Week 39: Nocif [52 Whispers From The Muse]
Nocif
Overall Rating: 4.3
Style: Verte
Country: Switzerland
Appearance: Crystal clear light green (less yellow than my pic portrays).
Louche: Excellent full bodied loche finishing with a striking opalescence.
Aroma: Perfumey and floral with a bright, permeating aroma. Anise and Wormwood are distinctly present but blend heavily with the perfume.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: The floral perfume carries over to the taste but there is a perfectly balanced dryness from the Wormwood. I expected a sweetness but was pleasantly surprised.
Finish: After the botanicals and florals subside there is a long lingering semi-bitter Wormwood. Your mouth waters and you need another sip. There is a lot of subtle transitional flavors after each sip.
One thing I figured out, albeit too late, is that instead of spacing out reviews from the same distillery throughout the year, I should have done more back to back like I did with several of the Jades and a couple of the Artemisia Absinthes. This would have worked well now that I find myself having to a bunch of them back to back in order to catch up with my time table (I should be at week 45 and here I am at 39).
I found myself wanting to remember how this compared to the La Veuve Verte that I last reviewed back in March. I think I’ve only had one other glass of it since then and then used it once in a special cocktail so my memory of it, and many other things, has blurred into everything else I’ve been drinking.
So, I poured myself a small measure of La Veuve Verte to refresh my memory. It’s actually kinda of spectacular how simultaneously similar and different they are. The La Veuve Verte is sweeter and fruitier while the Nocif is more herb and Wormwood forward but they both have a very similar perfume fragrance and they both fade to a similar, Wormwood finish. I do find that after re-reading the review of La Veuve Verte I think I enjoyed the bitter finish in the Nocif more as it seemed more in place with its starting character. That being said I do remember La Veuve Verte being a tad sweeter so maybe my tastebuds are off after getting over a bug. Regardless, they’re both wonderful, top notch drinks.
