A Muddled Thought

Our final spirit in this look at all unique things worth imbibing in is PF 1901. Provided to us by absinthe master distiller, Ted Breaux. A pet project of Ted’s for years when he worked in the Combier Distillery is as close as you’ll find to a replication of the original pre-ban Pernod Fils recipe. Using some of the remaining alambic stills that survived a fire that nearly destroyed the original Pernod Fils distillery, as well as the highest quality herbs and original notes he found referencing the classic formula, Ted has created a work of art in the form of Absinthe. The name, PF 1901 makes reference of the year of the fire that nearly wiped out the original Pernod Fils distillery. Had it not been for this, the distillery wouldn’t have felt the need to upgrade the distilling equipment upon reopening the distillery post-fire and thus the original equipment wouldn’t have found its way to the Combier Distillery and Ted Breaux.

Along with the bottle that Ted provided to us for tasting purposes, came a note advising that the sample would be sweeter than most absinthes. Ted stated sweetness of the sample was due to having sat after being bottled for about five years, and any properly created (distilled with the correct herbs) would develop the same characteristics with several years of aging.

PF 1901 comes in fairly strong at 144 proof and hits the palate with hints of vanilla, incredibly sweet almost candy-like anise, and minor touches of fennel that are followed up by touches of cinnamon.

Upon opening the PF 1901 with some water, it began to smooth out slightly and floral notes began to show themselves allowing each sip to create a new and eye opening experience.

PF 1901, is what every absinthe should strive to be. It sets the bar as high as one could possibly ever ask for when tasting an absinthe. If some how the competition manages some day to surpass it, well then kudos. Sadly PF 1901 is not currently within the United States and at this time can only be purchased in Europe.

Pernod Ricard recently released a new label for its namesake product, Pernod Absinthe. While we previously took a look at Pernod Absinthe here Pernod’s herbal flavors such as star anise, hyssop ,mint, fennel, and coriander lend themselves to working very easily in recipes. With that in mind, we decided to see what new recipes we could come up with.

Jacque Mexicano
½ oz Pernod
2 oz Gran Centenario RoseAngel Tequila
1 oz Simple Syrup
2 Dashes Grapefruit Bitters
Serve up in Coupe

The Jacque Mexicano. A combination of Pernod, Gran Centenario RoseAngel , Grapefruit Bitters and Simple Syrup.

Journey to the North
1 ¾ North Shore Distillery Aquavit
¼ oz Pernod
2 Dashes Regans Orange Bitters
1oz Simple Syrup
Garnish with Burnt Orange Zest
Serve up in Coupe

Journey to the North. A combination of Pernod, North Shore Distillery Aquavit, Regans Orange Bitters and Simple Syrup.

Anise Warm Toddy

¼ oz Pernod
1 ¼ oz Laird’s Bonded Applejack
1 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
¾ Apple Cinnamon Syrup
2 Dash Peychaud Bitters
Add to 6 oz of Heated Strong Chai Tea in a Snifter or Toddy Glass
Garnish with Burnt Orange Zest

A-nise Warm Toddy. A Combination of Pernod, Chai Tea, Laird’s Bonded Applejack,Buffalo Trace Bourbon,Apple Cinnamon Syrup, and Peychaud Bitters.

Mad Dog’s Warming Winter Punch
½ oz Pernod
¾ Batavia Arrack
1 Dash Bokers Bitters
2 oz Rhum JM
6 oz Blood Orange Tea
Barspoon Demerara Sugar
Server in Snifter or Toddy Glass
Place one Barspoon of Demerara Sugar in bottom of snifter
Combine all ingredients and Warmed Blood Orange Tea in Snifter and Stir

With Halloween coming up in a few weeks we decided to see what new Lucid Absinthe based cocktails we could come come up with.

The Green Crush

1 oz Lucid Absinthe
1 ¼ oz Cruzan Rum
¾ Vanilla Syrup
½ oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
2 Dashes Regan Orange Bitters
Shake with Ice
Serve in Highball filled with Crushed Ice
Top with Orange Soda (Either Fanta or Orange Crush)
Garnish with Orange Wedge

The Green Crush. A Combination of Lucid Absinthe, Cruzan Rum, Vanilla Syrup, topped with Orange Soda.

