My -current- top three favourite absinthes so far:
1) Meadow of Love - Delaware Phoenix
2) Eichelberger 68 Limitée
3) Tie between: La Clandestine Charlotte & La Fée XS Suisse
There are plenty that I enjoy that may be more underdog characters (like Pernod 68) but if I could only fit three bottles on my shelf, these might do the trick. Of course, there are some I'd love to try again since it's been a long time for some of them (Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72 and the Un Emiles come to mind), but I have to do away with some of my current stash before I can justify it.
Now if I could just get a bottle of MoL without extortionate shipping... * sigh *
Jade Edouard
Jade Verte Suisse
Walton Waters
But I have a good feeling about Pacifique lately so....
St. George
Sirene/Walton Waters (tie)
La Charlotte
have some new samples on the way and am going to be ordering Meadow of Love in a few days ...
I'm taking the fifth ...
And I'm not referring to a 750 ml bottle.
My top three:
1) Meadow of Love
2) Walton Waters
3) Jade Edouard
(08-11-2009 12:25 PM)AbsintheHour Wrote: [ -> ]Now if I could just get a bottle of MoL without extortionate shipping... * sigh *
I think I once read somewhere that it's best to order three or more bottles at a time to make the shipping seem reasonable.
LB: Clandestine
Traditional Verte: Pacifique - batch 2 ( I love me some montpelier!)
Verte: Walton Waters
Is St. George even an absinthe? No green anise, correct?
Why don't you consider Walton Waters traditional?
I can't think of anything off the top of my mind, so I'll just give you the three that are at the top of my spreadsheet. Yes I keep a spreadsheet. Don't judge me!
4.7- La cocquette
4.7- PF 1901
4.6- Marteau US
4.6- Eddy
Footnote: Have not yet done the formal review for Pacifique or either of DP's.
St. George is an absinthe, if barely. Walton Waters seems to be un-traditional only in the sense that its maker apparently does not intend it to be traditional. As far as I can tell from the herb bill, it's fairly close to "traditional" by any measure. In any case, I like it.
(08-11-2009 04:38 PM)Brian Robinson Wrote: [ -> ]... I'll just give you the three that are at the top of my spreadsheet. Yes I keep a spreadsheet. Don't judge me!
Actually, I bow down to your organisation! I think I have spreadsheet envy...
Seriously, I'm a total dork. I keep spreadsheets and lists for everything. Although, I have to admit, doing my monthly bar list updating is a LOT of fun.
(08-11-2009 02:56 PM)Phoenix Wrote: [ -> ]Why don't you consider Walton Waters traditional?
1. I'd imagine it doesn't try to follow a historic recipe.
2. The inclusion of lemon thyme.
Its wonderful nonetheless and falls into a "take absinthe to new places" category.
I'm not crazy about St. George. It interesting but just not very absinthe-y imo. It would be great as a salad dressing.
There's no accounting for taste...
st. george is very definetly an absinthe and it's yummy .
i do agree however that W.W. is neo-Absinthe or American absinthe ... and we can say that St. George falls into the same category but I find that I prefer this type over the majority of other stuff i've had excluding Pacifique which was a huge disappointment .
(08-11-2009 04:47 PM)AbsintheHour Wrote: [ -> ] (08-11-2009 04:38 PM)Brian Robinson Wrote: [ -> ]... I'll just give you the three that are at the top of my spreadsheet. Yes I keep a spreadsheet. Don't judge me!
Actually, I bow down to your organisation! I think I have spreadsheet envy...
I'd say my spreadsheet is bigger than his spreadsheet, but I've seen his number of reviews!
And yes, I really do have a spreadsheet.
Sweet! I'm in good company.
(08-11-2009 05:50 PM)Brian Wrote: [ -> ]1. I'd imagine it doesn't try to follow a historic recipe.
It's based off of the Pontarlier recipe with the addition of the lemon thyme, as you mentioned. Cheryl has mentioned to me that the WW is intended to have the traditional Pontarlier profile, while the MOL is more her own.
In the end, it's cool with me if we agree to disagree on which absinthes are traditional and which aren't (I know Boggy and I disagree on that stuff as well).
I think I picked my words poorly. I should have stuck with historic or pre-ban. I think Pacifique is aiming to re-create a pre-ban Montpelier.
I was trying to say that if I get a hanker'n for pre-ban type, I reach for Pacifique.
I certainly don't want to imply that WW isn't a traditional absinthe. We can agree to agree!
i think it's also relevant to which 'sinthes are actually tongue pleasing and drinkable/quaffable ... not all are, obviously ... even if they are historic recipes ...
the same is true with good red wines that are being made in california and south australia right now ... they differ lots from their historic counterparts but those in the know agree that they are much 'better' in the at least subjective taste sense(s) .
w.w. is good but it's almost too good if you know what I mean ... i am curious to try the MOL next and see if that manic fruitiness is tamed down a bit or not ... from what I read, it is ...i also would be curious in a year or so to try a current batch of W.W. and see what has changed ...
st. george as well ... hope someone is putting away several bottles of it for aging ... some people regard it as too powerful and I can understand the jist of that when I compare and contrast it to other offerings .... but I love its ballsiness if y ou will or wont ...
8^D
I think it's simply wonderful that we can now discuss the finer points of AMERICAN absinthe. I never thought I'd live to see the day. It wasn't long ago that we all we dependent upon flying monkeys and lazy customs ppl to get a good bottle. Now, you can saunter into a liquor store and pick one off the shelf.
If you saunter into the right place! There's still lots of retail holes, especially for the good stuff.
Picking my top 3 is difficult as there's quite a few I like, but I'll give it a try. Here goes:
1. PF 1901 (1st batch)
2. Brut D'Alambic Essai 4
3. Tie between LaBleue Clandestine and Maisson
In no particular order:
PF 1901
La Clandestine
St. Antoine 3rd batch (of course)