While I won't be ordering anything until my new bottle of Segarra runs low, both of these are on my short list of what to order next.

Can someone who has tasted both compare and contrast?

MrGreenGenes

Good topic.

Except that most people here no longer drink commercial brands.

I think that a lot of us still do, we just prefer to drink 'the good stuff'.

Are you saying that no commercial will ever be as good as an HG? What if say, MM, or Swizzle were to someday go commercial? Sure would make for one heck of a quandary, hehe!

with good reason...

Nope, it certainly could happen. I'll even say that commercial products could be better than HG. It just hasn't happened yet.

There's a thread over at FeeVerte on this very topic.
Under Modern Absinthe and Reviews.
I'd put the link in but I'm too lazy.

Poll!

Pole!

...

?

QUANDRY...#28 makes me trip silly little balz.

Maybe this forum area should be changed to NON-Commercial Sources.

Then maybe the rest of us could learn how to obtain HG.

Ah. First, you have to know the secret handshake.

Get on the Mayors list...And good things happen! Even if you are Satan's Playtoy!

so, do you want good (or even better) commercial or is everyone here happy with HG and the methods to obtain it?

i get the impression that the aficionados here feel that to be commercial is to be less than. no one really seems to want to understand the limitations that are put on commerical, especially when you don't have the keys to the distillery.
and, i"m sorry, but no matter how it is marketed, moonman and the other HG's that are offered for sale are not commercial products; nor are all these absinthes the nec plus ultra, just like none of the commercials are either...

it's starting to get boring here if no one thinks that at least one or more of the commercial suppliers are trying to find something that will knock your socks off instead of just something that will pay for their rent...

Back to the Question, I prefer the White Fairy 60% (by a small margin) over the regular 68% Blanche, there is enough subtle difference between the two that you can tell the difference.
I think the slightly lower proof, and tweaked formula works pretty well, and is like "the ever popular uncolored Swiss absinthe" , at a far lower price.

Try a couple of bottles of The White Fairy, or get one of each and compare for yourself.

Is this it?

Nope. Try again.

You're really close.

True, because most of us are not in the circle of knowledge that comes with being in the "commercial" biz. However, there are a few here that can grasp some measure of the restrictions and hurdles of commercial production.


Also true. Althought I don't believe any of the claim to be commercial.


Commercial absinthe is not sub-par because it's commercial, it's sub par because it is. There are many levels of absinthe quality. At the present time the "professional" producers of commercial absinthe have not managed to market an absinthe much better than that of a novice HG'er. Which brings us to this statement.

True
To be an HG does not infer a standard of quality. Much like Suisse LB. There are few that are outstanding, some that are good, a ton of mediocre, and perhaps just as much crap. Since it is not commercial, and doesn't have to follow guidelines or restrictions, HG can vary from day to day and maker to maker.

I would hope a commercial supplier would be working on just that. Imagine the rent they could pay if somehow they managed to source an absinthe that met the standards of the aficianados.

OK, last try,

Absinthe_1900 Posted


Those were also my impressions, so no point paraphrasing the same thing. I did a "blind taste test" a couple of weeks ago, and was also able to tell the difference between the two.. the slight edge going to the White Fairy for coming perilously close to the best La Bleue I've tasted, and better than others.

Well put

Well all this talk about White Fairy finally got
to me and I just ordered a bottle.

I still have a wee bit of the UE LB on hand so I
look forward to doing a side-by-side comparison.

Perhaps someone can address the question for me that everyone else seems to already have the answer to.

What are these restrictions that commercial producers must adhere to that do not apply to HG'ers? I can understand the possibility that large scale producers may purchase inferior ingredients to keep prices down. I also know that HG'ers do not need to keep their THUJONE!!!-this stuff has nothing to do w/the buzz from absinthe, NOTHING!!!!-this stuff has nothing to do w/the buzz from absinthe, NOTHING! levels below 10 mg/L but I'm assuming that that's not what we're talking about here.

What am I missing here?

For the record, I do enjoy Segarra and the LdF's although I haven't yet had the opportunity to sample a non-commercial absinthe. A Moonman or Suisse la Bleue order may be in the near future. Thanks all.

I think what Peter is trying to say here that even though he receives a lot of input from boards such as Fee Verte and here, he is not directly responsible for the distillation. The Pernot family is, and they like to stick with their traditional recipe ("if it ain't broke, don't fix it").

And I do have to agree, it takes myself (balz?) to stand out from the rest and produce or market something that nobody else has (at least in the last 100 years). There's a lot of cash involved in something that might go belly-up, and if you are already making enough to pay the rent AND the new Porche payment, why buck the system.

Although LDF has done a wonderful job of finding NEW and exciting producers that are different from the rest, as shown with Fougerolles. I can't wait to see more, and I hope Markus and SC get into the game as well.

That is also true (as far as I know).

Unfortunately artists are artists, and arrogance can get in the way of improvement.

I think between Peter, Ian and Phil at least one of them has a clue about improving the quality of commercial offerings... it just might not be feasible at the current time.

SpeaKING OF FAERIES...

Oh God........
Do I have to get into a fight with you right now? 'cause I don't feel like it and I'm bored with you.

Flaming Feline-

Chill the fuck out.

-Mod.

I think that the 'limitations' that we all know or perceive the big distillery folks as having fall under these catagories (and please correct me if I am wrong):

1. Cost- Always the end all, be all. MM can use %50 or more grape spirit because he can. He is willing to spend the extra bucks on the higher cost/quality spirits, and we are willing to pay him a LOT for it. A commercial producer (lets use LdF) is't likely to think they can get a LOT of people to pay $150 plus shipping for something like that (just afictionado's like us will), so they won't use it. Which brings us to. . .

