-Color-
Before Water: Extremely clear, almost refractive dark peridot/olive. Natural and beautiful. A touch darker than many quality vertes, but still one of the most gorgeous unlouched colors I've yet seen.

Color After Water: very attractive milky olive.

-Louche-
Nice cascading trails, some orange and blue highlights that appear in the louche when backed by strong light. Not much layering or cloud roiling action however. Full louche at about 1.5:1.

-Aroma-
Before Water: Floral, vegetal and herbal notes, backed by lemony citrus.

After Water: More the same notes that presented themselves neat open up; the floral notes and fresh green herbs, lemon. Wish I could detect the A.A. a little more in the melange.

-Flavor-
Big, spicy, herbaceous tones upfront with what I can only describe as green fruit and lemon flavors and a grassy, bold pontica. This is followed by big, assertive, bitter wormwood in the back and in the finish. I was not expecting the amazing green-powered herbs that were a bit more herby and fruity than “alpine” to me. It manages to be 'pungent' in the best sense of the word, and is distinctive from the 15 modern COs I've tried thus far.

-Finish-
A decent, creamy body is present, but it is not obvious due to the spicy herbal notes that crackle on the palate and lend themselves to a crisp, flavorful -though bitter- finish.

-Overall-
Did I mention how herbaceous and green tasting it is? It does have a citrus/sweet vs. bitter contrast, and it's possible that it COULD be more balanced. But that might ruin the wonderful, bold herbal complexity. It may not appeal to everyone, but it's definitely a favorite of mine.

Notes: Bottle Date 30 March 2008. Bottle opened June 2008, tasted Aug 2008. Louched 3:1 with fountain drip with small amount of sugar as well as sans sugar.