In Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris, where Van Gogh painted his last canvases, there is a museum devoted entirely to absinthe. The woman who founded it signed off on this recipe. Green in the bottle, milky white in the glass, and built on wormwood the way it was in the 19th century.
Please note: No absinthe spoon is included with this bottle.
The expert's description
La Fee Parisienne Absinthe France Absinthe 68% Without spoon is a French Absinthe distilled from nine herbs to a 19th-century recipe and bottled at 68%.
The herb list runs grand wormwood, petite wormwood, genepi, green anise, star anise, fennel, hyssop and coriander seed, plus two ingredients the house keeps to itself. Each herb is distilled separately and the distiller blends the parts afterwards. It is slower than throwing everything into one still, but it hands over control of how far the anise steps forward and how dry the wormwood is allowed to bite.
The recipe was developed with Marie-Claude Delahaye, who founded the absinthe museum in Auvers-sur-Oise and still runs it. She approves every batch before bottling, and she looks at three things: the colour, how dense the louche turns when the water hits, and whether the herbs sit in the right proportion to one another. La Fée Parisienne is the only absinthe the museum puts its name to.
The base spirit is distilled from sugar beet and reaches roughly 96% before the herbs and the dilution. The green colour is not added but drawn out of fresh plants macerated in the spirit after distillation, so the chlorophyll does the colouring. At 68% this bottle is made for the ritual of iced water and sugar, not for drinking neat.
Tasting notes
Nose
Wormwood first, green and bitter like a crushed stem between the fingers. Anise settles on top and sweetens the aroma, with fennel right behind it. Move the glass and the coriander surfaces, warm and faintly peppery.
Palate
Undiluted it is concentrated and hot. Iced water changes it completely: anise and fennel spread out and soften, wormwood lays a dry bitterness underneath, and hyssop cuts in with a mineral, almost minty edge. Sugar takes the peak off the bitterness without making the drink sweet.
Finish
Long and coolly bitter. Anise holds on longest, wormwood stays at the back of the tongue, and the mouth is left clean and slightly numb the way only anise spirits manage.
Specifications
Name: La Fee Parisienne Absinthe France Absinthe 68% Without spoon
Producer: La Fée Absinthe
Region/Country: France
Type: French Absinthe
ABV: 68%
Size: 70 CL
Botanicals: Grand wormwood, petite wormwood, genepi, green anise, star anise, fennel, hyssop and coriander seed
Natural colour: Yes
Distillation method: The herbs are distilled separately and blended afterwards
EAN no.: 9010330000374
Serving suggestion: 1 part absinthe and 4-6 parts iced water poured over a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon
Flavour profile
Anise · Herbal · Bitter · Fresh · Powerful
Did you know?
The bottles carry a UV-inhibiting coating. The green comes from chlorophyll in the plants, and chlorophyll fades in sunlight. Without that coating the contents would slowly drift from green towards yellow-brown while the bottle sat on the shelf.
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