This taste has been sponsored by a generous sample, louched with slowly dripped, ice cold water and no sugar.

Aroma pre-louche: A nice, smooth blend of wormwood and fennel. Very soft and floral. In the glass the nose is slightly of alcohol, but not unpleasant, with a sweetness that tames it.

Color: Perfect crystal peridot. Very natural. Perfect.

Louche: The water trails dance around very slowly. Much slower than any absinthe I've had previously. This lasts for a minute or so before the whole volume just cascades into complete opalescence, leaving a thing layer at the top that eventually melts away. The aroma is weak during the louche, but provides the room with a cleansing sweetness that is not overpowering but noticeable. The aroma when finished and sniffed right from the rim of the glass is very sweet and well supported from within, if that makes any sense. The color on completion is a perfectly authentic shade of pale, milky jade.

Flavor: First off, the mouth feel is exceptional. Very creamy. At first something very "woody" jumps out, and I presume this might be the best example of a forward wormwood flavor I've had yet. This lingers on the tongue and throughout the mouth as a very subtly sweet character appears and quickly cuts off any hint of bitterness. I find the anise to be only a supporting character here, allowing fennel and wormwood to bring their unique qualities to the front and sit on the tip of the tongue.

Overall: There is something nostalgic about this absinthe. This is the most balanced and well formed absinthe I've had. It really emphasizes the importance of each ingredient to the overall flavor. This is a fantastic absinthe!

The color is a beautiful peridot green. Clear, no sediment

The louche is probably the best I've seen. It starts off with a slow, snow-globe like flurry and the particles begin to explode like fireworks from the bottom of the glass (Ok I just miss the summer time 4th. of July festivities here in the windy city- it's freezing right now)

The anise is not as dominant as in other absinthes I've enjoyed. I love the aroma. I really get the fennel and I get this Italian sausage reminder when I smell it. Is it room filling? No I don’t think so but I don’t have a sensitive nose either.

The anise is slightly more in the forefront during tasting- along with a delicate arrangement of fennel & wormwood. I totally get the "baby powder" thing too! I like that. Pretty creamy mouthfeel. Just right.

The finish is quite similar to the flavor. It then dies down to some tongue numbing; just enough to remind you that you're drinking booze. I really get coriander on the finish as well. The finish may be a tad quick. I love the flavors that linger in this after indulging- I wish it would last longer.

Overall, I'd like to say that after getting this, I get home from work on a Friday night, started to pour and it made my week. This puts a big smile on my face. Quality

Note:
I’m still developing my palette for absinthe; I’ve tried about six decent brands so far. The tastings were enjoyed with 3 parts water and a half sugar cube.

Update: 9/17/09

I just cracked open another bottle of this and there may be some aging improvement from my first bottle. The aroma is a lot more tobacco-like and chocolaty/vanilla like a crème brulee. No difference that I can tell from the taste. Still #1 in my book, even after the other 14 or so absinthes I’ve tried. No change in scoring.

This was the first CO I had the pleasure of sampling, and I have always had at LEAST one unopened bottle in stock since that time. I've loved it since the first taste so hopefully we won't have TOO biased a review.



Color---clear peridot green. A bit of variance from bottle to bottle. Not enough for it to be an issue for me.



Aroma--delicious, the grape base is fairly prominent. After water, opening up and revealing a compelling complexity. Makes the room smell delicious.



Louche--very nice. Fairly quick to form, but still possessed of the theatrical buildup I have come to expect. (Actually this is the stuff that showed me what to expect!) Nice opalescence, green turning to almost white with blue overtones. Amber as well if you look at it right......



Flavor--nicer than very nice. A few things going on, spiciness, floralness, and just a bit of bite. Sweet, but not much like candy--well, not enough to put me off. The aforementioned complexity reaches its full level of compellingness, provoking one to sniff ever deeper. Despite said Complexity, this is one smooth ride. I like to slosh it around in my mouth before swallowing. Nice Mouthfeel, just creamy enough without getting all tonguenumb and heavy.



Finish--long and lingering. Crisp and clean and an invitation to another Glass. I'll have one!



Overall-- This Absinthe is an excellent example of the Distillers' Art. It is like taking a scenic ride in a vintage auto (deusenberg..?) with leather seats and burl wood dashboard thru a verdant valley in full bloom. Buy it, drink it, stockpile it, and then move next to me. In that order.

This is my first review of an absinthe, and I have only had 3 or 4 brands before this consisting of what was available locally. The Jade PF1901 is my first import as well, and I'm satisfied with my decision to order, although it was certainly not inexpensive. I chose the brand as I heard it was a good example of a traditional absinthe flavor, something that I didn't have access to locally.



What first struck me with this absinthe was the aroma, I immediately knew I was in for something different than what I had known so far. Complex, with the anise being very soft yet present, like the canvas for a painting. The wormwood was most noticeable to me as it was a rich smell that was not as prevalent in the other brands I had tried.



The color before louche is a very nice, bright, but natural green. No sediment or cloudiness whatsoever.



The louche was a bit slow in coming but once it finally arrived it was full and appetizing.



The flavor was much more complex and subtle than what I expected. The anise is softer and more mellow than what I've had before, which more easily allows the other flavors to come out. I've yet to identify all of them specifically but together they are a very pleasing and evenly distributed combination.



The mouth feel is nice, and the finish ends with a slight tingling of the tongue.



I rated it a 5 overall, as it was definitely a substantial step above what I have had before. And while I still have somewhat limited experience, Jade PF1901 has definitely changed my perspective on what absinthe in general should taste like.

We tried this absinthe on Valentine's Day 2008, and to set the mood lit candles and read from Blackwood's "The Man Whom the Trees Loved."



The color is a perfectly natural-looking light emerald, bright and translucent (5/5). The louche is the most beautiful I have seen, you can really understand why Ted named the company Jade Liqueurs when you hold this absinthe up to candlelight. Its color fades from green in the darkness to yellow-tinged where the light is strongest, and the louching sugar at the bottom of the glass looks like the swirling souls from Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain (5/5).



I had opened the bottle and recorked it, then let it sit for about a week, and it developed a subtle, mentholish smell, like warm fields after rain. The louche releases the hidden aromas very nicely, yielding an aroma much heavier on the anise and fennel, although the green fairy didn't really "fill up the room" as much as some other brands I have tried, and to really smell it you had to hold the glass up to your nose (4/5).



The taste is finely balanced. There are at least five simultaneous sensations - a subtle anise-fennel sweetness, a distinct and bitter undercurrent of wormwood, something citrusy (perhaps melissa?), something floral (coriander?), and a mouthfeel that I can only describe as crisp and silky (5/5). What really makes this absinthe stand out to me, however, is the finish - there is a crisp bitter dryness in the end that lingers pleasantly, and makes that next sip only partially voluntary (5/5). It all produces a very warm-feeling drunk, when consumed in excess, but for the first time since sampling high-quality absinthe I did not dream.



Having finally tried this absinthe after reading all the rave reviews, it only makes me more eager to go out and try other varieties. After sipping it, the main impression I have is that it is very finely crafted, but it makes me realize that there can be no thing such as a "be all and end all" of absinthes. This is the absinthe to pick if you're looking for something subtle, crisp and delectable, and in that category it scores top marks (5/5). If you're looking for something thick, creamy and more pungently herbal, then you might prefer a different variety.