Week 2: Authentique [52 Whispers From The Muse]
Authentique
Overall Rating: 4.2
Appearance: 4.0
Louche: 4.5
Aroma: 4.0
Flavor/Mouthfeel: 4.0
Finish: 4.0
Overall: 4.5
Country: France
Appearance: Authentique has a beautifully bright and clear green that is both light and still somehow quite rich.
Louche: Very distinct swirls form into a nice green louche with hints or turquoise. I tried to capture the swirls and layering in the picture but the I didn’t do it justice at all. It would have been worth a try with another glass, or as many glasses it would take to get a good shot since it isn’t a work night, but the bottle is nearly empty.
Aroma: Neat in the glass the aroma bloomed and filled the room with Anise and Fennel. Once louched the scent of minty Wormwood stood out a bit more. Varied but not overly complex.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: Full flavored with the holy 3, Wormwood, Anise and Fennel, all very well balanced. There is a hint of mintiness with slight Wormwood bitterness and Anise sweetness. Not too bitter, not too sweet. The drink went down silky and smooth without being too thick or thin.
Finish: The flavor hangs for quite some time, especially towards the back of the tongue, starting as Wormwood forward but ending as Anise. There is a slight but pleasant numbing with a distinct impression of freshness.
After preparing and trying this one it I had a thought that maybe I should have left this review for later as, like the Mansinthe I reviewed earlier, it’s another really good example of a well balanced Absinthe. I did choose it however because I have a lot of different Absinthes from Emile Pernot so I wanted to spread them out and I haven’t had a glass of this for quite a while. It’s been mostly passed by because the bottle was nearly empty and every time I place an order I end up passing on this one for something I haven’t tried yet or, for some reason, something else I feel needed replacing over this. After this, though, it has jumped up to the top of my list as a bottle that will need replacing once I make another order.*
This would be a brilliant everyday Absinthe if it was easier to get here in the States. It’s priced about the same as Mansinthe (at the time of writing with the given exchange rate with the Euro) but I feel it’s quite a bit better. Unfortunately shipping from Europe can often be prohibitive.
*Update Jan 13 2016: After reading reviews of recent Absinthes coming out of this distillery I’ve pushed this back down on my list of need to have Absinthes. It’s been said that there is new management to blame? A while back I bought a bottle o Roquette which, or lack of a better word, was skunked, nothing like the original. It seems that this skunkiness has infected Roquette, Authentique and tragically the new release of Sauvage. I should have enough of each of the old ones to do future reviews.
