Absenthe 55%

A 55% (110 proof) absinthe from France. And that is where my struggle starts.
There seem to be two versions that look very very similar, and i have a little sample bottle, written in French. And i don't speak a word French.

But, seeing as the two versions are a American version, and a European version. Seeing as this thing is written in French and i clearly bought it in Europe, i am going to assume i have that version...


Colour wise it is a pale light green, nothing strange.
The smell is a mostly anise. Pure this hints towards a minty anise / black liquorice mix, nothing too strong.
But, drinking this pure isn't my recommendation. The alcohol will simply hide too much taste. Not that there is much ethanol taste, but the 55% does make the tongue a little numb and the kick will hide some flavour.

Louched it turns into a pale white green, as usual.
Initially there is anise, followed by a little bit of black liquorice, and then turns into a aftertaste that is dominated by bitterness.
Everything is a bit of this, a bit of that. No real complex flavours, but compaired to the 77.7 absinthe i listed earlier, the taste is more nuanced. Leaves more room to actually taste, rather then get overwhelmed. And due the absenthe beeing a bit thicker, and due the lower alcohol content so it will louche quicker, the drink itself is far less watery.

This is, without adding sugar. This drink isn't that bitter, only the aftertaste has bitterness. So adding additional sugar makes the drink sweeter, and there by it actually kills some of the flavour. Making it more candy like.

The fact that the sample bottle is French, and there beeing more versions, creates a bit of a confusion. Not beeing able to find a price in euro's doesn't help either. A 70 CL bottle is around £ 37.0 on the drinkshop, so i'll take that as a reference.

Final conclusion: not bad, but not outstanding either. There simply isn't much room for complexity, there by making this better suited for people who are looking for a sweeter absinthe, without dept, but also without too much sweet candy like influences.

Find more info on: Their website.

2 Response to "Absenthe 55%"

  • Derrick Schommer Says:

    The one I see in the NH Liquor Store is listed as this:

    8658 Absente "Absinthe Refined" 750ml 110.0 37.9

    I don't know what "Absinthe Refined" means and why they put it there... a different recipe, US-only perhaps?


  • EngeHenk Says:

    Well the difference between the two seems to be the wormwood itself.

    The European version uses absinthe wormwood(artemisia absinthium) while the American version uses a roman wormwood (artemisia pontica).
    Therefor it isn't allowed to be called a absinthe, and falls under the Pastis (anise flavoured liqueurs) category.

    But the two bottles are nearly the same.

    Here is a link to the US version:
    US product


    Here the EU version:
    EU Product