A green tinged amber shade with the green being very faint. The louche is slow forming with gradient clouds, nicely formed. The color after water is a translucent tinged green. The aroma is of anise with a alcohol presence but not overbearing, with herbal notes…angelica, and hyssop, I believe. Louched a herbal mix with very present wormwood. The mouth feel is clean and velvety. The taste is an anise, herbal complexity with an excellent wormwood finish, which is lingering in nature. This will be a very good addition to my absinthe collection.

NOTE: I was provided with a 1 oz blind sample of the 2008 2nd edition courtesy of bksmithey, and reviewed it as I would any other absinthe. However, my review was based entirely on a single glass rather than the three or more I normally have before posting my comments, so please keep that in mind.

COLOR: First of all, the unlouched color of this vert was gold, with the barest trace of green without quite making it to "light olive". After the louche, it was quite a pale yellow, again with the barest hint of green. [I have since been told that it was “quite green” when it was new, but turned to this color after a few months.]

AROMA: The aroma was pleasant and light, but not particularly complex. Anise and/or fennel was at the forefront (I'm still learning to differentiate these, but it seemed to be fairly fennel-heavy), although a strong streak of wormwood formed the backbone of the scent. There was a noticeable tinge of something that I couldn’t put my finger on (bksmithey compared it to baby powder, which is not far off) and thought perhaps it originated from the vial or packaging of the sample, so I didn’t mention it at first. I have since confirmed that it is from the absinthe itself. The aroma is not unpleasant (and is all but gone after loucheing) but it is odd.

LOUCHE: In spite of the experiences others have reported, I have to say that the louche was nicely active for me, with oily trails developing into a nice quilt of cirrus cloud-like formations. It didn’t last very long, but it was enjoyable. I do use very cold water by default, though, so that might be why I had better than average results.

FLAVOR: Once I tasted it, the wormwood came to the front and the anise/fennel took a backseat. The bitterness had a pleasant bite which was strong, but the fine quality of the wormwood used made it an enjoyable sip (and edged this from a 3 to a 4). Overall, the flavor came across as a bit simplistic, but elegantly done. I found that it could be pushed to 4.5:1 and still be good, but started getting noticeably weak at 5:1. Those with a bitter tooth would likely rate this one very highly.

FINISH: The mouthfeel was not thin, though not particularly creamy, but there was just the right amount of tongue-numbing. For such a high ABV (72%), the distiller did a fine job balancing everything.

OVERALL: While it might be near the upper limits of what I would find pleasantly bitter even after sweetening, I enjoyed this and would not refuse another glass.

This review is for the Belle Amie 2nd edition 2008. tasted at approx. 3:1, no sugar

color: very natural, nice peridot with hint of olive. maybe just the slightest hint of haze, or perhaps my glass isn't as crystal clear as I'd like.

nose (neat): good anise, but a pretty big hit of a musty aroma was hiding anything else. We'll see how it goes after the louche.

louche: very cold water drip. Very good louche, started with great trails and rolling threads and the high alc. allowed this to continue for some time before the clouding started. Quite surprising, obviously very different behavior from Belle Amie 1. Separated nicely, had a good clear layer on top until at least 2:1. Aroma is opening up some with the water, but not room filling. Finished color is very nice, maybe leaning slightly towards the brown but with nice almost blue-ish highlights at the surface rim. Fairly opaque, but some translucence when looking up through the glass at an angle. Very attractive.

nose: musty smell has mellowed and faded with water, but it's still there and more than I would like. There is more herbal character coming through now, and nicely balancing the anise, with anise still a bit more in the lead, the way I like it. Overall aroma is somewhat muted and restrained. Reduce or eliminate that musty character and bring everything else up a bit and I'd really like this.

flavor: Very nice anise, this is my preferred style. Nice bitter character, and other herbs there as well, but they're all letting the anise shine through nicely. Very good mouthfeel, not too heavy but not thin. There is an interesting flowery flavor that comes and goes, it is not difficult to pick out, it reminds me a bit of the smell of baby powder. That's a new flavor for me, so it seems slightly out of place to me, but it's actually kind of nice and something I wouldn't mind getting used to. DIfficult to decide whether to score 4 or 5 for this, but I think the only thing that would keep me from going a 5 is probably attributable to the aroma, so a 5 for flavor.

finish: anise and spice, and then replaced by mild, pleasant bitterness. The "baby powder" noted earlier makes a short appearance in the finish, quite unusual. Slightly tongue numbing but not heavy. It really had me wanting another sip.

overall: I really enjoyed this one. If that aromatic note that I didn't care for could be toned down a LOT, I'd probably have this up in my top few. Nicely balanced, learning towards the anise which is what I'm finding I prefer. I'll certainly enjoy drinking the rest of the bottle, but it's probably going to be one of those things that I'll always be thinking "if only for that smell ..."

The review of Belle Amie 2:

Have just finished the tasting of the new Belle Amie. First of all, apart from that cork issue, there is another problem both I and my Mum concluded that aroma is very, very alcoholic, it smells like moonshine at 82%, not an elegant absinthe at just 72%.

However, from the beginning:

The colour-not bad but not as beautiful as previously. Louche has been enhanced, possibly with badiane as I am detecting its characteristical note but for the style it is still very nice, slowly forming, gradual, getting denser and denser, drop by drop.

Water is the solution to the harsh aroma (surprisingly the first edition had had a much better aroma) and the bad wine alcohol-the crappiest of allbase gets lost in the herbs’ symphony.

And here I have to admit these are top-notch ones, very bold, strong, bitter, decisive wormwood (much less discrete than in the previous offering), nice pontica, hyssop, balanced coriander and pleasant elacampane.
Finish is long lingering, complex and just as the style requires.

You want the perfect Belle Amie?-take its herb-bill from the second offering, badiane can stay-it is not that obtrusive and it helps absinthe louche well without the risk of being over-watered. Take the base of the first, or do as the wise people do and use grain alcohol. The absinthe should be perfumey not stinky!

Once all this is made, the perfect Belle Amie is accomplished


The review of Belle Amie 1

Gently open the bottle, or unscrew the sample, whatever you have at hand:) and inhale the scent of Arcadia, it is really what the guys back in the heyday might have sipped.

Colour which is a perfect feuille morte, achieved thanks to recommended aging and only natural botanicals, of which veronica seems to be very prominent invites you to partake in the spirit of Belle Epoque. (5)

The louche is slowly forming and typical of de Nimes style so that you just have to sit back and relax while watching the mesmerizing oil trails which finish up being not too thin not to thick a glass of pearl opalescence with a nice, very tiny green tinge. 1:4 ratio seems to be enough. (4)

Once louched, the aromes or angelica, elecampane root and wormwood are filling the room and taking the first sip from the glass leaves a bold, decisive and strongly herbaceous sensation, anethole buddies are not the main players here and stay at the back, if could have their say that very moment. (4) (5)

The finish is sublime with long lingering coriander note that hurries the wormwoodiness. Here, wormwood needs little enhancement. (4)

Of all the absinthes that have been released in the recent time, that shall be considered the real extrait d'absinthe on par with Bazinet or Pernod, if not better. Chapeaux bas! (4)

The deep olive color appears a bit inappropriate. The louche is very slow in developing, and does eventually reach a three tiered effect, though briefly. Very appealing and inviting aroma with a well balanced and complex taste. Beautiful opalesence, yet has some thinness apparent. Finish is inviting and beckons for more. A most enjoyable absinthe, delicious.