January 30, 2007

Absinthe Duplais Verte

We've been hearing some good things about Absinthe Duplais Verte, enough so that we'd really like to get our hands on a bottle. It's a Suisse absinthe and it won a gold medal at the 2006 International Wine and Spirit Competition, and it's the only absinthe to win. On top of the gold medal it won a Best in Class trophy, which is apparently a big deal as well.

We've gotten our hands on the tasting notes from the competition, which are what have our little hearts aflutter:

Unique, golden/green hue. Slow forming louche had sudden active spurt resulting in thick, almost solid, milk shake finish. Eventual colour was translucent , rich, golden green with amber highlights. The aromas after louche were slow to emerge but built with time into a complex herbal salad. Wormwood and fennel began to establish themselves on the nose with hints of spice lifting above the meld of herbs. Full textured, rich, creamy mouth with outstanding, refreshing taste with substantial fennel and wormwood flavours. Massive power, yet well controlled, long, everlasting finish. Magnificent product.

Absinthe Duplais Verte is available at AbsinthVertrieb.de for about $40 per 500ml bottle (if you have trouble seeing it correctly, you can muck with the settings until the site displays in English and shows US prices). This is a bit smaller than your typical 750ml liquor bottle, but from what we're hearing it's worth every penny. You can also get a 200ml bottle for about $20, or super size it with a full liter bottle for about $75.

Absinthe Duplais is also available in two other varieties - Blanche and Balance - and as of press time there is a special on where you can get a 500ml bottle of all three expressions for about $100.