Color
Unlouched, amber-green tending toward olive drab (a little brown push). Not drab in clarity, however. Very clear, very natural and organic looking, with a strong level of color. Nothing phony baloney here, one of the most believable colorations I've seen.

Louche
Nice thick trails at first. Pretty yellow, gold and green reflections and highlights continue until the drink reaches 1:1, at which point it becomes pretty fully clouded, with a thin unlouched layer on top. Now here's where it gets interesting. Over about the next ½ oz of drip, the louched portion just visibly thickens up until it looks almost like you could eat it with a fork! I mean milkshake thick. This character holds fully through 3:1, on to 4:1. Final color is a creamy amber-green with yellow-amber highlights and a bluish-white at the meniscus. Good sheen and opalescence... assertive and masculine looking.

Aroma
Aroma neat is anise, immediately backed by wormwood, spiciness and a minty/volatile (phenolic?) edge. Very piquant. No heavy alcohol sensation... impressive considering this is 72% abv. Aroma louched at 3:1, forceful wormwood with an almost melon rind character, piquant, minty, volatile. Lots of spice and citrus. Very fresh, but very dense. I'm thinking this can take a lot more H2O. At 4:1 and nosed still, mostly wormwood with a high-toned spiciness (almost coriander like) and citrus. A little swirl brings the anise and fennel to the fore and in good balance. Still fresh, the wormwood starts out woody/spicy, and with swirling and air becomes more fruity. Densely herbal, almost primal. For fun I took it to 5:1. Spiciness reduces somewhat and a host of herbal and floral aromas, much more delicate, become apparent. I can't ID most of these, but I can tell this is something very special.

Flavor
OK... attack, very creamy/milky mouthfeel. Next, wormwood in spades. Anise and fennel are clearly present, but the wormwood is clearly in charge. Has a spiciness to match the aromas and a firm "pull" on the back palate. At 3:1, it's like chewing on herbs. At 4:1 better balance, somewhat less aggressive, but still powerful. Anise and fennel share the stage a little better. At 5:1 it reveals some pretty lighter herbal flavors and spice. Still not faint. In fact, I don't see this as feminine at all. Both flavors and aromas become more cohesive and balanced as temperature comes up.

Finish
Finish follows nose and palate perfectly. Ever so slight tongue numbing and a persistent drying. All flavor components hang so nicely, in good balance, and for a long time. Still that spice, and if you wait long enough between sips, the anise and fennel creep out to have the final say. Almost ironic.

Overall
Simply one of the best I have tasted so far. This really makes an impression. It does not seem like a "designed product", but rather a "created absinthe", catering only to the true connoisseur. Serious quality, seriously distinctive. Spicy, herbal, floral, forceful, and feral. Which brings me to the name. This is the first time I've ever felt just a little manhandled by an absinthe. Gets me to wondering if this is one coquette that just might be a cross-dresser.

7/06/09 Revisit - Holy S#*!... I haven't tasted this since my last evaluation of 11/27/08. This just comes at you like a freight train. I'm almost speechless! Not the usual fare and, as such, I'm leaving my original review intact, with exception of punctuation corrections to the best of my ability. With my current experience of a year of absinthe tasting, and 35 or so CO's tasted, I would have to say that this is one that doesn't exactly follow the rules. This reminds me of the most freakishly huge Barossa Valley Shiraz, in the wine world. For something very different and forceful, try it. But you'll deal with it on it's own terms! Oh, and if you don't want to get KO'd in the first round... try 5:1.

Done with a 1 ounce dose, diluted 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1, and no sugar.

La Coquette 11/15/08, 11/19/08, 11/27/08, 7/06/09.
All evaluations had consistent notes.