gentle, very sweet anise flavour with a strong burn in the mouth and especially on the tongue. When swallowed it has a nice warmth, but no burn.
When diluting, I used a cube of Billington’s rough cut demerara sugar (my favourite) which caused the liquid to become opaque and cloudy. On the nose, not much changes, the same anise smell but just fainter (likely due to the dilution). The taste is much, sweeter with very little anise to speak of, and the burn is all but gone.
If it feels like this review is a bit more restrained than my other ones, it’s because put simply, it is. After doing some research I realise that although Absente parades their history around, they have truly changed a lot since then, so much so that they are practically no longer an absinthe! This is more akin to a spirit known as a “Pastis”, the most well known of which is Pernod. With this knowledge, a lot of pieces fall into place. The strong green colour is very likely artificial, the simple anise flavour and lack of change when adding water and sugar also indicate that this spirit is more of a “Pastis”. According to people more knowledgeable than I, the cloudiness when adding sugar water, otherwise known as the “Louche” is also not done properly, the way a true absinthe would.
With all this in mind, what is my conclusion? Do I hate this spirit? No, not at all. I like it a fair bit; it’s simple, but it’s enjoyable. If I were to have it again, or I had to recommend someone have it, I would honestly say it’s best as a simple shot. It’s a nice, mellow alternative to other anise spirits like Sambuca and is stronger to boot. This spirit has its place, but I can’t deny I feel a bit disappointed as this is my first experience with absinthe. I will definitely return one day with a proper absinthe and will give just as honest a review as I did this! Perhaps a Jade absinthe, I hear those are good (especially 1901)!
This review’s recommended song is: “Gabriel Faure Pavane” – QuinCelli
