Well, the bottle of Segarra are ordered from FSC early last December using the "regular mail" method because I was too damned cheap finally arrived!

And I even have a few ounces of Fougerolles left for a side by side comparison!

I don't plan to sample it until the weekend, but one thing is bothering me:

After unwrapping the bottle, there was a bunch of stuff floating around in the liquid inside, although it seems to have settled now that it has been resting upright in the cabnet for a few hours. I haven't noticed any solids in any of the other absinthe varieties I've tried.

Please tell me this is normal.

MrGreenGenes

Hmmm .... I don't recall seeing anything floating in my bottle of Seg. Since it's a scewtop, can't be cork droppings.

I'm stumped.

DG

Uh, not normal, unless they have started adding wormwood to the bottles.

Was the bottle very cold?

If it's been frozen you might get "floaties".

Give the bottle a good violent shake...

I thought bottles were supposed to give you the shakes, not the reverse.

I always get some floaters in Francois Guy.

It seems odd that something THAT high in alcohol content would freeze or slurry up on you.

I wold wonder if that is a result of old barrels used for aging. Seggara uses oak barrels to age their absinthe (which gives it that distinctive butterscotch taste, most people think), and it sounds like it could be tiny bits of wood that they didn't filter out.

It may be a bad thing. May not though. Only one way to find out,

always amazes me to hear of drunk bums freezing to death with that theory in mind.

althought they're pretty slurry most of the time anyway.......

It's not that the liquor freezes. When it gets cold enough the oils are forced out of the suspension... and they appear as little waxy flakes.

Let the bottle warm up, shake it, shake it, and shake it again. This will often times do the trick.... if not, at least you look funny doing it.

Hmmmm.... let me try....



DG

If you shake-shake-shake that little thing, it's gonna get little waxy flakes all over your keyboard.

that's why i use lubriderm.

I emailed Cristina at FSC, and she said it indicated the absinthe was made the "traditional" way and was of superior quality - not sure if I believe that.

Drinkslinger: It's a few whitish flakes. The temparature outside when it was stuffed in my mailbox was in the 40s, but I would think the packaging is pretty well insulating. But the East Coast has had some seriously cold weather since the package left Barcelona, so who knows what it was exposed to enroute.

I'll give it another good shake, and see if the room temperatures in my pantry take care of it. If not I'll probably pour the whole thing into a wine decanter, let the stuff settle, and pour it back.

MrGreenGenes

shake it like a polaroid peat-cha

What a load of shit.

Comments like that lower my respect for SC.

lend me some suga, i AM your neighba

Sounding more and more like barrel chips broken off into your absinthe.

If that's the case, I'd send it back,and bitch that they are using shitty, old-assed barrels.

i don't want to meet your daddy

i just want you in my Caddy

Just fucking drink it and quit whining about it!

Yeah, bitch...drink it!

i don't want to meet your mama

i just want to make you come-a

come, come, commala.

Since we currently have a thread on Segarra going, anyone have a comment on the announcement?

I like this part...



Better to go to the mountain and come back with wormwood than any stupid clay tablets.

Speaking of Segarra, I just received the following from FSC:

...We have been working together with Segarra in developing an improved absinthe, exclussively for The Fine Spirits Corner. Now the tests have resulted in his Segarra absinthe with 68%, made through his 100% artisanal methods.

Since Mr. Segarra is going himself personally to the mountain to pick up the wormwood, and since the amount of wormwood and anis needed to make this absinthe is extremely high (since the higher alcohol volume allows a higher taste extraction and saturation), quantities are very limited. We have photographed the sample bottle, but it will be delivered in their regular bottle and label, only adding a small distinctive sticker.

Following the problem with its limited quantities, and considering that the new wormwood harvest will be only in july, we have decided to sell it in a different way. We will accept orders for this Filterated Czeckerland Xit until the 28th february. On the 28th february we will see how many orders we have for this absinthe, and then we will assign each customer a fair amount of bottles. The criteria that we will follow are: the time a customer has placed an order: the sooner, the more likely he will be assigned a bottle; and the number of bottles ordered: we will try that the maximum number of people can receive at least one bottle, but if we have bottles left, then we will assign more than one to a customer, and so on. We believe that this is the fairest way to proceed....

