Color: A peridot green quite darker than usual, very inviting.

Louche: So much orange and yellow. Thick and colorful. It stays very thick up to 1:5, then gets opalescent.

Aroma: Strong, with the typical Devoille alcohol carrying the holy trinity but also liquorice. Richer and more fruity and spicy than the usual Devoille offer. Satisfying. Aroma intensifies a lot with water.

Flavor: Complex, very complex. Holy trinity, liquorice, I’d also say Angelica and Calamus. Some spicyness, but not coming from star anise. An overall sweetness, in no way obtrusive.

Finish: It lingers long in every part of the mouth and nose and throat.

Overall: I tasted a sample sento to me by a friend, from a bottle opened in 2012, four years ago. This may explain why my notes are different from those of others. I think it’s a very satisfying drink, somehow half way between the current Centenaire and Svensk’s Grön Opal.

-Color-
Before Water:
Looks quite like vintage fuille morte golden brown with the tiniest bit of green tint. Often a sign of bitterness and/or overcoloring in a modern verte such as this, but I find it rather fetching.

After Water:
The louche brings out a thick green-tinged custard color. Fortunately after tasting, the color proved not to be a sign of an overwhelmingly bad process. Though it's likely related to the vegetal notes that might not be welcomed by every absintheur.

-Louche-
Nice oil trails that bunch up at the bottom and eventually go opaque. A line is formed, not right on top of the louching opaque portion, but rather in the middle of the clear portion- pretty cool! The encroaching fog is thick yet disciplined and takes awhile to finally engulf the last of the clear band. Final louche is thick but not excessively so.

-Aroma-
Rich brandy-like candied fruit with vegetal, coriander, and herbal notes.

-Flavor and Mouthfeel-
A fruity sweetness born from a marriage of the grape base and anise is very nice, along with some nice spicy, citric and herbal flavors. The vegetal notes are just enough to be interesting and there is a well balanced minty wormwood briskness beneath the candy overtones. I think I can detect star anise which makes the otherwise full, round mouthfeel excessively prickly.

-Finish-
The prickly feel from the star anise regrettably mars what would otherwise be non-cloyingly sweet and interestingly herbaceous finish.

-Overall-
This absinthe is pretty good, and I appreciate that it stands out somewhat from your average verte. At the same time, it might not be for everyone. Heavy grape base and cognac lovers I think will especially dig it. Were it not for the star anise factor, I’d prefer this over its Devoille sister, La Coquette.

Notes: 3.5:1, iced brouille, no sugar.

Time of seduction has come.

I have been given the following absinthe upon my arrival in Switzerland. I had lotsa expectations, which failed.

What will fool you? The vintage coloure revered by the Extrait d'absinthe worshippers of the yore, the turbulent louche of Pernods, Bergers and beyond.

And here the game is over. Apart that, it is just stronger version of Soixante cinq whih seems to be just the diluted version of L'E.

Crappy wine alcohol, obtrusive pontica, grassy amd one dimensional in the vein of Devoille's works.

Better get La Coquette or Verte de Fougerolles. Better get Verte de Fougerellose at all.

L'Enjôleuse is one of the most unusual and remarkable absinthes I have yet encountered. I suspect it is one that will have its detractors, but for all that it is atypical, I give it my wholehearted recommendation.

To begin, I say "don't judge the book by its cover." L'Enjôleuse is not the prettiest absinthe out of the bottle. It pours an unremarkable greenish gold, with brownish-amber tints. It looks completely natural, but that is really the best that can be said about its appearance. However, like Rosanna Arquette, there is more to the Seductress than conventional good looks.

The louche is extraordinary. As the water drips in, the expected "oil trails" refract the light in amber-gold flashes. The plain brown of the absinthe changes to a smoky quartz, and then a yellowish jade. The final color is not exceptionally beautiful, but the louche is pleasing and appropriately translucent.

The aroma before water is quite interesting, and one definitely detects the cognac notes that the distiller mentions. As the water is added, the aroma becomes more herbal, but there are intense peppery notes as well. This comes through even more in the flavor, which is complex, unusual, and arresting. With each sip, atop the base flavor of absinthe, I sense notes of cognac, orange, and pepper. There are also candy-like flavors and other spices too subtle to be named. Like all of the Paul Devoille absinthes, L'Enjôleuse is intensely herbal. However, this offering is far more layered and complex than La Coquette or the old standby Verte de Fougerolles.

The finish is long and rich, as the complex flavors slowly fade. Overall, as noted above, this absinthe is far from typical. There is so much going on that this will never be a "daily drinker." That said, L'Enjôleuse is aptly named. I would have been sorry to have missed this one.