Color is crystal clear, no discoloration or sediment. The Louche builds from the bottom and clouds to a very thick billow with blue tints. The color after water is white opaque, with blue highlights. The aroma before water is very floral, and herbal, with sweet tones. After water it really blossoms with the alpine floral that many of the better La Bleue absinthe’s portray. Tones of hyssop are present, with wormwood and anise developing. The mouth feel is thick, creamy and smooth. The taste is overall very rich, with strong sweet anise and wormwood notes in the finish.
This is definitely one to try if you like the La Bleue style absinthe. La Clandestine is one of the better commercial La Bleue’s.

As I'm writing this first review, I'm a bit excited. This night is a night of victory in revenge, there's music and chattering around me that makes me shake (at least, more thant normally) This is my first review, from my bi-mensual Clandestine and since I didn't tried other real absinthes (Pernod and Hill's doesn't count and I doesn't have the courage to retake them just for your reviews!) my comparison is very limited. I base myself a lot on your comments. But maybe I could rereview it when I'm more experienced. I also may be a bit rough since it's my new standard and my review is based on my current experience, as I'm sipping it. Anyway...

Color : All clear, no sediments... I suppose it's a 5, which is unfair for verte since there's more variety in them.. A white is always clear, and gets a 4-5, or is not, and get a 1! Maybe when louched you can see some details that I miss, but it's a nice white and the lights gives it some orange hue but it's the lights, so... A nice cloudy white!

Louche : Man, I did miss that part in a dumb way, by pouring to quickly my water in it. Maybe it was those damn hands, the excitation, or just the water jar they gave me... Anyway, it was a bit to quick so I'll give it a 3. But when fully louched, it is a nice, pale, milky white, with some transperency on the top. Very nice, with the lights...

Aroma : A lot of anise, makes me think of a pastis. When unlouched, it was a bit "spiky" (don't know if it's green or star anis but if it's the later it must be those star point getting at your nose!), but when you start louching it, the aroma develop slowly in a more floral scent. Cannot smell the details... A bit of alcohol, and something I have some difficulty to describe. Defnitiely flowery, I'll say!

Flavor : Taste like it smells but with a little amertume and a little crisp. Might be the wormwood. The fennel for the amertume? It's also creamy, in a way.

Finish : A little numbness, somewhat huggish, like the caress of a cruel women. A bit unpleasant, but saliva come in your mouth and you want to repeat. It lasts longly, hitting in the middle with some crispiness, then lowering itself on a more floral-I-don't-know-what note, with the amertume (fennel?) of the flavor.

Overall : I give it a 5 instead of a 4 because I assume to be to hard on her, ma belle bleue à moi, and because from what I saw, it's one of the best commercial brand of bleue.

P.S. : Was prepared with something like a 3.5 water, 2 little piece of sugar (equivalent of a cube) for 1 dose (30ml) of Clandestine. At a bar. In Mtl, Quebec... I will try it without sugar next time, it would surely farthers it away from pastis, since it's quite anisée. I like anis a lot, but I suppose to taste the subtilities it would be better to make it without sugar. Now the music is better, less loud, and my absinthe is nearly finished, I'm sad but happy at the same time, I don't want to finish it. Have to go but want another. To poor... The music is becoming louder, I should go away and leave with the souvenir of my bleue and of this night. Now.

-Color-
Before Water: Crystal clear. Pretty refractions.

After Water: Good opalescence, catches the light well, has good glow with mostly grey, slight copper-bronze highlights, and hints of blue.

-Louche-
Nice trails and jellies. Quick compared to vertes of course, but a good pace for a blanche. Nice rolling fog bank and tendrils reach into the clear portion on top. Good show.

-Aroma-
Before Water: A lush, inviting concentrated herbal aroma of the main trinity. I don’t usually find the neat aroma for absinthe to be this pleasant.

After Water: It actually loses a little of the lushness, but the notes are retained and become more delicate and floral.

-Flavor-
While many vertes may be bolder, the herbs in Clandestine give it a very nice richness and depth. The anise leads of course; the wormwood is delicate, but definitely registers in the soft floral ranges, floating above the light sweetness of the fennel. Subtle supporting herbal notes that might be hyssop, chamomile, and even coriander round out the overall flavor. The quality of the ingredients is apparent, and there’s a really nice crispy clean feel to the whole thing.

-Finish-
The nice creamy body smoothly transforms into a dryer wormwood finish with just a hint of alcohol heat. Almost palate cleansing.

-Overall-
Excellent la bleue, easily one of the best that’s commercially available. I wish a little more of the lush herb power from the neat aroma stuck around after water, but that certainly doesn’t take away from the full crystal clean flavor. The immaculate character is what pushes the Flavor and Overall areas to a 5 for me.

Notes: Louched 3:1, fountain drip, no sugar. Both EU and US bottles tasted separately.

This is my blind tasting review from September, 2008. No sugar, carafe pour, tasted the same night as the blind sample of Siréne. Before that evening I had tasted Lucid, Kubler and Leopold Verte, #s 8 & 10.

Color: Clear. Shimmery crystal.

Louche: Started fast and finished fast, like Kübler.

Aroma: Fresh, a sweetness to it that I like.

Flavor: My notes from last night say the following: Having these two back-to-back shows me how much more I have to learn w/r/t describing flavor! More fresh overall than sample #1. A very nice balance to my palate. I can see why La Bleues are described as having that alpine meadow character, which I find myself preferring at the moment.

Finish: Some numbing, very little creaminess (due to a possible over-watering.) [Edit: The second glass from the sample was quite tasty, so it ended up being overwatering.]

Overall: I look forward to having this one with sugar to compare experiences and see if/how the flavors become rounded. If this were a head-to-head tasting, I'd take this one over the verte. (And then be fascinated when a year from now I do just the opposite!)

Like with my Lucid review, I scored all the categories from my impressions at the time, and scored the overall with hindsight. I really enjoyed this drink then, and still do, though then my overall may have been a 5.

I believe La Clandestine is the best blanche I've tried to date, just edging out the also excellent La P'tite. It begins perfectly clear and louches to a uniform (if slightly thin) milk white. The aroma is pleasant though very delicate.

In the tasting, La Clandestine really comes into its own. The flavor is surprisingly rich and spicy, with a controlled herbal bitterness and no hint of unwanted grassiness. The finish is truly delightful: long, lingering, spicy and unique. Full marks!