Absinth
by Venchi
Impact
The green fairy lives. Unlike those whirling frou-frou mistresses at Vosges whose trick fakey-fake 360s offer nothing to alleviate labor pains except coo-coo talk (see its "Absinthe" under the Selections section), Venchi revives (after being banned like witchcraft) the real thing straight from the goddess of the hunt, forest, & children - Artemis, hence its botanical name artemisia absinthium - at a prescription-strength to ward off pests. Truly numbing on the pleasure scale (essentially Oscar Wilde's tulips in the mouth).
Bohemia's devotees are proud.
Appearance 4.8 / 5
a glamazon
a glamazon
| Color: | no chlorophyll here - just black coal |
| Surface: | flush tight |
| Temper: | perfect louche - matte opaque (frosted glass FXs) & just like the silver-white leaves of its namesake wormwood plant |
| Snap: | brittle (to match its opacity / near butter bloom) |
Aroma 9.3 / 10
no holding back: green fairy just blows the wrapper right off, fills the room, then the house, onto the block, across the street, over the hills & far away in folds of thick, mentholated syrup w/ an underside of, what the dilly, some herb (& no choc)
Mouthfeel 11.6 / 15
| Texture: | reflects Snap: dry & astringent |
| Melt: | spirited & ultimately quaffable |
Flavor 34.3 / 50
chocolate w/ the hammers down -> right on absinth + a dill component -> dualing forces -> ferocious wormwood bitter swathed in cacáo butter, but the sharp oils gain momentum to coat the farthest reaches of the palate & mainlines it -> Venchi's usual Blend Line Oreo FXs team up to prevent a ravaging & ripping of the structure -> dark & dirty w/ mint/eucalyptus exothermals -> thujone deep in the bottomless aft-shaft.
Quality 13.8 / 20
Rawkus. Cacáo struggles to contain the fairy. At a meager though potent & bulging 0.4% dose line of absinth, Venchi measures the threshold but would be better served to jettison offending cocoa powder of its Blend Line & offer instead its 56% Ecuador as a base - pumped up to 72% or even 75% - whose own black highlights (berry & molasses) could contend with the overpowering force absinth.
Not really a good bar, just a strong one, especially after a hard day at work, just in time for the 5PM l'heure verte (green hour).
Not really a good bar, just a strong one, especially after a hard day at work, just in time for the 5PM l'heure verte (green hour).