Appearance: Really pleasant. Not too dark, not too light; a lovely clear and unblemished peridot green.

Louche: Builds slowly and thinly at first, but ends up right where it should be. Very pretty, with a combination of milk and greenness, with opalescent orange at the bottom. With my face near the glass while judging the aroma, lots of prismatic effects can be seen.

Aroma: Really nicely balanced. I can detect the sweet anise, wormwood AND fennel readily, with hints of a grassy meadow, citrus, and maybe a hint of star anise...very complex.

Flavor: Not quite as complex as I was expecting from the aroma, but it's pleasantly sweet and light with a nice wormwood profile.

Finish: The finish gets a bit overwhelmed by star anise, and becomes a bit to jelly beany for me.

Overall: This is a really lovely absinthe, especially considering what was available when this was released...yet it still holds up against many of the current commercial absinthes available today.

Color: A clean and clear bright gem green. Not dark or deep but not light or shallow. Near perfect with no sediment or cloudy texture.

Louche: In the area of presentation this absinthe excels. The finished louche is a perfect balance between the thick and thin with a blue hue at the top leading into a gradient to a clear silk green at the bottom.

Aroma: This absinthe smells fennel heavy which is a nice twist. The spicy and sweet aromas of “masculine” absinthes are very noticeable as well as a bit of a grassy scent in the background. This still smells fresh which is surprising when considering the age of the sample that I was given. Anise and Wormwood are displayed nicely but are not forceful in any way. Overall a beautiful and complex aroma.

Flavor: There is a nice spice and sweet character that hits first with an herbal and grassy note following very quickly. The texture is light with an almost citrus feel. It is very tasty but there is some sort of medicinal quality in the back of the mouth. It tastes wonderful except for that very pronounced downside.

Finish: The finish heats up with a pronounced spice note and goes out with a fennel and wormwood one. The layering is more than simple but not really complex and the finish also lasts quite a while.

Overall: The recipe and production ooze craftsmanship but the medicinal feel in the flavor throws this one off quite a bit. The presentation is flawless and the aroma lets us know what the creators were aiming for. Even though this one beats the pants off of most absinthe out there I feel that the creators missed the bulls-eye by a ring or two.

From the moment you pour this slightly pale mix of olive and peridot green into the glass, you can smell what I believe is the same grape base that Duplais Blanche uses. And this makes perfect sense, as the drink comes from the same distillery.

As you watch the drops of water land and splash, a lovely swirl of oil trails leads you through the transition of the absinthe into a milky green white with hints of refractive opal. This is a louche worth watching and waiting for.

Once the drink is ready, take some time to breathe in its aromas, as you will find a balance that fills the gaps missing in other bottlings from the same distillery such as Duplais Verte and Mansinthe. This tells you everything about the taste to come, which is a fine balance between the holy trinity of herbs, smoothed out by a slight vegetal note, which lingers on the tongue.

Maybe the colour could be deeper and the mouth feel a tad creamier, but then you might lose the qualities that also make this my new go-to absinthe for Sazeracs. Get a bottle of Marteau and fill a small atomiser with it for the perfect Sazerac, but once you've done that, take your time enjoying what I consider the finest absinthe to come out of the Matter-Luginbühl distillery to date.

Presentation (no points): Tall dark bottle with a classic looking label with symbolic touches provides a stately presence on my absinthe counter and should keep the light out to preserve the pleasant color. This review is based on a new, freshly opened bottle.



Color (5 points): Beautiful bright and natural green, clear and free of any sediment. This is what you want to see in a verte.



Louche (5 points): A really remarkable louche, comes in after a reasonably short period of time and slowly blooms to a rich and full opalescence that is very appetizing.



Aroma (4 points): Anise up front, with a subtle layer of wormwood neat, pleasant. After louche a note of citrus becomes a descant over the melody of the classic trinity of herbs.



Flavor (4 points): A very tasty absinthe, definitely on the sweet side, with plenty of green anise flavor and some grassy citrus highlights.



Finish (4 points): I really like the finish on this absinthe, the citrus lingers and just the slightest hint of numbness on the tongue prompt you to take another sip.



Overall (4 points): I wish this was readily available in the U.S., a quality absinthe that is very pleasing to drink. It has the classic flavors one would expect, with some nice overtones and a finish that lets you pick it out from a crowd. Wish I had ordered a liter.

Very nice clear green color. Great louche developing slowly and some time to complete. Good opalescence. Aroma shows balance with some citrus notes. Taste is balanced and very enjoyable.