A Look at Mata Hari Absinthe
Posted in Absinthe, Spirits on August 11th, 2009 by halw – Be the first to comment
A Bottle of Mata Hari Absinthe
Mata Hari absinthe is marketed as an absinthe originating from Austria. According to the story behind Mata Hari, the recipe has belonged to the Fischer family of Vienna, Austria for over one hundred years. With the original recipe dating back to 1881.
After the ban of absinthe was lifted throughout most countries, master distiller Gerald Fischer decided to resurrect his great grandfathers recipe. Mata Hari is labeled as a “bohemian style” recipe. And in a similar fashion to how Le Fee uses the term “bohemian” to signify lower than normal anise flavors in one variety of their absinthe, so does Mata Hari.
In most cases, this could be looked upon negatively as not being representative of a true absinthe, however Mata Hari manages to impress.
In total opposition of previous reviewed absinthe specimens, Mata Hari does not utilized any artificial coloring and was even kind enough to supply most of the herbal ingredients that they utilize in creating this product.
The Ingredient Listing(As supplied by the Fischer Distillery) :
Grande Wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium)
Sage
Fennel Florentine
Camomile Flowers
Aniseed
Liquorice Root
Coriander
Cinnamon Bark
Orange Peel
Angelica Root
Wormwood Pontica For Coloring (Roman Wormwood)
With the lower than usual anise levels, Mata Hari is a definetly a unique product, with a nose containing minor anise, and notes of sweet that reminded us of candy or jelly beans. After going back to investigate the nose more, we also noticed some hints of vegetal, and herbal that we couldn’t place.
Upon tasting Mata Hari we were greeted with flavors of spearmint with minor notes of anise woven throughout.
After adding sugar to Mata Hari, the spearmint flavor did decrease. Due to the natural herbs used in Mata Hari it does louche properly as demonstrated below.
Due to the use of natural herbs, Mata Hari does louche when water is added.
While not the most traditional example of absinthe due to the use of the term bohemian and lower notes of anise, Mata Hari still manages to impress and as with La Fee could be suggested as an introductory absinthe to get one’s “feet wet” in the category before moving on to some of the more traditional offerings.
Final Score: 8/10
