Un Emile 68 Gentiane:
This new absinthe, Un Emile 68 Gentiane, contains additional botanicals including gentian and mint, which result in an individual flavour with a lot of character. This absinthe is exclusive to Liqueurs de France and although it is destined to become one of our regular offerings, stock will initially be limited, so you are urged to order quickly if you want to try this before the New Year. The new absinthe is available for advance ordering and will be shipped from the last week of November.

NEW - White Fairy 60°:
This fine absinthe blanche benefits from a slight reduction of alcohol content and other modifications to tame the 'up-front' alcohol punch of the Un Emile Blanche 68, and enhance its aromatic qualities, while making it even more friendly to cocktail mixing. We feel this recipe improves our already highly acclaimed Blanche, but we leave it up to you to decide which style is your favourite. We expect it to be ready for ordering before Christmas.

NEW - Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72:
We are also pleased to announce that we have started a business relationship with the Distillerie Paul Devoille of Fougerolles, Haut Saone in North East France, and we will be offering Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72, a naturally green and aromatic absinthe created using the distillery's own historic technique of individual plant distillation, from the beginning of December. This absinthe was selected by us after several tastings and we believe that it is a very high quality product with a character typical of the Fougerolles style.

Buck

Hmmm. Sounds like a fancy description for something we're already familiar with.

Oh, what the hell .... I'll take all three please.

DG

".......historic technique of individual plant distillation"

Yeah, sounds like a flowery way to say "OIL MIX!"

yeah, a fancy oil mix

I don't think so. It may just mean they make separate distillat of individual plants and later make an assemblage of those.

Surely not the same as a traditional "Swiss" style absinthe but probably a lot better than a simple mix of oils in alcohol. A few artisanal pastis distilleries use this method.

Now we just need a weblink with a button that says "buy".
I'm also skeptical about the one from Fougerolles. I'm sure it will be very affordable, but I found Libertine (which is made by the same methods) rather limp.

Oil mix? Maybe, maybe not. However, if one is to distill all the components separately, then blend them together, it is still a mix of some sort. Also, IMHO, you don't get the quality of taste and mouthfeel that you get when all the components are distilled together. That's why the quality old-timers macerated all together, then distilled. Why go through all the labour of separately distilling, then blending, when a superior product can be made by macerating all the ingredients together and distilling?
GIGO, IMHO.

Why make it separately ? Probably because it's easier to manage the tails that way. Of course when you know how to properly do a Swiss style absinthe, it's hard to beat but not everybody know...

Does "Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72" = Abisinthe 72; Excellent Absinthe de Fougerolles?

From Feeverte.net, review from Ned Brew:

"I very recently made a trip to Fougerolles, where I was able to secure a bottle of the 72 degree Lemercier "Abisinthe" for review.

This absinthe is packaged in a 70cL yellow glass bottle. The labeling exhibits an antique motif, and claims the product as "Abisinthe", which is done to suit French labeling laws. In fine print just below this can be found "spiritueux a base de plantes d'absinthe". While the main label seductively claims 'ancestral recette originale sans sucre', the back label delivers a sobering slap by describing how to properly prepare the drink, albeit inexplicably (and inexcusably) using the Czeckerland flaming ritual. <snort>

The maker claims the product is distilled, although it is unclear if the product is distilled as a whole or an assemblage of distillates. ..."


This is also reminiscent of the technique used to manufacture Versinthe:

>".......historic technique of individual plant distillation"
Yeah, sounds like a flowery way to say "OIL MIX!"


hmmmm....i thought we would have problems trying to to explain it in one sentence.

historic = it's the way the distillery made absinthe in the past
individual plant distillation = each plant is distilled seperately in a base grape alcohol at 85° as a complete distillation. NOT an oil extraction, nor maceration and pressing, or a steam distillation to recover essences.
the resulting full alcohol distillates are blended (mixed, if we must say that) and it is natually colored with a spirit made with a maceration of petite absinthe, melissa, hyssop, and véronique.

>This is also reminiscent of the technique used to manufacture Versinthe:

maybe reminiscent, but not at all the same.


>but I found Libertine (which is made by the same methods) rather limp.

but the distiller has promise, which is why LDF has done this experiment. libertine has sugar, 55° and up until recently, only petite absinthe, the use of which does follow an old distillery recipe, albeit one from 1914 when everyone was in a panic to make something that would remain legal.

