Color is artificial, as the label (honestly) attests. However, it's attractive and looks a lot like the real thing - a very nice, clear, peridot green.

As a friend said: "It's really pretty and it *looks* like a drink I'd really like, except I don't like licorice." Ah, there's the rub. Good thing that I *do* like

licorice.



Louche is not remarkable, but is acceptably dense. Louches early and action is not exciting. Color when louched is very pretty, almost authentic, but slightly on the day-glo side of green. It's chemistry, plain and simple, but chemistry by people who clearly care about the craft.



Aroma is pleasant but weak and one-dimensionally anise.



Pleasant but again, one-dimensional. Some welcome bitterness from the Southern Wormwood balances the flavor a bit.



Finish is short, shows some bitterness, but nothing that really lingers and makes you want to hit it again.



Overall, this a nice anisette liqueur that has no catastrophic flaws. I mean that sincerely; it is a well-made anisette absinthe substitute. It is a nice introduction to the anisette spectrum, and is up a notch in complexity from raki, arak, and other plain anisette beverages. In complexity, it is nowhere near real absinthe, but if you can't find the real thing, this will be (at least) a drinkable reminder.

Looks almost like the real thing, pre and post louche. If you've had real absinthe before, then right before you take the first sip of Absente will be the last time you think it has any resemblance to actual absinthe. It tastes awful, mostly chemicals and dyes, and leaves a fake-ish anise aftertaste that just isn't pleasant.



Better than Pernod by the smallest of whiskers, though.

I DJed an "absinthe" night at a local bar here in NC for a year or so. Absente was/is the only thing close to absinthe available through the NC ABC (and it too is a special order that needed special approval. So in addition to pay I did receive a couple of these each night i spun. Works OK in a Sazerac, not quite sinkable, but it is not absinthe.

1st Off I just wanna say that I've Purchased this imposter a few times. Its good in a pinch or when you want to introduce friends to the green fairy and don't want to waste your real stash on someone who won't "get it", or when you just don't have the $100 plus to spend on the real thing. The color is quite nice, almost dead on, but its not as clear as actual Absinthe. It Louches nice, but kind of fast. The aroma as well as the taste is rather heavy on the anise side with slight fennel undertones. The finish leaves a somewhat pleasant taste in your mouth, but a little burn in your chest. Overall this was a decent subsitute, and you know its just that, a substitute, And with the introduction of the Kubler to the US at only around $10-$12 more? You might as well go for the real stuff.