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

Color: Light green with a tint of brown. Pleasant, natural-looking. After louche, a yellowish tinge to the opacity.

Louche: Billows, comes on fast, ends more quickly than expected. Green/brown line @ meniscus disappeared at 2:1, and since I've over-watered a few recently, I stopped there.

Aroma: Some pine, floral, even a slight medicinal note (though this was stronger before the louche). The herbs I'm familiar with were commingling quite nicely.

Flavor: Sweetness at first, then bitterness, with the bitterness taking over later. Close to well-balanced between the two.

Finish: Some numbing. Bitterness hangs on in the back of the throat, with the sweetness sticking around more to the fore. Light creaminess.

Overall: I'm looking forward to having my second glass of this verte with sugar, to compare and contrast the experiences. Even with the few absinthes under my belt, I would say this is a solid absinthe with the wormwood flavor dialed up a notch or two away from "well-balanced."

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 4. The overall now would be a 3.5, because I feel I have a better handle on what I enjoy in an absinthe. Today I would gladly drink this over Lucid and even Duplais Verte (review TK), with it just edging out Kubler on my "list."