Fresh from Philadelphia-Vieux Carre Absinthe.. Yes Absinthe…
Posted in Absinthe, Spirits on August 14th, 2009 by halw – 1 Comment
Vieux Carre in it's very unique bottle.
Vieux Carre, named for the French Quarter of New Orleans is an absinthe that hails from Philadelphia. Yes you heard correct, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Why do I mention this? Because when I first came across a new brand of absinthe, hailing from a company called Philadelphia Distillery known for making Blue Coat Gin and Rye Vodka, I had my sincere doubts how good of an absinthe these guys could actually produce.
Boy, was I surprised. Created by Philadelphia Distillery’s Master Distiller , Robert John Cassell,it uses a set of all natural herbs, and skips the oils and artificial colors some other absinthes utilize.
Looking at a list of Vieux Carre’s ingredients reads as an almost “by the book “ absinthe, featuring grande wormwood, petite wormwood, green and star anise, fennel, hyssop, melissa and in an interesting twist spearmint.
Upon investigating the nose of Vieux Carre we were hit with a mid-range balance of anise (not too little, not too much), fennel, hints of spearmint and for some reason minor hints of a scent reminiscent of black tea.
When we tasted Vieux Carre we were hit with flavors of spearmint and anise perfectly intertwined within each sip.
After an initial tasting with just water, we decided to add sugar to our second tasting. When this was done, the flavors seemed to balance even more, and again hints of black tea came out on occasion.
When water is added, it louches a green akin to a color similar to ecto-plasm from the movie, “Ghostbusters”.
Vieux Carre as it louches.
For a new offering, in the absinthe market, the guys from Philadelphia Distillery got it right the first time around.
Final Score: 8.5/10
(Note-We found the flavors more rounded with the addition of sugar. Though this is a personal choice with Vieux Carre and we would recommend trying it sans sugar the first time)
