Pours a very emerald green. Louches nicely, with a nice layering effect if you go slowly, before the whole drink becomes a nice greyish cloud (with subtle blues and yellow highlights). My bottle, I can barely smell anything from it. Even in the glass I'm mostly just picking up the alcohol, but there are hints of peppermint and cooking spices behind that. After louching I can barely smell anything, but there's maybe the ever so slight added hint of funky fruit.

Flavor- maybe my bottle just isn't very good. It's good, but I'm just not as impressed as everyone else seems to be, not even close. Everything about this is just way too subtle. I have to go with pretty low water ratios to get it to a point where I can even pick out flavors. Mainly I'm noticing the wormwood and anise, but everything is very balanced- maybe TOO balanced? It's really hard to pick anything out individually because everything is blended into one (kind of nondescript) profile, I think. The mouthfeel is nice. The finish to me seems a bit peppery and lasts a while, so at least that's a bit interesting.

Overall I think everything is too subtle. I like the nouvelle-orléans because it's more unique and also the flavors in that one stand out more. It's hard for me to even know what I'm experiencing while I'm drinking this (almost finished a 200ml bottle and every time I drink from it I feel the same way). I feel almost confused trying to figure it out. There's nothing offensive or bad about it, and I can definitely tell that high quality ingredients and distillation are at work here, and it is enjoyable. But compared to upper-tier absinthe it just doesn't leave a solid impression for me. Honestly I would rather have any other Jade, Walton Waters, or probably even a bottle of Vieux Pontarlier than this. But those are all great or very good absinthes, and this is still a high quality drink.

A natural clear forest-green with hints of yellow. The louche is thick and "milky" but not one-dimensional at all, with blue highlights on the rim.

The aroma is rich and creamy, foreshadowing the mouthfeel (which is quite possibly the richest of any absinthe I've tried.) The flavors are creamy and darker-toned -- I can recall one review or forum post saying that the taste is somewhat reminiscent of warm chocolate chip cookies, and there's something uncannily spot on about that observation.

Not only my favorite of all the Jade absinthes, but one of my favorite absinthes of all time.

Color: Clear, olive green, dark, gold, amber, yellow highlights.

Louche: Dark milky green, olive and amber. Thick.

Aroma: Smells like what you’d imagine as an old apothecary elixir. Herbal, chartreuse, spicy, anise, wintergreen, spearmint, lemon zest, medicinal, spirity.

Flavor: Deep, dark and robust. Bitter and dry. Mildly astringent. Herbs are very well blended. Anise is there but does not stand out. There's definitely some wood ageing. Flavors of wood, leather, salt, gin, pine. A bit of juicy fruit when sugar is added. Full creamy mouth-feel.

Finish: Herbs dissipate and leave a zesty bitterness. Salty, leather taste remains. Tongue-numbing. Hint of cough medicine near the end.

Overall: A very complex and interesting absinthe. It is dark, robust and masculine. I really enjoy it but it’s quite intense, not an absinthe I would drink often. For me this is an absinthe I would drink late at night, with candlelight while watching a dark Victorian period piece such as Dracula or Penny Dreadful.

So much has been said about this absinthe - and it's really that good. I'd give Eddy a nudge up on the PF for complexity... but she is still a stunner and deserves the 5 star sweep I'm providing. Serious perfection in a glass.

Mid-2013 bottling.

I had the opportunity to have a glass of this alongside ~1900 Pernod Fils and the similarities are spot on. Not exactly the same, of course... Take out the astringency and woodiness from the pre-ban and BOOM. Astounding.

PF 1901, 2013 Bottling

I had great expectations for the 1901 even before tasting it, but suffice to say that they were well and truly vindicated: It is truly the smoothest, most balanced modern absinthe I have ever tasted.

The louche and aroma are its strongest points, with the floral aroma filling the room and whetting the appetite. With the addition of ice cold water, the light greenish product starts to develop billowing clouds and swirls, eventually setting into a completely opaque, light greenish concoction. It seems to be just right at 1:4 to 1:4.5 dilution, with half a cube of sugar.

The PF 1901 is deceptively refreshing: it is far too easy to go through two to three glasses without feeling any alcohol heat - it is THAT smooth thanks to the superb quality of the marc base, it almost seems non-alcoholic - an incredible feat for a 68% ABV distillate. The mouthfeel is rounded, like drinking liquid silk. As for the taste, it is laced with moderate spice on the head, but rapidly mellows into anise and a particularly pronounced fennel body, segueing into slight bitterness of a distinctive wormwood finish. The perfect holy trinity, no one herb predominates; all key ingredients can be tasted in equal portion - it's nothing especially unorthodox, but goes back to the basics, albeit leaps and bounds better than any other marque today.

Although I have not yet had a sample of vintage Pernod Fils, the Jade, when judged by its own merits, is the contemporary iteration of a traditional absinthe par excellence, with everything as it should be. The paragon of refinement.