An Absinthe a Day…

¾ oz Lucid Absinthe
1 oz Laird’s Applejack
1 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 Dash Peychaud Bitters
½ Calvados

Shake with Ice.
Serve up in Coupe Style Glass.

An Absinthe a Day. A Combination of Lucid Absinthe, Laird's Applejack,Bourbon, Calvados, and Cinnamon Syrup.

After releasing Lucid absinthe within the US, Ted Breaux working in conjunction with Viridian Spirits decided to bring another absinthe from the Jade line to the US. Since 2000 Ted has been a part of Jade Liqueurs which has been distilling and distributing several reproductions of Pre-Ban Absinthe throughout France.

A pet project of Ted’s for years, prior to recreating several examples of pre-ban absinthe for Jade Liqueurs , Nouvelle Orleans, named for Ted’s home town is a complex creature unto itself.

Ted, after years of sampling and researching pre-ban absinthes created an example that he felt represented the style of the highest quality absinthe available circa the late 1800’s

While all other Jade Absinthes are reproductions of specific absinthes from that era, Nouvelle Orleans is something that Ted put his own spin on. From sourcing the grande wormwood and majority of other herbs in the foothills of the Swiss Alps to hand making each batch himself, and tweaking the process as he goes including taking into account the way herbs can change with each years crop due to environmental influences.

All of this work shows in the final product which begins with a nose filled with elegant notes of anise and sugar(though none has been added).

Once water has been added, the anise decides to step forward and say hello, while keeping that sweetness hiding in the shadows of each sip.

Nouvelle Orleans as it Louches.

Drinking this somehow makes me think about how it must have been to imbibe among the artists of years past, in France pre-ban. Everything even down to the bottle design fitting the spirit within makes Nouvelle Orleans, a perfect example of a classic interpretation of Swiss absinthe. This should be looked at and tasted by anyone who’s looking for an absinthe with no fault.

As far as Swiss based absinthe goes, it’s as close to a perfect spirit as we’ve come across.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Editors Note: While Ted Breaux did assist with the original article on the history of absinthe, and provide some background on Nouvelle Orleans, this did not impact the score for Nouvelle Orleans.

With only two absinthes left to look at in “Absinthe August” we turn our palates over to the first pre-ban absinthe that was made available within the United States, when the ban was removed in 2007.

After years of poor chemically colored spirits (and I use the term spirits loosely) masquerading themselves as absinthe, finally a true offering of absinthe was available to those of us living in the states.

The story of Lucid can be traced back to one T. A. Breaux , a chemist who after tasting a vintage sample of Pernod Tarragona in 1996, decided to analyze the sample and determine what “made it tick”. This was the first step in how Lucid began, among several reproductions that Ted has produced via Jade Liquors.

Sometime around 1999, after having been working with absinthe for several years, Ted starting working on the recipe of what is known as Lucid, which he played around with and tweaked over time.

While not based on one specific interpretation of pre-ban absinthe, but rather a combination of several of the most interesting aspects of each, Lucid is a standard yet bold interpretation of absinthe. From using the holy trinity of herbs(wom) and being distilled within the Combier Distillery in Saumur, France in copper stills that date back to the 1800’s, Lucid is representative of era’s long since past.

Starting with the nose of heavy fennel that follows through upon tasting with a nice balance of anise interwoven with notes of fennel.

Upon adding sugar, it becomes an even more straightforward absinthe that just hits you right.

A sample of Lucid Louching.

This is yet another example of an absinthe that’s recommended as an introductory absinthe, though slightly more impressive than other introductory absinthes as it’s more of the classical approach. When speaking to Ted about Lucid he summed up the inspiration in one word. Pow!! His goal when creating Lucid was to make an absinthe that would be a definitive example for the first time absinthe drinker. And that is exactly what was accomplished.

Final Score: 8/10

Delaware Phoenix Walton Waters Absinthe

In my opinion, the story behind some of the absinthes we’ve looked at so far, adds something to each offering. While I’m all for imbibing in a product of quality, if it has some sort of interesting tale behind its production, I’m more than likely to go for that offering over one that just comes from a factory and while it could be just as good it has no interesting tale attached to it.

Delaware Phoenix is just one such absinthe. To be honest I had my doubts when I contacted Cheryl Lins for a review sample for this article. I had my concerns of a product coming for a smaller company and what kind of quality and taste I’d be presented with. My concerns were for naught, Cheryl knows how to produce a highly impressive specimen of absinthe.
The story behind how this came to be is as follows.

