La Hada Verde: Spanish Absinthe from Obsello

Obsello [ob-SAY-oh]Absinthe is a new, Spanish Absinthe made by American distiller B. Alex in the Catalan region of Spain. As with most micro-distillers, Alex appears to be somewhat of an obsessive, in a good way. He started his distilling career at a young age, making illicit rum in his closet while in high school. "I couldn't get a fake ID," he told me "and I found that you don't get carded for buying brewer's yeast." Ten years ago, his high school hobby grew into a passion when he began experimenting with Absinthe.

He moved to Spain to start a distillery at a time when Absinthe was still effectively banned in the US. In doing so, he spent significant time researching the local customs and process. Spanish Absinthe, according to Alex, distinguishes itself from its French and Swiss brethren by being sweeter and having citrus notes.

The base of Obsello Absinthe is a eau de vie made from Cava grapes Macabeo, Xareal-lo, and Parellada which is produced by a local distiller. In the redistillation, Obsello uses eight herbs, the majority of which is grande wormwood, rounded out with anise, fennel, coriander, melissa, hyssop, star anise and one secret ingredient. It does not contain any added sugar or color. Obsello is 50% alcohol, which makes it lower on the alcohol scale than some of the other Absinthes currently available. Alex's operation is the type of small, detail-oriented, individually run operation that I really like, so I was excited to try a sample they sent.

As per my usual Absinthe tasting ritual, I tried Obsello both with sugar and without.

Obsello has a light green color and louches nicely with a cloudy, as opposed to more milky louche. Since it's a bit lower in alcohol, I added a tad less water than I would for higher strength Absinthes.

This is one of the most balanced, easiest drinking Absinthes I've tasted. The nose is rich with traditional anise scents as well as a touch of orange rind. The flavors aren't as harsh as some Absinthes, and it is amazingly pleasant and drinkable. The anise, fennel and wormwood flavors are there but it's less tongue-numbing than some brands, and there is an excellent balance between sweet and bitter; there is citrus too, though I found it more apparent in the nose than the flavor. The finish is pure black licorice.

Based on the different preparations I tried, I would definitely recommend taking this Absinthe with sugar; the sugar does much to bring out the balance which was less apparent in the sugar-free pour.

Because of its smooth and balanced character, I thought Obsello would make a great cocktail Absinthe as well, so I tried it in a Sazerac. It performed very well, providing just the right anise notes and sweetness to balance the drink.

Overall, this is definitely one of the better Absinthes I've tried and I would highly recommend Obsello if you're looking for a regular Absinthe pour.

Obsello has only recently entered the LA market. Locally, it can be purchase at K&L in Hollywood for $48.99. Alex said he would like to move the price point down so that Absinthe could restore its place as a bar staple. He is also working on a higher end Distiller's Reserve that will be available exclusively through DrinkUpNY.com. Given the quality of Obsello, I'd guess that will be a must try for Absinthe fans.

Whiskey Wednesday: The Sazerac Cocktail

The Sazerac is the traditional New Orleans cocktail. In fact, as of last week, it is the official cocktail of New Orleans.

The esteemed Sazerac combines the spicy flavor of rye whiskey with the anise-licorice of Absinthe and New Orleans' own Peychaud’s bitters. Combine that with sugar and a lemon twist and you're on your way to an amazing cocktail experience.

Ingredients:

Absinthe or substitute
Rye Whiskey
Peychaud's Bitters (Peychaud's bitters are difficult to find, but are available at kegworks.com)
Angostura Bitters (Not part of the traditional recipe, but something suggested by Morganthaler which I think works very well)
Sugar Cube
Water
Twist of lemon

To make a Sazerac:

For instructions, read Morganthaler here and here, watch McMillian and check out Drinkboy.

The Sazerac is one of my all time favorite cocktails. It makes sense, I suppose, given that I'm a big fan of both of the major ingredients: rye whiskey and Absinthe.

More than anything, this drink is about spice. There is something wonderful that happens when rye, with its spicy, savory flavors meets that deep licorice taste that you get from the combination of absinthe and Peychaud’s bitters. I really do think this is the king of cocktails.

On my quest for the perfect Sazerac, I experimented with the following three variations.



The Rittenhouse-Lucid Sazerac

Both Morganthaler and McMillian use Sazerac 6 year old rye (Sazerac is both the name of this cocktail and an excellent brand of rye whiskey produced by the Buffalo Trace distillery), but I'm all out of Baby Saz, so
I did my first batch with Rittenhouse 100. Since Absinthe is now legal, I decided to use the real thing instead of Herbsainte or another substitute. For this batch, I used Lucid.

Rittenhouse is a little less spicy than Saz, so I imagine the spice level was somewhat lower, but the Rittenhouse married well with the Absinthe and gave the drink the perfect balance of rye, licorice and sweetness. This was a really wonderful Sazerac which highlighted the flavors of both rye and anise. The sugar and lemon further bring these flavors to the fore.



