Bottle received and first tasted mid-December 2008. Two more glasses were prepared, all approximately 6 weeks apart from one another.

Color: Attractive green on the cusp of brown.

Louche: Not quite there, but it had some gradients, billows, and separation in the beginning to middle. Ended quickly.

Aroma: Wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sort of a perfume, though sharp and not entirely pleasing. Hints of smoke without the ashes and soot, if that makes any sense. An odd, dry coating to the whole aromatic package, though I could pick out a faint anise note and maybe wormwood. Before the louche it was much more pleasant, with the dry oddness more in the background. I know we don’t score pre-louche aroma, but I wanted to note it because I found it so much more pleasing.

Flavor: Dry, rough, tastes like frankincense smells though not in a good way (one of the few reference points I could find). Waxy, and to borrow a word from the previous reviewer, resinous (though he used it for aroma). Initially I chalked all this up to my palate’s response to the myrrh, but now I wonder if the wormwood choice has a part in this. I had three glasses over the span of four months and I had to sink every one. The last one I piled on the sugar and it made no difference.

Finish: Due to my response to the flavor, a non-existent finish would have made this score higher.

Overall: It is possible that my relatively inexperienced palate led me to these ratings, or something happened to the contents in transit to me. It feels weird to so strongly dislike an absinthe with the creators it has, but I felt it necessary to share my perspective, however skewed. This won’t turn me off to other Okanagan Spirits offerings by any means, because the reviews of the original Absinthe Taboo lead me to believe I’d quite like it.