Lets go back nine years to the year, 2000. Cheryl comes across a photo in an art magazine announcing the return of absinthe. For the next years, she found no further mention of absinthe until 2006 when Cheryl came across an article on Ted Breaux and how he had begun making absinthe in France using alembic pot stills.

A few days later Cheryl set out to obtain a sample of absinthe from Europe. One hundred dollars later, she had obtained a bottle to taste.

After falling in love with absinthe, and realizing that each bottle was around one hundred dollars shipped from Europe, Cheryl began to research the proper methods of creating the substance herself.

After studying the how’s and whys of distilling absinthe and starting to distill absinthe for her own use she had the opportunity to visit the Tuthilltown Distillery in Upstate NY. It was at this point that Cheryl began small batching what is now known as Delaware Phoenix absinthe for the masses.

Okay so the story behind Delaware Phoenix is interesting, but does it taste as good as you said it did?

Cheryl has managed to create a very well balanced example of absinthe in that each sip has notes of anise, fennel and lemon working in perfect unison.

When you realize that Cheryl and Cheryl alone handles all the entire company from distillation to bottling, labeling and shipping, you appreciate each handmade sip more.

Final Score: 9/10

A bottle of Pernod Absinthe Superior.

“In 1805, Henri-Louis Pernod partnered with Major Dubied to found Pernod Fils and the first commercial absinthe distillery.
After the reinstatement in 2008, Pernod Absinthe returns with handcrafted quality and tradition that transcends time.”

The above was written on a cardboard attachment that came on the bottle of Pernod aux Plantes d’Absinthe Supérieure that we looked at.

Not much to live up to is it? A recreation of one of the first absinthes available in the 1800’s based on the Pernod Fils original recipe.

So does it live up to the legend, or does embarrass itself and fall into that category of absinthe we’d recommend staying away from?
Well luckily Pernod did a nice job with its Absinthe Superior with one minor issue, using food coloring including FD&C Yellow #5. Though I do have to respect their choice to post it right above the front label and not attempt to hide it as some other brands have done. Putting that aside, flavor-wise it’s a good representation of an absinthe.

The nose hits you as soon as you open the bottle with heavy notes of anise, and it continues to impress as you begin to sip it.
After adding water, the scent of anise came out further, and showed how much the Absinthe Superior fits what absinthe should be.

We watched as the Absinthe Superior louched after water was added, so we discovered that the product does contain the correct herbs such as star anise, hyssop ,mint, fennel, and coriander.

The use of these herbs, allowed the Pernod Absinthe Superior to behave itself in front of an audience. After allowing it to louche and sampling it we were greeted with flavors of minor spice, anise, a slight bitterness and vegetal notes.

Adding the traditional sugar cube it became more balanced and the previously slightly bitter flavor was replaced with notes of sweet.
The Pernod Absinthe Superior does louche correctly, so while it does list artificial food coloring as an ingredient, it does use also make use of the correct herbal ingredients as well. If it did not, it would not louche(as demonstrated in earlier reviews of Czech varieties).

The Pernod Absinthe Superior louching.

At first we had our concerns about the Pernod Absinthe Superior, especially with the use of artificial coloring, however after tasting the product and seeing that they do also use a good portion of the correct herbs to allow it properly louche, we can say without a doubt it is what an absinthe should be.

Final Score: 8/10

Note:Recommended with the traditional sugar cube.

Kubler, originates back to 1875 and J. Fritz Kubler who started producing the absinthe that took his namesake, at Blackmint Distillery located in Neuchate, Switzerland From the beginning of production until it ceased in 1910, it won several awards throughout Europe.

Flash-forward to present day, and Kubler is back in all its former glory. The ingredient makeup of Kubler can be summed up in one word: classic. Using Swiss wheat-based neutral spirit as a base, Kubler then adds hyssop, lemon balm, coriander, star anise fennel, roman wormwood and mint along with grand wormwood to create an exquisite example of Swiss absinthe.

Upon opening the bottle of Kubler, I was hit with fragrant notes of sweet anise. At this point, I was intrigued before I had even tasted it.

Unlike most specimens of absinthe we’ve thus far reviewed, Kubler is of the blanche variety, meaning it is clear in color as opposed to the traditional verte(or green) variety of absinthe most people are familiar with.

