est. 2007
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Huguet 68 Absinthe Review:
-68% alcohol -large 1 litre size bottle -Country of Origin: Andorra
I didn't dive into this expecting much more than an average drink, but sadly, it has fallen short of even my lowest expectations. So then, I'll try to keep this one rather brief, old boy... This one has a dark olive green colour initially, but smells almost purely of alcohol; not a good first impression. There is a bit of a delayed louching effect, but then clouds rather suddenly, with no fine ring along the top and minimal swirls in the glass. Strange, but still rather unspectacular. It ends up a sort of light emerald shade with a subtle white tone, but is not really very thick. Louching does nothing to help the aroma, which, while now subdued, is still purely alcoholic. From the first taste I knew I wasn't going to like this. I tried it at both 3:1 and 4:1, but even then it still seemed too alcoholic and seemed to lack, well,...flavour. The alcohol is so dominant it fails to let through the small amount of anise (and perhaps a bit of mint), but even the moderately strong wormwood is smothered by the poor quality of the alcohol itself, which seems to destroy any hope of decency here. I was desperate to find some scrap of decency in this drink, so I diluted further to 5 parts water for a change, and it actually helped the taste a smidgen, but it is not saying much as it essentially went from poor grade alcohol to watery poor grade alcoholic taste. Consistent throughout was a strong wormwood taste, with, you guessed it, a bitter, cheap, alcoholic finish. Adding sugar is like slapping a band-aid on an open wound. When the anise becomes fuller from the sugar, the balance is thrown off, and the ingredients taste like they were taken from samples that have been trampled upon, dirty and muddled. The finish becomes even more dry and that damn alcohol is still hardily noticeable at the forefront. Why in the blazes is the alcohol taste still so prevalent in a 5:1 dilution? I don't know, but I know I don't like it. I just can't seem to be rid of that alcohol taste. To summarize in a single sentance, I would've liked to taste some actual ingredients here, but the dirty alcohol repeatedly gave me the stiff arm. Not even a budget price can save this disaster.
Presentation: 5.5 Louche: 5 Taste: 3 Value: -- (Like I said, it's bad to the point that this shouldn't matter) Overall: 3
Posted 9/28/2007 |
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