>"I very recently made a trip to Fougerolles, where I was able to secure a bottle of the 72 degree Lemercier "Abisinthe" for review.

this absinthe is not even remotely close to lemercier, which is a copy of françois guy mixed with un émile made at 45° and 72°.

i think it is surprisingly good.
and LDF did not put the phrase 'spiritueux aux plantes d'absinthe' on the label.
just ABSINTHE VERTE de FOUGEROLLES in big, fucking illegal-according-to-french-label-law letters.

try it or don't. LDF is letting you know what it is up front and wouldn't have put it out if it wasn't something interesting. i don't know of anything commercial that tastes like it.


if the majority of LDF's informed clientele don't agree it is worthy to stay,
we try to keep our egos in check...

Also, remember that oil mixes can claim to be "distilled" sort of. Afterall, you must first distill the oils from the herbs before you can mix them wth alcohol. I'm still venturing that this "abIsinthe" is a glamourized oil mix.

I trust Peter's taste more than anyone else's, so I'm in!

That's good to know! IMHO, Lemercier is undistinguished at best- sinkworthy to me. There's no way to tell, really, what the alligators in DC's sewer system think of it, though.

Absolutely. Me, too.

For education's sake, WHY go through the trouble of individually distilling each plant in alcohol, then blending, when a SUPERIOR product can be made by distilling the entire herb-charge? By blending distilates you will never get the delicacy of a finely distilled swiss-styled absinthe. Again, IMHO, and YMMV.
Ego? God, I hope it don't appear that way.
I'm not doubting it tastes good compared to what's available commercially. It's just that with all the resources available to the fine folks in Fougerolles, why produce it this way?

>For education's sake, WHY go through the trouble of individually distilling each plant in alcohol, then blending, when a SUPERIOR product can be made by distilling the entire herb-charge? By blending distilates you will never get the delicacy of a finely distilled swiss-styled absinthe.

this isn't a 'swiss-style' absinthe, it's an 'absinthe de fougerolles'!

>Ego? God, I hope it don't appear that way.

wasn't referring to you or anyone in particular *cough*

>I'm not doubting it tastes good compared to what's available commercially. It's just that with all the resources available to the fine folks in Fougerolles, why produce it this way?

because that's the way he fucking does it!
i don't openly question the professionals (well, not much), i just try to get them to make something i and hopefully other will like...

just ordered the Gentiane and a La Blanche( so I can compare it to the new version when it becomes available)

THANK YOU!!!

NEW - White Fairy 60°.

This fine absinthe blanche benefits from a slight reduction of alcohol content
and other modifications to tame the ‘up-front’ alcohol punch of the Un Emile
Blanche 68

The Gentiane one should be interesting. They all sound good.

I think that was the one we tried at LF '03. It was tasty.

I trust Peter's tastes too, I seriously doubted they'd carry anything as blah as Libertine. I'm at least curious about the Fugerolles Vert.

I see nowhere on the site where one can order anything other than Gentiane. Is there something I'm missing?

It's nice to hear of the White Fairy as well. Thanks for listening to input!

I'm in the dark as well...It's nice to hear about it, but all I see is the Gentiane for ordering. (as for the anything new).

Maybe it's a "contact us" special order. I'll give it a try.

i don't remember what year this is (since i only have a non-dated partial photo-copy) but it is from:
J. de Brévens, Les Liqueurs, 3rd Edit.

translation of pertinent part:

1. absinthes by distillation
...
"in general one mixes the different plants for distillation; but a certain number of makers prefer to treat individually the absinthe, anise, and fennel, and mix afterwards the perfumed spirits in the proportions desired"
...

How about an "LdF New Styles" 3-pack deal, making it convenient for us to give you our money?

I'm all about efficiency. ;-)

It is not the "swiss style" but I don't see why it could not produce a good product if each herbs is well distilled and if the assemblage is wisely done AND if enough aging time is given for the flavors to mix well.

The only advantage I could see to this laborious method of distilling each herbs separately would be to be able to adjust the dosage of the various distilates according to batch variations to end up with a regular and consistant end product.

I don't know any HG'er who make it that way but I guess it could be well done.

There's only one way to tell and it's to taste the final product.

PS.: I don't think it have anything to do with ego, it is mostly about people getting suspicious of anything new because there's so many bad "absinthes" on the market.

White Fairy 60°. This fine absinthe blanche benefits from a slight reduction of alcohol content and other modifications to tame the 'up-front' alcohol punch of the Un Emile Blanche 68, and enhance its aromatic qualities, while making it even more friendly to cocktail mixing. We feel this recipe improves our already highly acclaimed Blanche, but we leave it up to you to decide which style is your favourite. We expect it to be ready for ordering before Christmas.

