Skip to main content

New Absinthe's on the market

Only 8 months after real absinthe has become legalized in the U.S., the importers and overseas producers have really started taking advantage of the buzz and mystique that absinthe holds and launching like crazy here. With more absinthe launches than vodka lately, it may not be long until the brands are just as gimmicky.

Three new absinthe's have launched this week in hopes of garnering early market share in a soon-to-be-crowded market.

La Fee Absinthe Parisienne is made in Paris and has been around for a while as it's been sold in 20 countries for the last 10 years or so. The product is made by traditional standards and the owner of the recipe still approves each batch of La Fee.

For a while, Lucid Absinthe was the only one you could get in the US as it wasn't made from the traditional Grand Wormwood (until March of 2007) so it could get away with going around the law. The producers guessed that the stuff that was considered a fake (but still very flavorful) wasn't going to be on top of the market anymore so they added two more real absinthes to their stable.

La Clandestine is a Swiss absinthe and is made in the "La Bleue" style which means that it's colorless right out of the glass. It's based on a 1935 recipe and is named "La Clandestine" because it was sold for several years during absinthe prohibition.

Nouvelle-Orleans Absinthe Superieure is a French absinthe (duh) derived from a genuine Belle Epoque recipe that gives it it's green coloring and traditional absinthe taste. This one has only been around since 2004 but has already won tons of awards and is looking to pick up steam quickly for it's US launch.

La Fee is available right now in New York with other states rolling out throughout the summer. La Clandestine and Nouvelle-Orleans Absinthe Superieure are both going to roll out starting in the fall.

La Fee - US$59.95
La Clandestine - US$79.95
Nouvelle-Orleans Absinthe Superieure - US$110.00
Labels:

Comments

Alan said…
Thanks, Rick. Lucid wan't launched until Spring 2007 and has always contained grand wormwood. It never went "around the law:" it played a major role in establishing the law.

We (La Clandestine) started talking with them (the owners and importers of Lucid) in summer 2007. The demand for good absinthes was riding high then ... and continues to grow.

There will always be gimmicky products, but in the USA the growth of absinthe is being driven primarily by high quality ones. Long may that continue!
12:53 AM
Rick D said…
Thanks Alan! Corrected!
12:58 AM
Anonymous said…
Is the recipe for La Clandestine the same? I thought that it had more thujone than was allowed in the USA? I guess that was changed for the USA version,right?
1:34 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm unsure about Lucid "playing a major role in establishing the law".

According to the TTB's website, Absinthe containing less than 10 part per mil Thujone has never been illegal in the US. (apart from the obvious prohibition time)

The original French Pernod Absinthe didn't have that much Thujone to begin with.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone
and...
http://www.absintheonline.com/acatalog/about.html

We've been afraid of nothing.
3:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some thanks and virtual bartender

As of last week we averaged over 1,000 users per day. That's pretty damned cool. I'm surprised to see it myself considering how poor we rank on Technorati, but Performancing.com doesn't lie! In case you live under a rock, the Virtual Bartender are girls that do as you command, just like any good bartender does. They each have a huge list of commands and the most recent version has two girls. The shot pictured is them doing Star Wars. But they make out, shake ass, and many other things (no nudity, but plenty of cheesecake). They seem to do a lot of stuff except being able to make a martini. Brilliant. Virtual Bartender - [beer.com] Tags: bartender , beer , thanks
3 comments
Read more

Electric Martini Maker

Martini's are such a difficult concept that Waring thought they would make it easier on all of us. Okay, so I know that the reason for having this is for Coolness Value and not for the idea that you actually need a machine to mix your martini's. The Waring Pro Electric Martini Maker can take your concoction and do the tedious work of mixing it by either stirring or shaking, depending on which button you press. Remember kids, stir gin, shake vodka. The on light even has a green olive on it. But what if I want a twist? Waring Pro WM007 Professional Electric Martini Maker - US$99.99 via Treehugger (Who says you need to buy carbon credits for owning this one)
8 comments
Read more

Bluecoat Gin Review

The bottle of Bluecoat Gin arrived the other day and I ripped in to it with vigor. My newfound love for Gin has become boundless and when I get a new one I put it ahead of the line of all the other stuff that I still need to try and review. I was like a kid on Christmas Day, however I was heavily medicated and had to patiently bide my time until I was no longer popping pills in order to try it out lest my liver implode leaving a dark, black hole in my innards of Mickey Mantle proportions. How's it look? The bottle comes pretty much as advertised. It's a simple blue bottle with Bluecoat on it and a coat of arms. The cap is an easy-to-pull cork that did not make me do any sort of contortion in order to get it open. Thank you Bluecoat Gin! What's it smell like? One word: OhMyGod. This is far and away the best smelling gin I have ever put my nostrils to. The juniper and floral notes were amazing and did not take any time to get used to. Most gins require two whiffs: One...
17 comments
Read more