Color: Very pretty and olive in the bottle with a little bit of swirling "sediment", although it's more like a teensy bit of a dark green dust. In the glass, it's a clear, very pale citrine color.

Louche: I would give half points here if I could (3.5). The Leopold has always louched relatively thin for me, and after being fully diluted will build to a more opaque louche after about 5 or 10 minutes of it resting. There is some translucent layering, and a slight opalescence in color, while maintaining some good green qualities. It should be noted that the thinness of the louche in no way effects the texture of the absinthe. I find most of the time thin louche = watery feel, but this is certainly not the case here.

Aroma: This is packed with nose-tickling anise, a sweet note and some wormwood, a mentholated minty aroma, and something nice and floral that I'm not familiar with. It also has a nice little alcohol-heat kick.

Flavor: Very balanced and nice, a good hint of alcohol flavor (but not at all in a bad way.) Nothing in the flavor is too forward or overpowering, all playing nicely with each other.

Finish: Warm and nice in the back corners of my mouth. It has a tasty licorice finish (like if black licorice cut out the heavy tar flavor and replaced it with freshness and sugar), with a really great freshness from the melissa.

Overall: This review is of a bottle of batch 21 that I just picked up, which means the bottle itself is a little older, as I had a bottle of batch 30 nearly a year ago. As always, I mixed this without sugar, and it becomes nicely balanced a little closer to 4:1, eliminating a little more of the alcohol bite that is present at lower dilutions. It took a week or so after opening and having a glass or two before it really rounded itself out. This is a nice absinthe to have on hand, definitely worth picking up a bottle if possible.

Color - It may seem repetitive to describe it as a clear, medium peridot, but that's essentially what it is, with just the barest trace of gold.

The aroma is pleasing to me in the way that many of the American offerings are, and many of the European offerings are not: there is no tang of grassiness or vegetable matter, and the spiciness is enjoyable without being overwhelming.

I found the louche to be a touch oily and not as active or long-lasting as some, but it produces a beautiful aqua glow at the surface.

The taste is clean and refreshing without being vapid. The bite of the wormwood nips at your tongue, but it isn't so intense as to overpower the slightly spicy mixture of fennel and possibly coriander, with the sweetness of fennel. However, be sure to not overwater this absinthe, as it's easy to do. 3.5 to 1 seemed just right to me.

The finish provided an appropriately mild numbness that lets you enjoy each subsequent sip.

Additional note:

I bought this bottle in November of 2009 and finished it up about a month ago. While it is not available through my preferred vendor (DUNY), it is well worth seeking out. Since there's some confusion about the "overall" category, I'll clarify that I'm using it to balance out the rating average, and it's not indicative of how I feel about the absinthe overall (that would be more of a 4).

Batch 28
Prepared at both a 1:1 ratio with sugar.

Initial impressions: I found the bottle for the Leopold Bros. quite pretty to look at, the way it tapers being very pleasing to the eye. I’m also quite fond of the home printed look of the label and found myself quite impressed by the fact that the batch number is hand printed on the bottle.

Color: This offering is a quite gorgeous, clear shade of peridot. Quite natural looking and enticing. To be quite honest I spent a good amount of time simply admiring the color of the absinthe in the bottle before I even opened it.

Louche: I found the louche effect to be very entertaining. It starts off slowly, with plenty of oil trails swirling in the glass, and once it begins to turn milky it happens rather quickly, becoming a very pretty golden jade color. Overall once the louche is complete the drink is a pretty opalescent color with a clear layer sitting right at the top that can be seen when held up to the light.

Aroma: Upon initially opening the bottle for the first time this absinthe has a very pleasant anise fragrance. It is strong, without being overpowering. After the bottle had a chance to breathe for a few days I was able to pick out more citrus, lime I think, and slightly floral notes. Once water is added the anise fragrance opens up a little more and more of the spicy notes can be found. I found as I smelled the fragrance I could almost taste the flavors associated with the scents, and any drink that can do that is good in my humble opinion.

Flavor: The first flavor that hit’s the tongue is anise, with a slight bit of the wormwood bitterness. The citrus flavor comes through towards the middle and I can almost swear I taste a bit of floral and something that resembles honey combined that I’ve decided must be clover blossom, though it could just be me. At the end you get more of the wormwood and a spicy, almost peppery flavor that I figure must be coriander. Overall a very enticing flavor combination.

Finish: The anise flavor lingers in the mouth quite a while. There is a bit of coating and tongue tingling from the spiciness of the coriander, but it is not at all unpleasant, and while the wormwood is still present the bitterness isn’t overpowering.

Overall: A very good and I would say traditional absinthe, though I have no real basis for comparison at the moment. I found it to be a quite enjoyable, even delightful introduction to the world of absinthe and look forward to procuring another bottle as soon as possible. In fact, I find myself wishing I had bought two in the first place!

*Revisited and edited after several bottles of this absinthe.

Batch 25
Served at 3:1, and 4:1 no sugar needed here, but I enjoyed it with sugar as well.
The floral elements really open up at 4:1

Color: Medium crystal clear peridot. Very pretty and natural green. Has stayed green for months and months in the bottle with no fading.

Louche: A slow smoky build from the bottom up with clear thick layers, melding together nicely at the end.

Aroma: Clean, inviting and yummy. Wormwood, anise and light spice in that order.
It filled the room while the louche was forming.

Flavor: A very strong, but tasty wormwood right in the front... Anise, fennel and spice follow... It is sweet, lightly spicy, wonderfully herbal, and a ping of citrus. Certainly a top American offering.


Finish: Nice light, tangy finish. . A lingering citrus and spice. Very nice.
Clean and crisp.

Overall: A really good offering, and a great absinthe if you like a wormwood forward profile. Very well-crafted for certain. I'm glad I bought two bottles!

I have to say I am somewhat disappointed with Leopold's absinthe. I've been reading a lot of good reviews about batch-by-batch improvements to the product, but as of #14, there is still a long way to go.

The color and louche are fine. The drink begins an attractive olive green and with the addition of water becomes a pleasing yellowish jade. The louche process yields all the expected "oil trails" and visual theatrics.

The flavor and aroma, however, are way out of balance. There is something overwhelmingly leafy or grassy in the scent and taste of this absinthe, which largely obscures whatever might be going on with the anise, wormwood, and so forth. Perhaps with time this will "air out" a bit, and if it does, I will update my review accordingly, but for now, I'm afraid I have to give the Leopold low marks.

The finish is acceptable, but the grassy quality lingers. Overall, I think this absinthe shows promise, but it's very much a work in progress.