The Handy-St. George Sazerac

This time, I went for the Cadillac Sazerac, with Thomas Handy Rye, a barrel strength version of the Sazerac brand rye and St. George Absinthe. Now it's true that Handy is a fine rye worthy of sipping neat, but its namesake, Thomas H. Handy, was the nineteenth century New Orleans bar owner who invented the modern Sazerac by substituting rye whiskey for the brandy that had previously been used in the cocktail. Given that history, it only seems appropriate to add Handy whiskey to the cocktail.

Since I was using the barrel strength Handy to make this Saz, I used only 1 1/2 ounces of rye and a half ounce of water.

Interestingly, the bold flavor of Handy didn't come through as strongly as I would have guessed. That may be in part due to the fact that St. George is a much stronger flavored Absinthe than Lucid. Even though there is only a smattering of Absinthe in the drink, I found myself tasting more of the tongue numbing Absinthe and less of the interplay between rye and anise. The combination didn't really work for me the way the Rittenhouse-Lucid version did.

Interestingly, when sipping Rye neat I prefer Handy to Rittenhouse and when drinking Absinthe on its own, I prefer St. George to Lucid...it just goes to show that what you like on its own may not make the best cocktail.



The Smoky Sazerac

The strong flavors and counterpoint of the Sazerac cocktail got me thinking...what would happen if you replaced the spice of rye with another strong flavor, say smoke. I have a lot of very smoky Scotch to choose from, but I ended up picking the Bruichladdich PC5 for this experiment. The PC5 has a cleaner smoke with less ash, char and medicine than some more traditional peated Scotches. For this reason, I thought it would work better in the cocktail than, say, a Lagavulin or Laphroaig.

To make this new-fangled Sazerac I went back to Lucid Absinthe. PC5 is another high alcohol spirit, so I again cut the proportion to 1 1/2 ounces and added 1/2 ounce of water.

Oh...my...God!! This is an amazing drink. My hunch on flavors, though it seemed pretty crazy, was spot on. You might think all of these flavors would clash, but in fact, they meld perfectly. The smoke of the Scotch becomes more understated, marrying well with both the anise and the sweetness of the sugar. The slight acid of the lemon twist pulls the entire combination together. Upon considering it further, it makes perfect sense. Shanghainese cuisine, of which I'm a big fan, often marries these same flavors (smoke, sweetness and anise) with phenomenal results.

With one sip of this concoction, I knew I was drinking something special. Take heed mixologists, you should make this drink! Now, PC5 is a bit hard to find, but the drink should work with Lagavulin 12 year old, Black Bottle or maybe even a Caol Ila.

What fun we've had experimenting with Sazeracs. Something old, something new, something smoky, nothing blue.

Next Wednesday: The Manhattan

Spirit News

Absinthe

St. George Spirits reports that the second batch of their excellent Absinthe will be released on February 3. The first batch sold out quickly. See my review here. Southern California locations that will carry it include Hi-Time Wine and K&L. The last batch sold out quickly, so be on the lookout for green fairy sightings come Ground Hog Day.


Whisk(e)y

The Whisky/whiskey debate, which I covered here and here is still raging on the Scotchblog. Check the comments section if you are interested in spirit-ual grammar.

I Wish They All Could be California Absinthes: St. George Absinthe

The recent, highly publicized decision to allow real Absinthe into the US market led to the almost immediate availability of two imports. Kubler, from Switzerland and the French Lucid, which I reviewed last month. Now, the first domestic Absinthe has entered the market and it's a gem hailing from right here in the Golden State.

St. George Spirits, the Alameda based distillery that makes Hanger One Vodka, fruit brandy and even a single malt whiskey now gives us St. George Absinthe Verte.

The bottle features a vicious looking monkey holding a human femur and a bell. (What is it about Absinthe and animals?). Apparently, the monkey image caused some problems; as the New York Times reported, the original image of a monkey and a human skull caused the very prickly Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau concern that it “implied that there are hallucinogenic, mind-altering or psychotropic qualities” to the product. I know that when I see a monkey on something, I assume it has psychotropic qualities.

St. George Absinthe is a brandy based spirit (60% alcohol) which is flavored with star anise, mint, wormwood, lemon balm, hyssop, meadowsweet, basil, fennel, tarragon and stinging nettles (ouch).


I tried several combinations of the Absinthe with sugar and water, and also tried it side by side with Lucid. In general, when tasting Absinthe, I've found that sugar brings the licorice flavor to the fore and subdues the bitterness of the wormwood, so the amount of sugar you want to add will depend on the flavor profile you seek. I like a moderate amount of sugar to retain some of the wormwoody bitterness, but occasionally sip my Absinthe sugar-free, which is about as refreshing a drink as there is.

