A Muddled Thought

Koruna, Djabel and The Green Fairy.

When I decided to take a close look at the spirits category of absinthe, I had an additional decision I had to make. Would I include brands that fall into the category of calling themselves absinthe, while they don’t meet the minimum criteria?
After much consideration, I decided that I would have to include a few of these brands only to show the reader base of A Muddled Thought what absinthe is definitely not.

As mentioned in the previous posting that went through the history of absinthe, during the 1990’s companies started importing spirits marketed as absinthe in name alone. One such company is Admiral Imports based out of New Jersey.

Admiral Imports currently brings into the United States three variety of Czech branded absinthe (or absinth as it’s spelled on the label).

Koruna, has been billed as the flagship product offering and even includes some grande wormwood sediment in the bottom of the bottle. While it makes the appearance of the bottle slightly intriguing, this amusing inclusion might be the most positive thing I’m able to say about Koruna.

A closeup of the wormwood sediment in a bottle of Koruna.

When opening the bottle you’re hit with a minor scent of anise. At first glance this could seem promising to someone, however this promise did not follow through as the liquid tasted like a combination of vodka and cinnamon schnapps.

Next up we move on to Djabel, which includes a red devil draped across the front of the bottle, sadly no wormwood sediment this time. Though the product literature is quite amusing making mention of inferior absinthes using fake coloring that led to the ban of absinthe in the 1900’s all while being a product that itself also uses artificial coloring.

Several paragraphs later the literature also makes mention of burning a sugar cube after soaking it in absinthe instead of placing a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon and letting the water drip over it.This tradition was started to add some mystique to illegitimate representations of absinthe such as Djabel.

The scent that comes attached to the liquid known as Djabel is of mild anise, grass, alcohol and not much else. When actually tasting Djabel, it resembles a very weak poor quality vodka with no distinct flavor profile to speak of what so ever.

A glass of Djabel as it doesn't louche.

And for our final look at the Admiral Imports family of absinthes, we take a look at “Green Fairy”. Though they might as well have labeled it as “Green Vodka” and called it a day. As with the product literature that accompanied Djabel, the literature for “Green Fairy” also recommends burning an absinthe soaked sugar cube to “follow tradition”. Along with this recommendation are several recipes on what best to pair “Green Fairy” with. These range from apple juice, cranberry juice and pineapple juice to what I’m assuming was meant to be something resembling a “Death in the Afternoon” (1 ½ oz of abinsthe topped with champagne) a drink Hemingway was famous for drinking large quantities of. Though this version includes ‘Green Fairy”, simple syrup and champagne. I’m assuming this would be akin to mixing vodka, simple syrup and topping it with champagne.

Somehow having “Green Fairy” be the last offering written about seems fitting as it resembles barely anything other than an incredibly high proof, very poor quality vodka. Matching this flavorless spirit, you’re hit with something reaking of alcohol with no other distinct scents from the moment the bottle is opened.

Green Fairy under an Absinthe Fountain. No Louching taking place.

As all three of these offerings are not created using either the correct techniques or herbs of a true absinthe, none of them offer anything even remotely resembling a louche when attempting to bring out the oils as you would with a correctly created example of absinthe.

My goal throughout the entirety of this article and all associated abinsthe reviews was to educate about abinsthe in all its forms and provide recommendations on what products to buy and what products to not buy.

These three offerings from Admiral Imports fall clearly under the side of “what not to buy”. They are so far removed from what absinthe is, that I cannot in good faith offer a review grade of any kind. It seems as if someone decided to take incredibly poor quality vodkas and add some food coloring and a fancy label with a green demon on the bottle, and nothing else.
My recommendation is to stay away from all three of these product offerings under all circumstances.