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.

Sonja was nice enough to send me a small sample of Sirene.



I really enjoy it.



Color great, Louche fantastic, flavor intriguing, finish interesting, overall very promising.



The only real flaw I find in it is a bit of harsh alcohol in the nose. Every time I taste/smell Sirene, this distracts me from the good points of the beverage. Certainly not an issue with cocktails, but for a straight up water and Absinthe, it is an issue, at least for me.

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.

I could only rate this absinthe in relation to my prior experiences with Lucid and Kubler. In that regard I will be comparing Sirene to Lucid, the only other verte I've tried, and on this basis sirene is surely a unique absinthe. It took me three glasses to find the right opinions to express, as this is my first absinthe review, and only when I had a glass of Kubler and Lucid in between my 2nd and 3rd glasses of Sirene did I find myself able to work up a review.



Aroma Before Louche



The aroma before louche is subtle yet sweet, and very intriguing. It hints at citrus, and perhaps mint. I find it a more "stable" armoma than Lucid. More "naturally herbal".



Color before Louche



I first thought of olive oil as I settled into my glass. I noticed it seemed thicker than Lucid. From seeing pictures of other absinthes, I was please to see it seemed like it had more depth and character. But it isn’t necessarily pure green as much as a yellow-brown tinted green.



The Louche



As the first drop plopped, a wonderfully enticing aroma of grassy-citrus filled the room. The louche itself was very pretty, starting slow and then almost cascading in on itself to a very consistent yellowish-jade. The best characteristic of this absinthe is the aroma coming off the louche. It is very enticing. As good as it did smell though, I detected no anise or fennel. It was a purely new absinthe aroma for me. I also enjoyed how it stayed "green" after the louche was complete. As Lucid louches almost completely white, I was overjoyed to find myself holding a glass of, what to me, seemed to look like a traditional absinthe post-louche.



Flavor



I did not use sugar for my first taste—a plan I will stick to with all my 1st-tastings—and after that 1st tasting I don’t know if this actually tastes like absinthe. It is very plain IMO. Not bad tasting, just nothing really jumps out at me. There is a lot of that grassy-taste I anticipated due to the aroma, but I find that it doesn’t work as wonderfully on my tongue as it did in my nostrils. Not much anise, or fennel, or wormwood for that matter. I have to say that I find this absinthe rather weak in flavor, at least without sugar.



With sugar however, it becomes a totally different absinthe. Those grassy, citrus notes become very entertaining. You can almost taste more of the fennel, as well as a more lingering wormwood tongue-grasp. I think this absinthe totally changed with sugar. Before the white cube I would have totally washed this absinthe away, but with sugar, and a few relaxed sips, I really enjoy it. In light of this I simply cannot tell if this is a weakness of the absinthe, or simply a quirk of my pallet.



Overall



As my 3rd absinthe, I don't think I'm quite qualified to make a definitive judgment about Sirene. I can only hope to convey my modest first impressions. I do like Sirene, However I find that it has totally changed my opinion of absinthe. Is this more traditional, more "cutting edge"? I just don't know. I do like it, although I cannot drink it without sugar. I think that the characteristics of grass-citrus do overpower any traces of fennel, anise, or wormwood, and for that I have to look at it with concern. With that said, I do enjoy Sirene. I'm just not sure, after absorbing a lot of absinthe knowledge, that this would pass the test of a traditional absinthe.