St. George Absinthe is a beautiful green, the shade of a fine olive oil. The Louche that forms when water is added is a cloudy green, as opposed to Lucid's pale white cloud.

St. George has a slightly more medicinal character than Lucid, with more herbal notes, including the wormwood bitterness, and less sweetness. While Lucid is smoother, St. George is more complex, possibly due to the number of herbs used in its distillation. Even for Absinthe, which is not a shy spirit, these are big, powerful flavors.

While I enjoyed Lucid very much, I have to say I prefer St. George because of this added complexity. The good people of Alameda have done our state proud.

St. George Absinthe is new on the market and pretty hard to find. I was able to snag the last bottle on the shelf at Silverlake Wine for around $70, but I'm sure it will become more available in the future.

And, if you're thinking of getting into the Absinthe habit, Silverlake Wine has good prices on Absinthe glasses, which have a bulb to show how much Absinthe to water to pour ($15) and decorative slotted Absinthe spoons, for pouring water through your sugar cube. ($12-15). These trinkets are fun but certainly not necessary to your Absinthe enjoyment.

A Blind Date with the Green Fairy

Lucid Absinthe Superieure, 62% alcohol.

Absinthe [AB-saunt]. The stuff of myths. The muse of artists. The fuel of psychosis. The thing that drove Van Gough to chop off his ear. Celebrated in turn of the century France, banned in twentieth century America, this viridian, anise flavored spirit spiked with the toxic and allegedly hallucinogenic wormwood is now legal in the United States.

I must admit to being caught up in the excitement generated by Absinthe's reentry into the US market for the first time in nearly 100 years. Never mind that much of the mystique is myth and legend. For the real skinny on Absinthe, check with the good people at the Wormwood Society, who will tell you everything you wanted to know about the Green Fairy but were afraid to ask.

There are two genuine Absinthes which are now available in the US:

Kubler is a Swiss absinthe; a blanche, it is white rather than the traditional green. It is available at
Hi-Time Wine in Costa Mesa for $50.

Lucid is a traditional green Absinthe from France. Initially, it was only released in New York, New Jersey and Illinois. However, if you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I have developed a knack for tracking down hard to get spirits, so I managed to snag a bottle and am here to report my findings. Since I acquired my bottle, I've noticed that Lucid is now listed by Hi-Times as well, for about $60.


Lucid Absinthe comes in a sleek black bottle with what appear to be cat eyes. I must admit, I was made uneasy by the prospect of drinking something that was watching me.


The Preparation

The imbibement of Absinthe, like most things that cause hallucinations, includes great ritual and requires strange paraphernalia.

Here's the process: you pour a glass of Absinthe, then place a slotted spoon on top of the glass. A sugar cube is then placed on the spoon. Slowly, you drip water over the sugar cube, into the Absinthe, until it becomes cloudy throughout. This cloudiness is called the louche and its consistency and color is very important to Absinthe drinkers, who view it similarly to the way a serious espresso drinker views the crema that tops an espresso. The final ratio should be three to five parts water to one part Absinthe.

After reading up on the preparation, I was ready to try it.


The Tasting

Lucid Neat

First I did what you are not supposed to do and sampled the Absinthe neat. Undiluted, the Absinthe had a light green tint and a strong licorice aroma, along with citrus and fruit notes. The taste is also dominated by the anise, like liquid black licorice...it's an overpowering and syrupy sweet taste. This is definitely in need of dilution.

Lucid Prepared

Now, as noted above, Absinthe drinkers love paraphernalia and use fancy specialty glasses and decorative slotted spoons, but I'm a whiskey drinker, so I don't have any of that. Instead, I used a wine glass and a fork, which seemed to do fine.

Then, the preparation. For my first sampling, I added three and one half parts water over two cubes of sugar, until it reached the desired cloudy consistency. The addition of water revealed a somewhat more complex aroma that could be detected from several feet away. All of the licorice aromas of fennel and anise were there but there were also more herbal scents. The candy taste was gone, though it was still too sweet. As I further diluted the Absinthe, it revealed a subtler anise flavor with a slight bitterness (wormwood?). Even with dilution, the heavy anise numbs the tongue.



As follow ups, I tried several different ratios of water and sugar and found that I liked four parts water to one part Absinthe with one sugar cube. As noted above, I found two cubes too sweet and no sugar produced an overly bitter taste.

At first, I felt the strong licorice taste of Absinthe was unpleasantly overwhelming, but over a week's worth of experiments, I came to recognize some of the subtler botanicals and herbaceous tones that made it quite a nice after-dinner drink. And there was something comforting about its palate numbing qualities.

Overall, my date with the Green Fairy went well. I'm not saying we're jumping into any sort of committed relationship or anything. After all, I'm a whiskey man first and foremost, but I could certainly see becoming life-long friends.

And, just for the record, I can't say I had any hallucinations or an urge to disfigure myself after drinking the Absinthe...though I'm not sure if that's a plus or a minus.