Color: Verte Suisse lives up to it's name offering up a light clear and for once a bit more green than yellow color. Still very natural but also a tad light.

Louche: This louche is amazingly pretty. Honestly one of the most captivating louches I've seen. Swirls are dancing all around and clouds pop into existence. There is a very nice gradient and a final layering effect that is wonderful. It's almost hard to give anything else a 5 after this. Very good louche.

Aroma: Spicy aroma with wormwood as well. Not too heavy on anise or fennel although they are detectable. A well balanced yet spicy and very suisse smell.

Flavor: The flavor is smooth and balanced. At first the spice is very direct but it balances out quickly. I'm not usually a suisse style person but this is wonderful. The flavor is closer to licorice than most absinthes that I've tried but it is still very good. This would do well in the winter for a treat.

Finish: The finish numbs quickly and hangs around for a good bit. At first it sweetens but then it gives way to a slight bitter numbness that plays well.

Overall: This is smooth and spiced. I like this one surprisingly well, especially as I 'm not a suisse style person. The finish is good and the taste is spot on! This also showcases one of the prettiest louches I've yet to see!

*I revisited this review after a year of many glasses.
Served at 4:1 This is where I enjoyed it most. No sugar.

Color: Light peridot with a touch of yellow, clear and natural.

Louche: Full, slow and evenly forming, nice trails, distinct layering. Opalescent and wonderful to watch. Puffs of smoke roll with each drop reaching up toward the clear layer above. Lovely color, perfect thickness.

Aroma: Very herbal and powerful. Wormwood and anise are strong and good quality.
It filled the room, and foretold of yumminess.

Flavor: Crisp, complex, and a bit of earthiness. Masculine, yet not in the least bit overwhelming. I kept reaching for the glass wondering if I was drinking it too quickly. A strong and delicious wormwood wrapped in anise and fennel, with a nice light pepper and spice.

Finish: It built nicely, lingered, then slowly faded. Wormwood, anise, a floral linger, ending in a nice citrus tanginess with a gentle bitterness. Very enjoyable.

Overall, A slightly softer personality than PF1901, which I also love. This is something I most certainly would buy again.

Distinctive Berger Clone

Color- Clear and inviting green that is edging more towards a straw-like color. A tad light compared to other Jade’s. No sediment in any of the glasses I’ve been pouring.

Louche- Good billowing oil trails starting at the bottom of my Pontarlier glass. It louches fast but ends with really nice blue refractions when looking at it in natural sunlight.

Aroma- Robust and creamy hyssop and fennel. The wormwood pokes out every now and than too and adds a great layer of complexity. Everything intertwines perfectly.

Flavor- Wormwood first and foremost. It lends a heavy but appropriate earthy/green bite. Candy-like anise towards the back of the throat is nice. The mouth feel may be just a tad too thin.

Finish- The wormwood starts off and eventually dies down to anise and reminds me of confectioners sugar. The anise stays for a while.

Overall- Extremely well crafted absinthe. Verte Suisse is really multi-faceted. A glass without sugar really brings out the complexities of the wormwood but when some sugar is used other herbs are brought out and the mouth feel is much more robust. I’d like to compare this to the original Berger pre-ban!

Sep. 2007 bottle, opened Jan 2008 and tasted for review March 2008; louched at 3:1 slow drip with 1/2 sugar cube.



The color was a natural and attractive light lime-amber, but I would have scored it higher if more actual green was detectable; perhaps the age of the bottling was responsible?



The louche was excellent- slow forming and fascinating with numerous spindly oil trails that layered, bouncing in a suspended dance, swirling, and reforming with each drip. There appeared to be more oil trails, but they were not as thick-looking individually as, say, 1901 or Edouard. At full louche, the color was a light lime/ amber yellow with opalescent highlights, although it was a bit thinner than other Jades.



The aroma was pleasing, with herbal, verdant, and spicy notes. However, for me, it did not quite portray the complexity of the actual taste.



A wonderfully complex flavor, with a sweet spicy upfront that, to me, conveyed a powerful suggestion of cinnamon (I dub thee Big Red!). A toasty, yet verdant, herbal, grassy green comes right along side, followed by a big, savory bitter on the back of the tongue. The finish is clean and refreshing, with all of the flavor components, even the frontal spice, lingering.



The mouthfeel, however while light and enjoyable, was not as creamy and luxurious as I was hoping for, and I subtracted a point in the finish category. I feel that the lighter oil trails and light-looking final louche might have been an indicator of this. Not a major issue, but I find it interesting to wonder if it's just the nature of this particular absinthe (e.g. Latin American vs. Indonesian coffees), or if it could be improved. The only week point in an otherwise amazing flavor profile.



All and all, a great absinthe and one of my very favorites. It took some getting used to but it's grown on me quite a bit. If Ted finds a way to thicken up the mouthfeel while keeping all the other qualities intact, I will go crazy trying to decide if this, or Edouard, is my top absinthe.



Update August 2008: Well, I’m on a different bottle (same Sept. 2007 batch) that’s been opened for some time longer. The cinnamon note is not nearly as prevalent as it was, and has mellowed into a tamer sweet and spicy in the front. Without the big biting (in a good way) iteration of the spice on my palate, I can detect a decent creamy body here. It’s not as creamy as PF1901 for example, but it’s there, and it’s quite nice. The finish is not as snappy, but it’s still crisp. So not as bold as before, but smoother. Wonderful to experience the changing flavors in the life of a bottle of good absinthe.

...I was saddened to see it go.



The color of this absinthe is a beautiful but delicate green. Not nearly as dark in shade as its sibling the Edouard but still a lovely color to be sure. However, that all changes once the water is applied. One can easily lose themselves in the slow, cloudy swirls that erupt from violent drops of ice cold water. Once a full louche has been achieved the color takes on a lovely white opalescence with a hint of the original green producing a subtle but nice creamy appearance.



The aroma and flavor are both rather crisp and refreshing. While just as wonderful on the tongue with sugar this absinthe loses no character when unadorned and taken without it. Depending upon your preference the choice to start the evening a little sweeter and finish it out unsweetened will never be a hard one. The aroma is a very full bodied bouquet that is predominantly anise with subtle undertones but when the water is added the full figure of the complexity can be witnessed. The undertones move to the foreground presenting the full spectrum of Wormwood and Fennel mixing smoothly with the anise you started with.



The finish for me has always been smooth, easy and warming. This is a lovely absinthe that should be enjoyed completely throughout every step in the process.



Overall, this has become one of my favorite absinthes.