Pouring the Siréne into my glass, my first thought was, "too dark!" It looks like a rich Extra Virgin Olive Oil, dark and thick. The aroma neat was citrus and alcohol, reminding me in some ways of a gin.

It was the louche that made me sit up and take note. The icewater dripping into the glass produced marvelous oil trails, and a rich fog began to form at the bottom of the glass. As the louche continued, it grew ever more roiling and thundercloudish, with a tint of the olive and an unexpected tan highlight. The color wasn't the most attractive, but the action of the louche was quite appealing.

The aroma after louching was grassy, vegetal, and tangy. Flavor followed the aroma, with vegetal notes highlighted with wormwood bittnerness. Anise/fennel was in the background. The finish was dry, and somewhat short.

It was the next night, when I used Siréne as the base for an Absinthe Frappé, that I found the perfect use for this beverage. The strong louching of Siréne made for a very appealing cocktail, and the vegetal notes get toned down with the addition of the simple syrup and bitters. I think I found a good mixing absinthe!

Tasted from a bottle labeled "Batch No. 3". Nice packaging but note that the bottle is tall, it does not fit on the shelf with my more standard-sized liquor bottles.



Color: olive oil, a bit on the dark side but pleasant and natural looking. Tasted previously, there was a floater in the glass, and I noticed a couple of chunks of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. This time it poured clear, and the other bottle I have shows no signs of sediment, so benefit of the doubt here and I'll rate a 3.



Nose (neat): Anise is there, not as upfromt as I've grown accustomed to, but there's enough there to know this is absinthe. Alpine/herbal notes are present, and there's pretty obvious citrus and gin character, leaning towards a spicy cologne/after-shave. I find it all really nice, the only knock is that the gin smell distracts me a bit; I'm trying to focus on this as an absinthe and something in my brain keeps whispering "gin" in my ear.



Louche: Louche is nice, trails develop and then the bottom of the glass begins to cloud. It comes on pretty quick, and I didn't get the beautiful "rolling clouds" that sometimes form, this was pretty smooth clouding from the bottom up, displaying nice separation during a slow louche. I finished at about 4:1 and the final look is a bit dark and opaque, but attractive enough.



Nose (after louche): I usually detect more anise after the louche, and the Sirene follows this trend. Anise is a bit more in the front, nice complex alpine background, a bit spicy/minty (perhaps wormwood is coming through now?). The gin aroma is still there, but it's sitting back a bit more now and I think it seems better balanced than it did when smelled neat.



Flavor: Tastes just as you'd expect after the aroma. Anise, definite citrus, gin/spice, and a pretty good wormwood bitterness to balance it all. Quite big and delicious.



Finish: I found the finish to be pretty simple, dominated by bitterness and tongue-numbing anise. The other flavors seemed to recede pretty quickly, leaving a nicely refreshing bitterness that was unfortunately overwhelmed by clinging anise. I'll rate a 3, but leaning towards a 2. The finish isn't bad, but you're hoping for more when everything before it is so nice.



Overall, I really like Sirene, and I don't regret that I purchased 2 bottles with my initial order. The gin notes take it a bit away from tradition, but I think they're a nice complement to the alpine/forest character. And from reading other reviews, I think it distracts me more than most others.

This was a surprising absinthe on a number of levels. I am thrilled that such a quality traditional absinthe is being made and distributed in the U.S. Now on to the details:



Color: reminds me of good olive oil, natural but dark green with a brown tinge, Yes, it could be lighter, but I don't find it unattractive in the least.



Louche: Very thick, pleasantly protracted and fascinating to watch. My only complaint is with the final color, the brown tinge dominates the louche in a rather sickly way that actually gave me pause before my first sip. But the dramatic nature of the louche kept me from rating it less than "4".



Aroma: not my category, Ive borrowed the "3" from the other reviews.



Flavor: very interesting. I second Peridot's "Big Red gum" description. It is a tad grassy and light on the anise, but with an orange peel sort of citrus note. The mouthfeel is nicely creamy as well, especially while your water ratio is low. Of the three glasses I had (on three different nights), each had a different dominant flavor which gave the drink a strange split personality quality. Whether this variation was do to the drink or the drinker I'm not sure, but the flavors I have listed above remained present in all three glasses.



Finish: the Big Red gum lingers or a few minutes, but not unpleasantly. I just found that I needed to let it pass before I could have more. But this gives each sip the breathing room that a good drink deserves.



Overall: I would gladly buy a bottle for the collection, even if it might not be my first choice to drink. It is a distinctive yet nicely traditional addition to the American market. Bravo!

Color - Deep olive. Maybe a tad too dark, but rich.



Louche - Some swirling action, but generally faster than I'd like. Very thick at the end though.



Aroma - Absolutely delightful, easily this absinthe's strong suit. Rich and varied, but Chartreuse and gin-like ultimately.



Flavor - Perhaps the Achilles heal of Sirene, if only slightly so. Overall good, but vegetal and not enough anise for me.



Finish - Very nice. Pleasant bitterness and herbal notes linger long after the last sip.



Overall, I like the Sirene. Not as much as some top shelf products, but enough that I'd drink it regularly alongside my other stand-by, Lucid, if it were readily available. To some, it may stray ever so slightly in the herby-grassy direction of the St. George, but restraint won the day here and the result is a product that my native Chicagoland can be proud of.

I bought a 4 oz sample of the first release of the Sirène through the generosity of Poor. This is the third glass I've had from my sample, diluted at 4:1 without sugar. The synopsis is that Sirène is a very well crafted absinthe very much in the traditional manner with the lead role played by various citrus notes backed up with traditional herbs. It's a very drinkable absinthe.



The color before water seems a little darker than expected and a bit towards the yellow end of the spectrum. It's totally natural, nothing artificial about it at all. There's some brown notes (not the amber of feuille mort) that make the color a little less pleasant than it could be. The color after water seems lighter than it would otherwise be given where it starts. So it ends up with a nice pale white-green color.



The louche is fine. It could be a bit thicker and have more interesting appearance. But I'm being picky.



The aroma is dominated by the citrus notes. I don't find much in the way of coloring herb aroma, or it's just subsumed under the dominant aroma. There's nothing unpleasant, not sign of funk or anything like that. Very clean. I can't give it a 4 as it seems so dominant in one direction.



The flavor, is like the aroma dominated by the citrus. But there's much more going on here. There's the orange and lemon flavors with hints of grapefruit, anise and fennel sweetness, with balm and mint. Some wormwood is there as well. Being clean and light, it's a very refreshing and very easily drinkable absinthe. The flavor is the best part of this absinthe, and that's the way it should be.



The finish is nice and clean, leaves a bit a numbing on the tongue, but because the citrus dominates to my taste it's less interesting than it could be.



I don't see this as an "almost perfect" absinthe, so I can't give it a 4. But it's beyond the mere "acceptable, shows promise" of a 3. Personally I'd rate it 3.5. It's quite good and worth considering. I like it.