A look at Pacifique Absinthe.
Posted in Absinthe, Spirits on August 13th, 2009 by halw – Be the first to comment
A bottle of Pacifique along side a glass, pre-louche.
The story behind Pacifique is a pretty simple one, though for such a great product I wish it had more of an interesting back-story, perhaps one that spans continents and involves lost formulas and rare ingredients. Alas it’s just a great product made in the state of Washington by someone who loves absinthe.
Marc Bernhard, the owner and master distiller of Pacifique Distillery discovered absinthe about ten years ago via two inferior products that hailed from the Czech republic, The Hills and Sebor brands. Over the course of nine years he experimented with a variety of recipes, and after perfecting his formula within the last year opened Pacifique Distillery.
What Marc created was an incredible impressive specimen of absinthe that does everything right down to the fragrance of anise that hits you as you open the bottle. Pacifique is made in exact accordance with an 1855 French recipe and process.
He uses a classic list of ingredients, many that he grows himself and lists them on the label, and doesn’t hide anything from the person purchasing this product. The list includes anise, angelica, coriander, fennel, hyssop, Melissa(lemon balm), grand and roman wormwood.
Pacifique Absinthe as it louches.
It louches the exact color you’d expect from an absinthe that manages to hit everything right as it should.
Upon tasting the absinthe, you’re hit with strong flavors of anise, and might think it’s a bit too harsh. Once we realized this we added sugar, which didn’t help the initial harshness. We then added additional water. Once additional water was added, the Pacifique took on a new personality and adopted additional characteristics that incorporated vanilla, minor fennel and with the addition of sugar just the right balance of sweet candy.
At this point any doubts we had, were removed and we were left with a very nice, very pleasant, hides nothing absinthe. An interesting side note, the back of the label also advises you not to burn Pacifique as it’ll ruin the flavor of the absinthe. Something we’d like to avoid, especially with Pacifique.
For something akin to a classical interpretation of absinthe, Pacifique is highly recommended.
Final Score: 8.5/10
