The Green Fairy is put through its paces
THERE WAS a frisson of excitement in the air as the judges mustered for the first ever Absinthe Masters. Wine and spirits, guru and consultant Keith Lyon was heading up the fray and his team including fellow judges were Clayton Hartley secretary of The new Sheridan Club and Nick Quatroville from the latest London hotel happening “W”. There were 20 or so Absinthes to get through – and of course the spirit needed very careful judging.
| COMPANY | PRODUCT | AWARD |
|---|---|---|
| COLOURED SPIRIT | ||
| STUDER & CO | STUDER ORIGINAL SWISS ABSINTH | MASTER |
| DISTILLERIE PAUL DEVOILLE | LIBERTINE | GOLD |
| LIQUEURS DE FRANCE | ENIGMA VERTE | GOLD |
| LIQUEURS DE FRANCE | NEMESINTHE | SILVER |
| DISTILLERIES ET DOMAINES DE PROVENCE | GRANDE ABSENTE 690 | SILVER |
| COLOURED AMER | ||
| LA FÉE LLP | LA FÉE XS ABSINTHE FRANÇAISE | MASTER |
| NON-COLOURED SPIRIT | ||
| DISTILLERIE PAUL DEVOILLE | BLANCHE DE FOUGEROLLES | MASTER |
| LIQUEURS DE FRANCE | ENIGMA BLANCHE | GOLD |
| METROPOLITAN SPIRITS | LA MAISON FONTAINE | SILVER |
| NON-COLOURED AMER | ||
| LA FÉE LLP | LA FÉE XS ABSINTHE SUISSE | GOLD |
In the first place, the background to this Masters had not been easy when it came to classifying the various absinthes – such is the sprawling nature of ‘the brew’ there are several schools of thought. In the end we plumped for Coloured Spirit, Colour Amer, Non-Coloured Spirit and Non-Coloured Amer, on the grounds that it found favour with more folk, was more simple to enact and is used by other established spirits competitions.
On the day itself the Rum Masters was also being judged – and every now and then our attention was drawn to the looks of concentration on the Absinthe judges’ faces. Keith Lyon, who had mugged up well on the subject decreed that all the Absinthes in each flight should be tasted neat and that equal measures of water had to be added to the tinctures – for further tasting. There was as you can imagine much discussion and deliberation – but all were in agreement that the Absinthes entered were of the highest quality.
Aside from non-coloured Amer there was a Master in the three other classes. In the Coloured Spirit class it was taken by Studer Original Swiss Absinthe; in Coloured Amer BBH Spirit’ La Fee took the honours, and Distillerie Paul Devoille’s Blance de Fougerolles – ruled the roost in the Non-coloured spirit class. There was a goodly sprinkling of awards in the design and packaging, where La Fee completely dominated picking up no less than two Masters and a Gold as well as a Silver.
Clearly it had been a relaxing – but nonetheless rewarding day. As Keith Lyon said afterwards: “That was absolutely fascinating, It was hugely enjoyable and some of the Absinthes were out of this world.”
