Jade Esprit Edouard Absinthe Verte

4

The first thing to note is that this like other Jade absinthes definitely benefit from an opportunity to rest and breathe. Once you have a drink or two from the bottle and the absinthe is exposed to a small amount of air in the bottle, the absinthe will improve over time for a month or two. The initial fragrance of the absinthe is primarily anise, and that remains when loached (when water is added) with the addition of a slightly more astringent herbal note. The loache is very thick, characteristic of other Jade absinthes, and it is a creamy olive-white in color. The flavor up front is anise which is quickly followed by astringent wormwood but there seems to be another bitter herbal flavor in there as well: possibly cumin, possibly other things, and a slight woody note. I take it with sugar which I would recommend for this one unless you value the bitter and astringent qualities of absinthe a lot. The finish is long and very pleasant. Compared to almost any other non-Jade absinthe, Edouard would rate very highly but to me Jade's 1901 and Nouvelle Orleans are so superior to this and to virtually all absinthe I have ever tasted that I hesitate to recommend that anyone buy this instead of 1901 or N-O. That said, many absintheurs value Edouard for its complexity.