Color: I think the color is a perfect, clear green.

Louche: Slow drip yields dancing fireworks and oily storms followed by creaminess gradating upwards through the glass. Once fully louched it's fantastically creamy and maintains great color: milky pale greens and buttery yellows.

Aroma: Spicy and anise-heavy, very astringent and almost cinnamon-like before louched. The more water is added, the more the wormwood scent is released. I wasn't in awe over it's complexity.

Flavor: This is probably the first time ever I've been able to distinguish the flavor of fennel from the other flavors, which was exciting for me. Every time I took a drink to try to analyze the flavor further, I thought I was prepared but would be taken off guard every time, my tastebuds each like a mini Julie Andrews spinning around in a field of flower a la Sound of Music. Various attempts at tasting led to wild giggles, dramatic swooning, and sheer awe. It's completely sublime.

Finish: The flavor rounds into a very sweet almond-flavored finish lingering with a confectioner's sugar sweetness...absolutely wonderful.

Overall: This absinthe is rich and dessert-like, and unbelievably tasty. The bottle I sampled is from 2010.

Color: Clear peridot that edges towards gold under certain types of light. No sediment.

Louche: Impressive layering right away but it ends completely opaque after a 1:1 ratio which is pretty fast. Pearly opalescence at the end. Color retains a nice jade green in the middle with gold refractions at the edges under lamp light.

Aroma: Very herbaceous with anise and fennel up front. Wormwood and spices come next. Aroma is not particularly strong but it’s appropriate and sets up the flavor nicely.

Flavor: Highly concentrated flavor on the middle of your tongue. Fennel and anise lend a sweetness while wormwood spiciness (with some dill) pulls your palate in another direction. Slightly powdery at the end of the drink.

Finish: Dill, which I believe
comes from the wormwood is mixed with anise for a candy like finish. The wormwood finish lasts quite a while and is a welcome change of pace where absinthe finishes are merely anise.

Overall: Another winner from Jade. I’d rank this behind PF 1901 for my own personal tastes but Edouard is a bit more complex. This is an intense and satisfying absinthe.

Notes: September 2009 bottling used for review

*Edited over my first review. Enjoyed best at 4:1 with 1 sugar

The color is a clear, natural medium green. Louched, it was a very pretty shade of light green.

The louche was slow and even forming, lovely thick trails with nice color and opalescence. An attractive color and good thickness.

The aroma was enjoyable and delicate, yet at the same time had a lot going on.. It was clean, fresh and inviting.

Flavor is a bit lighter than the other Jades, yet mildly woody and earthy. Quality anise and fennel are up front, with wormwood just behind. There is a soft spiciness and creaminess that I enjoyed. Again, there was an undertone of wood and earth that seems to be present in all the Jades. Some seem to notice this more than others.

The finish was very reflective of the flavor. Balanced elements, a light pull lingering into a nice powder. I'd rate this just a tad behind the 1901 and VS for my taste.

The color is green, bright and intense. A very good louche. It did not start immediately, it lingered at the bottom. It then swirled and floated, it went to the top leaving a line of un louched absinthe, and then became creamy and thick. This is quality absinthe. The aroma was of alpine herbs, with tinges of wormwood. Very good mouthfeel. Creamy and thick, more on the sides of the tongue. The taste is excellent. There is an overture alpine herbs with no single flavor standing out. I could taste the bitterness of the wormwood, anise and fennel, distinct and different, the citrus-like flavor was in perfect balance. The aftertaste lingered at the back of the mouth, an excellent wormwood finale.
This is one of the better Jades. A hard choice between the Verte Suisse and the Edouard.

If you remember the beutifully deep and vibrant colour of the early Jadedouards, that batch, that rose so many controversies at FV, will be a great disappointment. It looks exactly like strongly undercoloured Swiss les bleues turned verte at 55%, but that is 72%!

Louche is alright, exactly the one the pre-ban should produce.

If the spirit smells of glue, it means that that is high in ethyl acetate, so seems to be the case, first glue, then herbs. What has happened?

Flavour is spicy, there is wormwood in it, but the glue aftertaste and marc base have their predominant say spoiling the goodness it might offer once we go past the glueiness.

I haven't had the pleasure of tasting pre-ban Edouard, but that particular batch seems to be far, far away from what has been offered previously under that very name.