Kubler, before being louched. The picture demonstrates how its clear as a blanche absinthe should be.

When I took my first sip, I wasn’t let down. The first sip presented itself with notes of anise and fennel; so far, so good. I decided to see how sugar affected this taste. After adding sugar, the expected additional sweetness showed itself. However, additional notes of anise made the flavor even more balanced.

Kubler as it louches.

I wish I had more to write about Kubler, but its back story is nowhere near as interesting as Obsello’s or some other absinthes we’ll be taking a look at later in the week, such as Delaware Phoenix. What Kubler does do, however, is show itself as a great example of what absinthe should be. It plays it safe, but at the same time, it gets the job done..

Final Score 8.5/10

A bottle of Obsello, complete with wax seal.

While going through most of the “bigger” named absinthe manufacturers for this article, I came across a smaller brand absinthe that originates from Spain, called Obsello. Obsello while not only being an amazing representation of absinthe also has a bit of story to it.

I had the opportunity to speak to Bryan Alexander Davis, the master distiller and co-owner of Obsello for his very interesting back-story. When Bryan was at the young age of 18, he first heard about absinthe. Tracking down a bottle via the internet, he had his first taste. Unfortunately unbeknownst to him he had tracked down a bottle of Czech Hills brand absinthe, a product that used food coloring to pass itself off as a verte absinthe. Using knowledge Bryan had learned a year early while researching distilling and distilling his own rum, he decided to further research absinthe recipes and reverse engineer the sample he obtained to find out why absinthe at one time in history was once so popular and sought after. Ten years later in life, Bryan found himself in Catalonia, Spain searching for the ingredients he needed to recreate a long since gone version of Spanish absinthe that hadn’t been made in over seventy years.
After 10 years and several hundred trials, Bryan was able to perfect his Spanish style of absinthe, which would be come to be known as Obsello.

Using copper Galician pot stills made in the fashion of 1900’s century alembics, Bryan’s been able to a create an incredible unique absinthe that has an unmatched flavor profile.

Using a list of ingredients that include coriander, (Artemisia) wormwood, lemon balm and anise grown locally in Spain, Obsello has a very unique flavor profile and an interesting nose of anise coupled with hints of cinnamon.

When tasting it you’re presented with notes of sweet vanilla, and just the right amount of anise. Neither flavor overpowers the other, making each sip a perfectly balanced mix of flavors.

Adding a cube of sugar to Obsello brings out an additional flavor that conjures a very mild note that while we’re unsure of the cause is reminiscent of coffee.

A glass of Obsello,perfectly louched.

While most people attribute all great absinthes of being based on the original Swiss recipe, by using herbs sourced from Spain itself, Bryan Alex has manages to Demonstrate that there are other ways to create an impeccable presentation of absinthe with Obsello.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Vieux Carre in it's very unique bottle.

Vieux Carre, named for the French Quarter of New Orleans is an absinthe that hails from Philadelphia. Yes you heard correct, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Why do I mention this? Because when I first came across a new brand of absinthe, hailing from a company called Philadelphia Distillery known for making Blue Coat Gin and Rye Vodka, I had my sincere doubts how good of an absinthe these guys could actually produce.

Boy, was I surprised. Created by Philadelphia Distillery’s Master Distiller , Robert John Cassell,it uses a set of all natural herbs, and skips the oils and artificial colors some other absinthes utilize.

Looking at a list of Vieux Carre’s ingredients reads as an almost “by the book “ absinthe, featuring grande wormwood, petite wormwood, green and star anise, fennel, hyssop, melissa and in an interesting twist spearmint.

Upon investigating the nose of Vieux Carre we were hit with a mid-range balance of anise (not too little, not too much), fennel, hints of spearmint and for some reason minor hints of a scent reminiscent of black tea.

When we tasted Vieux Carre we were hit with flavors of spearmint and anise perfectly intertwined within each sip.

After an initial tasting with just water, we decided to add sugar to our second tasting. When this was done, the flavors seemed to balance even more, and again hints of black tea came out on occasion.

When water is added, it louches a green akin to a color similar to ecto-plasm from the movie, “Ghostbusters”.

Vieux Carre as it louches.

Final Score: 8.5/10

(Note-We found the flavors more rounded with the addition of sugar. Though this is a personal choice with Vieux Carre and we would recommend trying it sans sugar the first time)