Appearance: A clear rusty dark red/orange combo. Almost like aged wine but a bit brighter. Beautiful.

Louche: A bit on the weak side but a wonderfully beautiful opalescent array with a fire-red center and grey edges when held up to the light.

Aroma: A wormwood heavy aroma that is also heavily floral. Fennel and anise are there but seem to be background notes.

Flavor: Wormwood and hibiscus bomb! Other herbs are definitely present and add a nice complexity but the wormwood and tangy “rouge” flavor take center stage. I think a little rose petal is also used but not entirely sure. Definitely a rouge and definitely a showcase of wormwood.

Finish: A tart finish with some citrus notes appearing. Bitterness ramps up quite a bit though.

Overall: A thankfully not overly sweet rouge. Lots of floral and citrus background rounds out the tangy rouge flavor. The finish is a bit strong and for once I found an absinthe better with just a touch of sugar. Definitely unique, as you would expect from a rouge, but very well done.

Appearance: A rusty-raspberry tea color.

Louche: Lovely red gradient while louching, developing into a peachy opal with deeper reds and yellows. It's barely too thin, but not distractingly so.

Aroma: This is the first time I've had the chance to call an absinthe "nose-numbing". There's some wormwood here, as well as a tart berry-like smell and some sweet confection, along with a slight dry, dusty floral scent that's really pleasant.

Flavor/Mouthfeel: Not so much in the way of the "herbal" flavors of other absinthes, this is a bit more floral and leafy flavored. There's some nice wormwood and rose; a very nice bright and sharp taste.

Finish: It has a mentholated feel with some of the drying sensation I would associate with hibiscus, but it's not too distracting. It's very fresh, and has a grassy, cucumber-like finish.

Overall: I feel like most people want to try a rouge, because they're slightly different than the everyday faire, as well as (in theory) being attractively colored. What results is sub-par and oftentimes not-red or artificially-colored offerings that aren't nearly as good as other absinthes, and excuses have to be made as to why it's not great. Rubis IS great, and I'd willingly serve it to anyone without feeling I need to apologize for its shortcomings, as I'm hard-pressed to find any shortcomings.

Appearance: It should be red but it's not at all. The bottle was opened in April 2012. Between green and cognac.

Louche: An extremely light louche, as it often happens with Pernot’s products, with more orange than usual.

Aroma: Holy trinity, with little anise and some hibiscus scent.

Flavor: Holy trinity, a heavy medicinale taste, some unexpected bitterness but unpleasant, the acrid taste of hybiscus.

Finish: Only the worst stays, for long.

Overall: In a word: awful, but please remind I tasted a sample sent to me by a friend, the reminder of a bottle opened long ago. This is clearly not an absinthe to let age. I expected so much from it, Iooking forward to tasting it, but those curious for red absinthe may give up looking for the remaining bottles as they are likely to be much better served by recent Adnam’s or Awen.