User reviews

18 reviews
 
6%
 
67%
 
28%
2 stars
 
0%
1 star
 
0%
Overall rating
 
3.7
Appearance
 
4.5(18)
Louche
 
3.8(18)
Aroma
 
3.6(18)
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
3.5(18)
Finish
 
3.4(18)
Overall
 
3.6(18)
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18 results - showing 1 - 5
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Bare essence
(Updated: October 29, 2024)
Overall rating
 
3.3
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
4.0
Aroma
 
2.5
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
3.0
Finish
 
3.0
Overall
 
3.5
Appearance- Well, it's clear.
Louche- Pretty good louche. Not *too* opaque and definitely not thin. Nice and cloudy.
Aroma- Pretty strong anise. The anise is the main thing I notice here but it's not what I would call a 'bomb', as the wormwood and other botanicals do contribute something. So it ends up being a bit of a generic 'candied' smell. Not really a terrible or even bad aroma but not nearly as balanced as I really want with an absinthe.
Flavor/Mouthfeel- The mouthfeel is good but with much less numbing than I'd like. Flavor was just like the aroma. I'm not a huge fan of licorice types of flavors but even with this being fairly anise heavy, I still enjoyed it. There was just enough of the wormwood and other flavors (subtle mint) to keep it grounded as a solid absinthe.
Finish-Not much to say. It goes quick and with no new developments either bad or good, except that I did notice the wormwood bitterness just a bit more here, which is nice, but it was very subtle.
Overall- I haven't had too many blanches but this seems like a good solid blanche. For me it's just not complex enough to want to buy more of it. Seems the price has gone up over the years, also. At $50 a liter, it would probably be a nice deal.
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Better than I expected
(Updated: October 29, 2024)
Overall rating
 
4.0
Appearance
 
4.5
Louche
 
3.5
Aroma
 
4.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
4.0
Finish
 
4.0
Overall
 
4.0
I tasted and tested all three of the blanches I had on hand one night... the biggest surprise to me, was how well Kubler fared compared to the other two-- the "competition" was La Sorciere Bleue and La Clandestine, and yet head-to-head I had a hard time telling the three apart. Ultimately, I think La Sorciere was the tastiest and edged the other two on quality-- but the difference between Kubler and La Clandestine was that La Clandestine had a slightly better taste & maybe finish (but close enough that I scored them the same) and Kubler had the best louche of the three. Maybe I was lucky enough to get a really good bottle of Kubler (no tails), but it's really quite good.

Appearance: It's a solid blanche. Very transparent, but I can still tell I poured liquid in the glass, so not quite perfect.

Louche: Acceptable-- still really opaque, but there's hints of translucency and a little more depth than I saw from La Sorciere and La Clandestine.

Aroma: Solid. Good. No complaints.

Flavor/Mouthfeel: This is a really nice-tasting, good absinthe. It's a blanche-- guess it doesn't have the complexity of some other varieties, but it's good enough to deserve the "4" I'm giving it.

Finish: Again, nice-- complex, interesting, nice duration-- no flaws. Not perfection though-- so again, I think this deserves the "4" I'm giving it.

Overall: This is a well-made Swiss classic. Maybe I should be considering it the "mid-market standard", but as good as it tastes-- it deserves the "4" I'm giving it, not a "3".
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An unimposing, yet enjoyable Absinthe
(Updated: October 29, 2024)
Overall rating
 
3.1
Appearance
 
3.5
Louche
 
3.5
Aroma
 
2.5
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
3.0
Finish
 
3.0
Overall
 
3.0
Color: Clear as water. Really nothing much to say about the color :)

Louche: A lot of neat little waves and billowing cloudiness at first. It louches very quickly and doesn't give much time for appreciation. However, the resulting louche is nice and thick and naturally very, very white.

Aroma: It really seems to be lacking in aroma. I expect a lot of aroma to spring forth from the louche - but that never really happens here.

Flavor: Very sweet, even without any sugar added. With sugar is almost too sweet. Not very complex at all and the flavor is a bit dull. I don't exactly want to use a word like dull but it is somewhat appropriate.

Mouthfeel: A nice creaminess. Not much numbing at all, sadly.

Finish: I actually appreciate the finish somewhat more than the general taste of this absinthe. The botanicals seem to show up after the liquid is gone. Strange.

Overall: It's an okay absinthe. This is the only blanche I've had and based upon this will probably stick with the vertes.


UPDATE: 1/16/2014
-----------------------------------------
After having sampled a few other blanche absinthes (LCB and Blanche Neige) - I've adjusted some of my ratings as I do not believe the previous, lower scores were warranted but merely due to my unfamiliarity with the variety. Overall score remains a 3 as before.
J
Top 10 Reviewer 44 reviews
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Kubler - Revisited
(Updated: October 29, 2024)
Overall rating
 
3.3
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
4.0
Aroma
 
3.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
2.5
Finish
 
3.5
Overall
 
3.0
I am updating my review of Kubler altogether, but only one rating has changed Flavor / Mouthfeel from a 2.5 to 3.5.

Appearance (4) : Kubler is a blanche so it is very clear, but I enjoyed the authentic swiss bottle. Also, the clarity makes the louche that much more exciting!
Louche (4) : The louche is outstanding. I love the louche on a good blanche absinthe because it seems to come out of nowhere like magic, and I just love thinking of absinthe as a little magical.
Aroma (3) : The aroma is slightly strong on the fennel, which tends to be a quality that I don't like but my love of absinthe is quickly changing my feelings about fennel so it still gets a 3 for me.
Flavor / Mouthfeel (3.5) : This is the only changed rating in my updated review because I found a perfect ratio for Kubler that toned down the fennel without sacraficing the numbing effect.
Finish (3.5) : I usually enjoy a strong finish, however with Kubler I was glad that it didn't linger so the weak finish was essentially a good quality for me.
Overall (3) : The only thing keeping me from giving Kubler more than a 3 is the fact that I enjoy other absinthes more that fall in the 4 and 5 range. Kubler is great!
D
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Unbalanced and Simple.
(Updated: October 29, 2024)
Overall rating
 
2.5
Appearance
 
4.0
Louche
 
4.0
Aroma
 
2.0
Flavor / Mouthfeel
 
2.0
Finish
 
1.0
Overall
 
2.0
Color: Clear and without any hues. No sediment or anything else obscuring the glass.

Louche: Nice louche that starts right off the bat. Very thick when it is finished and fun to watch, but not anything amazing.

Aroma: Anise hits me and honestly not much else. Seems rather one dimensional in this area.

Flavor: Simple and anise heavy. A tad bit of alcohol heat remains even at higher ratios. An odd thing for something so low proof in the absinthe world. Not much going on here but not a bad flavor either.

Finish: Goes away really fast from what I've come to expect. No changing of flavors or anything but then again it really doesn't get a chance to.

Overall: Reminds me of an absinthe substitute really. Almost nothing other than the anise is really shown. It scored points for presentation but really fell behind where it counts; flavor. I'm docking an overall point to highlight this feeling. When first on the market it may have been impressive but new competition has shown where this one really stands. I'd honestly say skip Kubler, you're not missing much.
E
Top 10 Reviewer 62 reviews
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