If it were just a matter of driving back to the liquior store, I'd take it back, but returning it to Barcelona would be too much of a pain in the ass in time and expense.

If it tastes like I expect and not foul (anis with a little butterscotch), then I'll finish it, decanting it if the floaties don't disolve. (They don't look like wood, and I would think the absenta would be strained after leaving the barrells anyway).

MrGreenGenes

$131 USD for a bottle of Segarra 68%, before shipping? That means Butty will charge $500!
YIKES!!!

I'm sure Segarra 68% will be very good, I really like their 45, but Jumpin Jesus on a pogo-stick, that fucker is expensive! And that's bullshit about them saying it costs more because they have to use more herbs. They use exactly the same quantity of herbs, but they just dilute less after it comes out of the still, unless for some reason Segarra uses a different recipe for the 68%, which I highly doubt.

Lying cunts.

If anything, I would think it would be necessary to use MORE herbs for a 45% absinthe than a 68%, since in the 45% there's 23% less alcohol to hold the herbal oils.

In the picture (even though it may not be a picture of the real Segarra 68%) - it looks much greener. Maybe they are using some herbs in the coloration?

Possumable, but I still think they are lying assholes.

It's too bad, because I was interested until I saw the price. Had they kept it the same, and just had it as a marketing/adverting tool, it would have boosted their sales. Now, it reads like a scam.

Having the 68 version cost 2.5 times the 45 version is rather unprecidented. If the early tasters don't proclaim it to be the best commercial absinthe ever, then Segarra 68 goes into the Logan Fils catagory

Nah, at least it'll taste good, as opposed to Logan Feces. I still won't buy the new Segarra, though...

I'm actually toying with the idea of picking up one of these. The sales pitch is that this is Segarra's answer to a La Bleue. Seeing as they are emphasizing the small-batch nature of the product, and seeing as Segarra makes a pretty good absinthe already, this actually might be something out of this world.

Or it might be a good but overpriced novelty. Still, it's definitely cheaper and probably comparable in quality at least to the lower end of Butty's Swisses.

I've never had a bad experiece with SC ... they have always delivered on time, replaced (quickly) any broken shipments, and have been the most friendly and communicative company I've bought absinthe from.

I've already ordered my bottle.

DG

It does look very green compared to regular Segarra. (if the contents of the photo are the real thing)

It is intriguing, especially if Senor Segarra did a full coloring step.

The floaties come, like Dinky said,
because it gets cold. I did it on purpose
once.

I don't like Segarra at all.

Hey, check out this!

Well, I guess shortening the # of posts per page requires going to the next page.
Learn sumptin every day.

I hope I had 2.05 DEM (1.2 $)!

It sounded good until I got to the price. I'd be glad to pay about half that much.

(You'de think ol' Segarra was Juan Valdez.)

You'd think for that price one would use a razorblade, mirror and straw to drink it.

I'm a big enough fan of the regular Segarra that I had to order a couple bottles of the 68. If it truly is a significant improvement of the 45 then I think it's money well spent. If not, I'm sure I can think of worse ways to spend $300.

Sounds like it might be until late summer before I'll find out.

I think this is SC's answer to LDF (ordering special absinthes from producers).

My only problem with this is the pre-sale. Segarra & SC have been in business for long enough to have the financial leverage not to need pre-selling absinthe. This is just marketing...and the worst is it will work.

Anyway, if it's good enough, it will eventually become a regular product and I'll taste it then. I have passed the stage of jumping on every new commercial absinthes comming out... too many deceptions.

If someone got some and want to trade a sample, let me know but I doubt I'll ever pay that price at pre-sale for an un-aged commercial product, including my own if it ever go commercial.

That word is a "false friend". I think you meant "disappointment", not the English for "duperie".

From Quebec, I see...

In that case you'r right.

But if we where talking about Czeckerland swill sold as "the real thing", deceptions would be the right word ;-).

Not enough sleep this week, my brain is zombified and those language nuances slip by. I hate being shifted on the night shift in the middle of the week. AS if running two jobs was not enough...