Week 40: Akveld’s Artisanale Verte [52 Whispers From The Muse]
Akveld’s Artisanale Verte
Overall Rating: 4.3
Style: Verte
Country: Netherlands
Appearance: A nicely rich green with slight golden tint. The last picture I took for the previous review showed a little more yellow in the Absinthe photographed, here it seems to have turned out a little too green. I really have to learn how to take a decent picture.
Louche: Slow to build with a lot of variations in colors from yellow to blue. Ends in a perfect, thick opalescence.
Aroma: Very distinct Wormwood paired with an equal Anise that rolls through the room when the bottle is opened. There is quite a bit more going on underneath that blooms some with louche.
Flavor/Mouthfeel: Light and refreshing but still quite exciting. There is a crisp Wormwood followed by the Anise that doesn’t sweeten it too much at all. I expected more of an alcohol presence due to the high ABV but I was pleasantly surprised at mellow it was with no burn at all at about 1:2-2.5 parts Absinthe/Water.
Finish: The Wormwood lingers with the Anise holding just at the back of the tongue for quite some time.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I completely forgot that I bought this bottle. I got it back in March to fill out an order to specifically get a bottle of Zufanek’s OMFG Gin and some other non-Absinthe things. I do now remember thinking to myself “Oooh, a Dutch Absinthe, I must try that” and that thought has been in the back of my mind for some time. When it arrived I must have promptly stored it with the wall of bottles that I have and I continued to be overwhelmed by the new job I started just a month before. Oddly enough, I just found the bottle I already had just as I started to add another to a new order specifically for another Zufanek product. Now that I’ve tried it, I will be getting more… and the Blanche.
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| Photo courtesy of Akveld’s Artisanale Absinthe |
From Absinthes.com:
“The Akveld’s Artisanale Verte absinthe is the little sister of the Helfrich Verte absinthe, the first Dutch absinthe.
When Mr. S. Helfrich announced he was stopping distilling his Blanche and Verte at the end of 2009, the news came as a big hammer stroke for most of the absinthe lovers. That’s why Ton Akveld decided to take up the torch and bring back those absinthes to life, using the same recipe. Now Ton has passed the recipe and his distillery on to his follower Sjaak, who will continue to distill the Akveld’s absinthes according to Serge Helfrich’s original recipe.”
I wasn’t lucky enough to have ever tried the Helfrich Absinthe. From all accounts it was a beautiful thing and it’s been said that Akveld’s Artisanale Absinthe does it justice.
I’ve said this before but I’m so happy to see that there are so many countries that are producing absolutely top notch Absinthes. Czech Republic has the aforementioned Zufanek, Germany’s Eichelberger, Sweden’s Valkyria AND Svensk Absint distilleries, and all of the other distilleries in France, Switzerland, the US and Spain (note to self- must get a bottle of Serpis).
There is so much more to try out there. It is a good time to be a budding Absintheur.