2. Demand- MM makes a little batch of 10-20 bottles every few weeks to a month, then ages it, ships it, rinse, repeat. He can do this because he knows he has a demand, and what it is (small, but loyal/steady). LdF works on volume, and can ill afford to put an offering out there that is tailored for the small, die-hard audience that no one else will pay for. They put out a 'batch' for a 50-200 bottles a couple times a month I'd guess, and then skip the aging part altogether. This is what being 'commercial' is mostly about- producing large amounts of something to fulfill a large demand. Supply and Demand is all it is.

3. Risk- MM (and I am only using him as one example of what I am guessing a typical HGer goes through, YMMV) has only recently stuck with, essentially, one recipe. Most HGers go through several, and are ALWAYS tweaking. A little more melissa, a little less anise, a tad more wormwood, etc. I started coming here back in last July I think, and since then, he has gone from #23ish, to #35. He does this because he can afford to make a mistake, mix up his recipe a bit, and make alterations for the sake of R&D. A Commercial CAN NOT DO THIS. They have to rely on a steady, stable offering that their customers can get used to, and can expect. If every time you bought a bottle of Talisker it tasted TOTALLY different, you'd stop buying it. Even more so for a bottle of Jack Daniels. We buy Hershey's chocolate because it tastes like Hershey's. An HG doesn't have that kind of restriction, and most of it's buyers actually ENJOY the variety.

4. Government Restrictions- Quality control, safety standards, wormwood/porkchop content, taxes on certain ingredients/amounts, etc limit what they can and can't do to their spirits. HGers are basically breaking the law anyway (unless you live in NZ, and I don't see a lot of absinthe coming from there) so they don't have to worry about those kinds of things. I doubt they are putting copper oxide into absinthe like in the old days, but they can up the wormwood or cut a filtering step if they choose to if it makes a better product.


I may have forgotten a few, but that is how I see it. I have NOTHING against, and like several commercials (as I have already said), but the arguement for why HG's are usually better (or at least preceived to be) is, to me, what I stated above.

if it's a battle of wits, you won't have to put up much of a fight, GB.

I agree with Lars on all counts. There are many valid reasons why commercial brands and HG are and ought to be different. Ultimately, they both have a valid niche in the absinthe economy. I still order from LdF and enjoy their products immensely. I will almost always drink HG first, as Porkio said, but it's nice to know that the good commercial things are there and sometimes they are what you want. Last night I thoroughly enjoyed a glass of Fougerolles, even though I had six HGs on hand that I could have chosen from. This doesn’t happen often, but last night it was just really what I wanted.

(and like that doesn't happen often, I would also like to point out that I don't get to say "I agree with Lars on all counts" very often either )

especially when discussing how much rush "kicks ass!!!!"

>Cost- Always the end all, be all. MM can use %50 or more grape spirit because he can. He is willing to spend the extra bucks on the higher cost/quality spirits, and we are willing to pay him a LOT for it.

paul devoille uses 100% grape-spirits.
that absinthe costs less than émile pernot.

>A commercial producer (lets use LdF)
LDF is not a producer, more a consultant-developer/distributor

>is't likely to think they can get a LOT of people to pay $150 plus shipping for something like that (just afictionado's like us will), so they won't use it.

see above. LDF could have priced the verte higher than the un émile, after all, at 72° over 68° you are also getting 4° MORE grape-spirit alcohol, too...and look at the price of the not yet released or finished segarra 68°...

oh, but the VDF has that lite-weight, single-plant distillation method, so it isn't as good?...
LDF should never have mentioned it, just said it was distilled, period; but that's not our style...


i certainly appreciate the positive comments about LDF and thank very much the people who support us in light of same-product competition, and we will continue on what we think is the right path... so far this has been far more a labor of love than of money...
but not everything in this business is as clear-cut as is assumed, and there is a big difference between pernod-ricard commercial and pernot-émile commercial.

Damn right. If it weren't for LDF right now our options would be F. Guy, Segarra, and Kubler. Borrring.

I like the Fougerolles. It's a unique absinthe, and is the least "alcoholic" tasting of any commercial brand.

Good point, she'll be coming to the battle unarmed.

She's like that developmentally delayed cousin
who keeps hanging around you at the family picnic.
She just drooled on your hot links
and now you think she might be crapping herself,
right there next to you,
and the impulse is almost irresitible.

You know it wouldn't be right.
It's unethical.
She can't help herself.
But just one solid crack — just one —
right up against that great, slack and meaty jaw.
Man, that would be fantastic.

i didn't know you were a poet, peepers!

Hee!

Naw, I'm a big proser.

ba-dum-bump!

...

knew i could count on Lammy.

Always.

fo sho

In the interests of the original question, we did a comparison of UE White Fairy & LaBlanche last week. Louched them with our new fountain, same ratio (3:1), same sugar (1 La Perruche). The verdict?

WHITE FAIRY RULES!

All those superlatives that butty likes to send around about her LB's? Many of them can be applied to the White Fairy; clean, crisp, no sugar needed, no alcohol taste... the thing we noticed most about the WF as compared to the standard Blanche is that the anise smell was much less prominent, there were many other notes present too (but since I'm a rank beginner who knows nussing , I will refrain from any attempt at isolation).

This absinthe is going to be a great summer drink. We'll probably set ours aside until the weather gets hot again.

Understatement of the year

That's what I was looking for - THANKS!

I'll probably order a bottle once my Segarra runs low. Thanks again.

MrGreenGenes

And it only took 46 posts over one day.