Week 25 and 26: La Maison Fontaine [52 Whispers From The Muse]
La Maison Fontaine Verte/Blanche
Overall Rating: 3.8/4.0
Appearance: 4.0/4.0
Louche: 3.5/4.0
Aroma: 3.5/4.5
Flavor/Mouthfeel: 3.5/3.5
Finish: 4.0/4.0
Overall: 4.0/4.0
Style: Verte/Blanche
Style: Verte/Blanche
ABV: 55%/56%
Country: France Distillery: Emile Pernot
Appearance: Both the Verte and the Blanche are perfectly bright and free of any sediment or unclarity. The verte has a rich color that luckily hasn’t seemed to have faltered even in the clear glass bottle. According to my absinthes.com history, I bought these bottles about a year and a half ago so it’s holding very well.
Louche: The Verte formed quickly and ended in a nice, thinner pale green. The Blanche rolled thickly as the water poured and it ended as a thick pearly white. I was hoping to catch some blues but the show was pretty even without any colors.
Aroma: Here is where these start to get much different, aside from just being green and clear. The Verte was very Wormwood forward which gained an earthiness after louche. The Blanche was much sweeter, with a strong Anise along side the Wormwood in front of a floral I’m not experienced enough to recognize. It’s much more complex than the Verte but they’re both quite pretty in their own ways.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: The Verte holds on to that prominent Wormwood from the aroma. It’s dry but quite distinguished. The rest of the trinity follows with rooty undertones. The Blanche is quite different, not shockingly bold, but, like the aroma, more complex, sweeter and more balanced.
Finish: A mild but beautiful bitterness lingers with the Verte, almost drying out the slightly numbed tongue. It has a kind of elegance actually. Wormwood is the last you hold onto with the Blanche as well but it’s more like the last car on a train rolling by than the disquieted ghost that forgoes paradise to haunt until it’s issues are resolved like the Verte.
Overall: They are both perfectly beautiful Absinthes. I remember getting them a while ago, being perfectly happy with the Blanche and liking the Verte, though at the time I don’t think I appreciated the less-sweetness of it that I appreciate now. That last bit is pretty evident seeing as the bottle of Verte is still quite full despite arriving 16 months ago. My tastes have changed a bit and I really appreciate its dryness now but they’re still a bit off of the radar here and there are so many other brands I need to get before I replenish these.
I’m now halfway through the year of reviews since doubling up this week caught me up to the full half year of reviews.
