A natural green & dead leaf color, a shade darker than most, but natural.

A Pretty jewel like louche, with impressive trails as soon as the water hits the absinthe.

The VC smells like peppermint and sugarcane. And it tastes like it too. I meant these two as a compliment, as I liked it, and the fact that it is different from other absinthes.

After taste does remind you it's absinthe, but in a nice way, and the sweet pepermint flavor does linger, but not as much as I wished.

Overall a different, but tasty absinthe, and a most welcome addition to my hooch cabinet. Perfect after a meal or with a sweet treat. I do use a bit of sugar. My wife's favorite Verte.

I was quite eager to try the Vieux Carre, in part because I am a big fan of the Bluecoat gin from the same distiller. Unfortunately, this absinthe falls short of the standard set by the best American brands.

The color before water is a dark olive. It looks very natural, but is otherwise unremarkable. Fresh from the bottle, the aroma is mostly alcohol, with some herbal scents discernible as well. With the addition of water, a gradual louche forms, resulting in a translucent yellow jade. While nothing extraordinary, the results are generally pleasing.

The aroma after water is rather peppery, and while fresh and mild seems somewhat out of balance. This is even more true of the flavor, which is unbalanced to the point of being unacceptable. The predominant note is white pepper, and if it could be dialed down a bit, this absinthe would probably improve a great deal, because the anise and wormwood are present.

The finish is also mainly peppery, with the other herbal flavors being lost in the clamor.

Overall, I think this absinthe shows promise, but it remains a work in progress.

* I revisited this, enjoying it more than ever, this time with my 4th bottle.

Sampled at 3:1 suggested ratio, no sugar as suggested by distiller. I went to 3.5:1, and love it there. It certainly does not need sugar.

Appearance: Natural blend of amber and emerald. There were some swirls of light sediment in the bottle.

Louche: built slowly, dramatically and evenly. A full, thick louche with just a tad of translucence. Clear layer hung in at the top until the very end. The final result was
a rich blend of green and copper.

Aroma: It is a crisp, clean and spicy aroma, but the traditional elements of the anise and wormwood are not masked. It had me looking forward to the first sip. The highlight of this absinthe for me.

Flavor: This absinthe has a strong "in your face" personality, and I mean this in a good way. I like it more than ever. The anise is simply delicious, it is spicy, but the trinity is clear and quality.

Finish: Clean and very sharp, nice lingering wormwood, pepper and spice. Stays with you just long enough for that relaxed sipping pace. The mouthfeel is full and rich.

Overall, it is a well-made absinthe with a unique personality. As far as bang for the buck, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE: Tasting samples were louched at 3.5:1 ratio, with ice-cold slow drip and sans sucre. I think it's important to note some discernable differences between this bottle and some previous batches reviewed at this and other sites, particularly color, and louche. See related sections below for more details.

COLOR: 3/5 - Neat, mossy brown. Much too dark for an appropriately colored verte fresh off the production line. Marketing images of this product led me to expect otherwise. This is certainly an issue which could be addressed to get higher marks. No sediment found in most doses.

LOUCHE: 3/5 - Mediocre. Verte green presents itself when louching. Some light oil trails, becoming thicker gradually to produce a louched glass that looks more waxy than cloudy. I had to use a VERY cold and VERY slow drip and was still unable to define a demarcation line of alcohol on top. I have seen others reviews of this product claiming both adequate and inadequate louche, which leads me to believe there may be some consistency issues with manufacturing.

AROMA: 4/5 - Complex! Some grassiness from quality hyssop - some chamomile presumably from the non-conventional presence of genepy. Strong wormwood front, backed by this wonderfully pleasant herbal bouquet, then fennel doux, and finally, waaay back there is the anise.No detectable heat. Neat aroma (does not affect score) has a bit of a medicinal smell, reminiscent of ripping into a sterile gauze package. This quickly fades with the addition of water to give a more enjoyable camphor-like tinge to the aroma.

FLAVOR: 4/5 - Lemon Balm. Honeysuckle. Mint. Light, crisp earthiness. This stuff has a lot going on, and is a real treat! Wormwood goodness with lots of balanced herbal nuances dancing across the tongue. Great tasting, exciting, flavorful drink. I think bolstering the flavor with a stronger anise presence would really put this one over the top.

FINISH: 3/5 - Very little numbing, less creamy than desired due to the somewhat thin louche, and indicative of low or weak anethole presence. Slightly oily feel on the tongue, which transpires into moderate dryness. There is then some noticeable heat on the back of the throat. This is nullified with additional water, but I would advise against that for the sake of sparing all other properties of the finish.

OVERALL: 4/5 - This is a very good introductory Absinthe, especially for those interested in expanding their familiarity with different flavor profiles, and how additional herbal qualities can affect the final taste. It is priced at a very attainable $55, setting a reference for products in this price point. This one does have a very appealing taste and aroma to it, but is lacking an impressive appearance and louche, and the finish could use more oomph. Some of these "flaws", if you can call it that, could be manufacturing-related (i.e. overheating the coloring vat, etc). There needs to be less tolerance for that type of production inconsistency. Attributing to the higher overall score is this amazingly beautiful bottle with glass cork, even though the brew is so dark that the printing on the bottle is rendered illegible.

Color- Nice amber with golden highlights. No sediment

Louche- Oil trails were good. Very good coloring that includes a rainbow of light green, golds & blues. I have to deduct a point since it was much too thin.

Aroma- A melding of mint & genepy takes centerstage. It’s hard to pick out anything else but it’s very pleasant.

Flavor- The tea-like genepy, anise & fennel are prominent. The taste is crisp and refreshing with the wormwood & mint.

Finish- Genepy & anise die down to a crisp wormwood/mint finish after an initial sweetness. Very nice.

Overall- I don’t think the genepy taste is really my thing, but this is still a nicely formulated absinthe nonetheless.