When Duplais Verte first hit the market, I thought it was an outstanding absinthe. A year slides by and I'm given another opportunity to taste it. The aroma and color immediately leap out and I'm happy to have this old favorite in my glass. A nice thick louche and a creamy mouth feel are just what I remembered, then the bit of bitter wormwood in the finish. It is good absinthe.

More quality beverages are on the market now and perhaps Duplais has taken a step or two back on my personal top favorites list. But this is a Fine Glass of Absinthe and I'm enjoying it very much.

Color
Nice very clear centerline yellow-green. Not dark, but good color. Looks very organic and natural, easy to make a chlorophyll connection.

Louche
Final color is yellow/green with milky yellow/green at meniscus, good translucence. Opalescence is attractive under good light, being somewhat hindered by a stronger level of initial coloration.

Aroma
Citrus and mint notes at first. Then wormwood leads the charge with anise and mint closely having it's back. Nice balance, no off aromas. Floral and woodsy, fresh, reasonably complex. Not timid at all. No goose bumps... but close.

Flavor
Nice mouth-feel, good body, creamy. Flavors follow aromas exactly. Wormwood , anise, a little citrus all in very good balance. Bold, lots of umph. Ever so slight heat, probably could take a little more water without suffering a bit. Really nice, gentle wormwood "pinch". Overall, a very nice palate impression.

Finish
Clean... loooong finish. Balanced... follows palate perfectly. Firm astringency, lingers in an authoritative, fresh way. Any palate heat not present on finish. Very nice.

Overall
Not stunning, but VERY nice. The kind of absinthe I want around when I want one, but don't feel like making a major decision. This would never be wrong. I bet this ROCKS in a sazerac (BTW substantiated on 11/08/08). I'm sitting here saying to myself "That was nice, that was VERY nice!... need a 750 of this one".

9/15/09 Revisit - All observations are so in line with the original review that all scores and text are unaltered, except for “Louche”. This review was done back when I had some confusion with louche “action”. So I have made the correction and altered the “Louche” text accordingly. This remains one of my favorites for cocktail use, and I regard it as a very fine example of a classic, balanced verte.

Changes to my initial scoring are:
Louche - Changed from 3 to 4.
Overall Rating - Changed from 3.8 to 4.0.

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

Duplais Verte 10/31/08, 11/05/08, 7/11/09, 9/15/12.
All evaluations had consistent notes.