We are also pleased to announce that we have started a business relationship with the Distillerie Paul Devoille of Fougerolles, Haut Saone in North East France, and we will be offering Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72, a naturally green and aromatic absinthe created using the distillery's own historic technique of individual plant distillation, from the beginning of December

The White Fairy sounds like it could be really good! I can't wait until we can order it.

?

?

Wow, that sure is different from the 1893 Munn & Co. English translation. The English version mentions nothing of assemblages, it just gives some generic info on the distillation process (macerate, distill, dilute, add sugar), then hops right into the recipes. The english version though does have a hefty first section on just about every piece of distillation eqiupment and it's purpose you can imagine....
I gotta see if I can track down the French version, seems like it's more elaborate.

BREVANS(J. Moréal de).- La fabrication des liqueurs.

1st edition 1890
2nd 1897
3rd 1908 (the extract is from the third)
4th 1920

it would be extremely interesting to compare all four, plus english translations of the time.

Some old texts describes cocaine as "white fairy" ... We should be careful with that name...

Quite an impressive addition to their line!

I too hope for a modification to thier 3 of the best deal to allow for ordering 1 each of the new 3,
I am sure we will get somthing of the sort.

The white fairy sounds interesting, I was less than impressed with the LB... its good, buit not what I had hoped for.

Blowsinthe?

I assume then the only English translation was of the 1st Ed. (1893 Munn & Co, New York). Looks like some good stuff was added to subsequent French editions.

What I wonder about is who was the source for all this information? Clearly Bedel, DuPlais and Debrevans all ripped each other off, but who put down these recipes first? The 1893 Debrevans is the most abbreviated source of Absinthe recipes I've seen, and the recipes are downsized to 10L quantities instead of 100L, with a few errors (some recipes say to add alcohol during the colouring step instead of during maceration).

Wayne?

Think again. There was a reprint by one Noyes Press (New Jersey) in about 1983. Must have been a small run: the paperback goes for $150. I have seen it listed as available through inter-library loan. I'll see if I can't dig up the ISBN.

...and I'll add my voice to the LdF chorus. If PV says it's good, that's enough of a mark of quality for me to give it a shot. I have found everything that LdF has sold to me so far to be worth the money. I can't imagine them wasting their hard-earned reputation on an inferior product. This is not to say that I'm guaranteed to like it, but I'm pretty sure that it's at least worth my while to find it. I feel pretty certain that it won't be a flusher.

>Some old texts describes cocaine as "white fairy" ... We should be careful with that name...

and 'coca' in coca-cola directly refers to cocaine (coca leaves, ok ok) and some modern texts refer to cocaine as 'coke', a trade mark for that refreshing, best-selling beverage of all time, that almost no one (except for drug t-shirt vendors) associates with cocaine.

i think we need to be more careful about discussing other things.

FWIW, since this could be a sensitive issue on open forums, a discussion of which might put into question your use of drugs or sexual preference, you all are now welcome to call 'white fairy 60°' :
'WF' for 'whada fuck?' or use this icon:

That's funny, the copy I have is a Noyes (Jersey) 1973 reprint of the 1893 Munn & Co printing, and I found it at www.abebooks.com for $18, and it's a hardcover in perfect condition. I've seen photoc0pies of Duplais go for $500, perhaps that's why the ridiculously over-inflated price for the photocopy of the Debrevans. I've heard of several public libraries having both DuPlais and Debrevans. Just go photocopy the fuckers yourself.

I didn't realize that the Noyes eddition was a reprint. Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like you got yourself a deal.

Just noticed this on LDF's website under "Special Offers."

"Three of the newest

One 70cl bottle each of Un Emile 68 Gentiane, White Fairy 60°,
and Absinthe Verte de Fougerolles 72 for only £50/$80.
This is a special promotion; good only for first 25 pre-orders.
Ships first week of December.

Price: £50.00 / $80.00(Excluding: VAT at 17.5%)"



Buck

Oops, my bad. Wrong website. I think I saw that on www.theresoneborneveryminute.com
Sorry for the confusion.

Buck

you are a right bastard.

I'd have to agree. That was cruel.

Pure evil, man...

I know... he's starting to fit in...

you fargin sneaky corksarker

"one of us .... one of us ... gooble gobble gooble gobble .... one of us..."

DG

It looks like Fluffy G has found the Emile triplets.