The Absinthe Masters 2014 results

Despite its size, The Absinthe Masters 2014 revealed some delightful products, as Becky Paskin reports.

The Absinthe Masters 2014 delivered a delightful selection of anise spirits

Since its widespread resurgence in the late 1990s, absinthe has struggled against a tidal wave of myths and misconceptions.

The spirit once blamed for causing hallucinations and bouts of madness hasn’t had an easy time of it in the 21st century.

But despite being beset by challenges, absinthe has found favour with style bartenders keen to harness the spirit’s distinct anise flavour to recreate traditional cocktails, such as the Sazerac, and develop new, modern creations.

Absinthe, a traditional French and Swiss spirit distilled from grand wormwood, anise, sweet fennel and other herbs, is produced in about 20 countries worldwide. For such a niche spirit, the variety of styles now on offer, from traditional recipes to those using additional colouring, is extraordinary.

That was the message at The Absinthe Masters 2014, which for the first time was held at London’s opulent 1 Lombard Street.

As one of the smaller spirit categories judged in The Spirits Business’ Masters series, the competition naturally drew fewer entries than our judges were used to tasting. But considering the relative strength of absinthe, however, that was no big deal.

That said, all entries were judged after ice water had been added, as is the traditional manner of drinking absinthe.

Bartosz Kopacz dilutes his absinthe to a more palatable strength

Joining me on the judging panel were Dale Sklar, MD at Wine and Spirit International, and Bartosz Kopacz, bar manager at 1 Lombard Street. We were aiming to give medals to absinthes that had complexity, a balance of botanicals and a strong, long-lasting finish. We began the day’s proceedings with the Verte Distilled category, and were immediately blown away by the vast differences between style and quality among the entries.

“What an interesting variation,” exclaimed Sklar. “Some are very agreeable, others are just bizarre and others are somewhat questionable, which may be a sign of the category diversifying.” The round drew three medals, including the only Master of the competition for Hapsburg’s La Magnifique, which was described as “complex”, with a “floral nose” and taste that “develops slowly and subtly to a long, spicy finish”.

Also awarded in the Verte Distilled category was La Fée Parisienne Absinthe Superièure, which gained a Gold, an The Oak Aged Absinthe Valkyria, which was awarded a Silver. Following such a successful round, our judges were naturally feeling optimistic about the competition ahead, although the excitement was short-lived. We entered the second round of the day, the Verte Oil Mix category (produced through maceration of botanicals or the addition of natural oils to ethyl alcohol), which was disappointing to say the least.

This category contained absinthes that were obviously produced for the mass market, with crowd-pleasing high alcoholic content, unnatural green colouring and overbearingly sweet palates.

The judges: Becky Paskin, The Spirits Business, Dale Sklar, Wine and Spirit International, and Bartosz Kopacz, 1 Lombard Street

Sklar expressed his dismay: “Unfortunately I don’t feel this category lived up to our expectations and hopefully next year they will get better. We were looking for some traditional absinthe nose and flavour, but that wasn’t to be found in this case.” Kopacz agreed: “These were far away from being the perfect absinthe.”

Putting the category behind us, we entered the third and final round of the day – Blanche Distilled, where our faith in the absinthe category was renewed with fervour.

Two Gold medals were awarded for two absinthes that demonstrated immense likeability through interesting, balanced flavours and remarkable complexity. La Fée’s Absinthe Blanche gave Kopacz “a comfort in my whole palate”, while Absinthe Larusée Bleue had the most complex nose and flavour we’d seen in the competition.

“It’s a very classical category and we’ve been blessed by some nice entries,” remarked Sklar. “That said, it’s unfortunately not what most consumers believe to be absinthe because of its lack of green colour, which is a big shame.”

It is a pity that blanche absinthe does not get the recognition it deserves from the wider market, simply because of its colour, but as Sklar summated: “It’s encouraging that a product that’s only been on the UK market for 15 years can show such a variation of styles”.

If absinthe producers continue to invest in creating quality absinthes that demonstrate what the spirit really does have to offer, without succumbingto crowdpleasing antics, the category will have a long, respected future ahead of it.