*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.

Jade Absinthe Edouard from Feb 2006. Diluted at 3.5:1, without sugar, using a brouilleur.



The color is a very clear and bright pale green, leaning towards the blue. In other words, it is not an olive green, but more of an emerald green. There is no trace of "dead leaf" color. After 20 months the color before water is a little paler than I remember, but the change is slight. The color after water maintains it's emerald green within the milkiness of the louched absinthe. It's a very nice shade of green.



Using a brouilleur means that my comments regarding the louche are less than perfect. It's difficult to control the drip to really see the louche develop as one can using a fountain. Regardless, the louche is very nicely done. Beginning with a grand display of oil trails, slowly transitioning to milkiness. The result really isn't as opalescent as you'd like it to be. Perhaps the lighting in my house is not so good. As I approached the bottom of the glass the opalescence really started to show itself. So I'd guess that bit more transparency in the louche would have allowed that to shine forth.



The aroma is very nice. I've never noticed the so-called "funk" in the Edouard that others say they notice. There's no real alcohol bite that I can tell.



The flavor is one of the Edouard's strong points. A rich mouthfeel, with a number of flavors mingling and separating it's quite a delight. The sweet fennel is a bit over the top though.



I never really noticed this before with the Edouard, but the tongue numbing (from the fennel) is quite strong. At least it is tonight, for me. I actually deducted a point for it.



I've always enjoyed the Jade Edouard, and tonight is no exception. It is one of the best absinthes available today (Oct 2007). I always pull it out when I am looking to drink something special. The Edouard was my first absinthe, and one I always suggest to friends new to absinthe to try.

I love the Edouard and the affair began with its color in my glass. Edouard looks like no other naturally colored Absinthe. It is vibrant green with a hint of blue that is just gorgeous. It suits my expectations perfectly and has become the standard against which I compare other vertes. The louche is oil trail-erifficly slow with good, distinct layering and ending in a thick green almost like a glass of green milk (that is a good thing).



I find the aroma and flavor to be very complex with a distinct "herby" profile that brings the wormwood forward and does a little dance on one's tongue. It is crisp, clean, and very refreshing. The Edouard is and has been safely in my top five CO's since its release.

Nice and clear, somewhere between golden-yellow and peridot. The louche looks thick and milky -- every drop of water releases a miniature bloom upon breaking the surface of the absinthe.

I didn't appreciate the greatness of the Edouard when I first tried it. It's the most austere of the Jade line, leaving a prickly sensation in your mouth more so than the others. The mouthfeel is fantastic -- I'd almost describe it as "structured" the way one would describe some wines as structured. Similar to the 1901, the flavors of the Edouard are darker-toned, but there's more emphasis on the wormwood here. In hindsight, this is probably my second-favorite of the Jades, right behind the 1901.

In the glass, this is a pale and perfectly clear olive. After a solid yet unspectacular performance in the louche, the final colour is a tad thin, but still has hints of opal at the meniscus.

The strange thing about this absinthe, in terms of the aroma and the flavour, is just how similar it is to Lucid. It's definitely more complex, warmer and rounded, but if you think of a flavour profile as a graph along the taste buds, the shape of the curve is really quite similar to Lucid.

It has a nice dry finish, seeming to concentrate more on the anise on the way down and then lingering with the wormwood once it's over. Due to its relation to the original Eduoard, I had some idea that this would be a more 'manly' absinthe like the Raymond Thi 1914, or at least that's what I've been told. I see it as more conventional than that, with a more rounded flavour. Still, the flavour is the exact reason I keep coming back to this marque, as I watch the other Jades stay level in the bottle.

One other puzzle that I'm still trying to figure out is that the earlier Jades seem to have a different grape (or marc) base, one that somewhat overpowers the herbs. This bottling is from 2008, and along with a Nouvelle Orleans, does not exhibit that same spirit base, at least to my grape sensitive taste buds.

To complicate matters, I have to say that at this moment, the Edouard is my favourite of the Jade absinthes. While the PF1901 has a magical and creamy floral quality, this one is easier to drink for me, which possibly has something to do with a change in the base. But I'm just speculating.

I dub thee Big Daddy Of Lucid. Translation: if you like Lucid and have a desire to try something better but similar, do not hesitate to fork out the cashola for this, my favourite drinking absinthe from Jade Liqueurs.