Appearance
Unlouched, crystal clear and haze free. The ever so slightest golden tint, however nearly colorless. Louched, grey/blue tinted white with a golden undertone. Some glints of violet, gold, orange, and rose.

Louche
Surprisingly, more louche than I was expecting. Takes a little bit to get going (75% and limited anethole). On the very translucent end of the acceptable spectrum. Moderate opalescence with pretty pastel colors.

Aroma
Holy wormwood, Batman! There's a reason for the name. Yep, there are other herbs present, but they're just living in wormwood's world. Very fruity, floral, slightly minty wormwood with just enough other support to legitimize this as absinthe. As it really warms, it becomes very flowery and powdery.

Flavor
Big wormwood with a thin wrapper of anise, fennel, and other herbs. A slight fine chalky texture to the mouthfeel. A little minty with subtle underlying spice. This is really all about the wormwood, and it delivers.

Finish
The finish follows the palate vibe perfectly... wormwood, wormwood, and more wormwood. Slightly minty, spicy, and mentholated. Ever so slightly drying and pulling, balanced by salivary stimulation. A confectionery tinge. Good length.

Overall
Well wormwood fans, welcome to the orgy. Like going to wormwood boot camp. I wouldn't want it all the time, but I really wish I had another bottle. Due to its idiosyncrasies, the score is what it is and doesn't really reflect how much I like it. If I were to ignore the review guidelines and reflect just that, the score would be about a half-point higher. My favorite dilution is right up around 5:1, but I gotta' say that it showed nicely anywhere from about 4:1 and up. Remarkably there is no excessive heat from that point (surprising for a 75% offering). And while I don't usually comment on packaging, I must say that the wax-dipped and sealed screw-cap is an amusing touch. Just the way to add a bit of luxe to that closure.

Wormwood Blanche... tempting tipple or didactic distillation? I think maybe both. What I do know is if life is like a box of absinthes, when you pick the WW Blanche, you know exactly what you're gonna' get.

Done with .75 and 1 ounce doses, diluted 4:1, 4.3:1, 4.5:1, 5:1 and no sugar.

Wormwood Blanche 5/30/11, 7/10/11, 2/04/12.
All evaluations had consistent notes.

Perfectly clear like water. The aroma is strong floral wormwood, a little chalky. Very light anise profile. The louche is attractive but pretty thin.

After water the wormwood aroma has transitioned from floral to more minty. As for the flavour, the wormwood is obviously completely dominating. This is a really good thing in my opinion, as not every absinthe should be perfectly balanced or attempt to clone each other. A bit on the bitter side. Lots of mintiness. The floral character of the wormwood comes through on the palate more than in most absinthes. Again, anise is very light and I'm having trouble even tasting it. It's crisp and clean with no trace of funk.

It has a very long wormwood finish, becoming fruity as it fades; I'm guess this is the anise but it's so light by that point it's hard to tell.

I'm very fond of this absinthe. I wish it were made available again.

This absinthe is all about one thing: featuring wormwood. Man, did it deliver.

Louche: Understandably, there wasn't much louche at all.

Aroma: HUGE Pontarlier Wormwood aroma. If you need an example of what Pontalier WW smells like, this is as good as you'll find.

Flavor: Rich, smooth and creamy with not much more than the wonderful wormwood bitterness in play. Very clean and crisp. Sugar will help to bring out the other flavors, but I'd rather not!

Finish: The WW taste lasts forever.

Overall: It's certainly not a balanced absinthe, but it was never intended to be. This was a celebration of the flowery, minty goodness of Pontarlier wormwood. I'm just upset there won't be any more.