Reviewed by mthuilli 5/29/2008

COLOR BEFORE WATER 7/10
Nice dark olive with an amber tint, but too deep.

LOUCHE ACTION 5/10
Louches correctly with slow iced water drip and specially with sugar. Quickly overwaters, needs great care. A very light (or almost none) louche without sugar and regular drip. So let's say it does louche decently if carefully prepared.

COLOR AFTER WATER 5/10
If correctly louched, retains its nice deep olive tint, but overall not very inviting because of its lack of opalescence.

AROMA 21/30
Alcohol is not overpowering, nice floral bouquet (thanks Veronica!), just lacks a little something on the balance and complexity side, like a rich wormwood or a savory anise aroma.

MOUTH-FEEL 4/10
Slightly biting but thin.

TASTE 8/20
That's where it hurts. Not really unpleasant but clearly shows some flaws. Over-distilled that conducts to a non-existent wormwood flavor and almost non-existent anise and fennel flavors. Over-colored that conducts to overpowering pontica/hyssop/veronica flavors. Result : totally unbalanced. I gave it a 8 specially for the veronica that leaves a nice finish.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 7/10
It's not a bad product per se, it's even really encouraging coming from that part of Europe (hence the 7 for the encouragements and the lovely bottle and label), and I'm sure Martin can easily improve it by lightening his distillation method and by having a less heavy hand on the coloration step.
This is the best Czech absinthe I've ever tasted (ok, easy one), and (I hope) soon to be a good absinthe as such.

mthuilli scores St Antoine 57 out of 100

Reviewed by absinthist 5/28/2008

COLOR BEFORE WATER 10/10
My sample is a nice almost feuille morte with a shade of greenish and little yellow. Looks natural and smells natural.

LOUCHE ACTION 4/10
Delicate, at 1:1-1:2, there are oils dancing only. Becomes translucent, rather not opaque. Be careful or you overwater it.

COLOR AFTER WATER 9/10
Becomes green, very nice to look at. Confirms the natural colouration.

AROMA 25/30
Veronica. Some pontica, and anise. Pleasant, not much of alcohol smell, inviting.

MOUTH-FEEL 4/10
Rounded, spicy, a bit unbalanced.

TASTE 18/20
Veronica in the front and veronica in the back, ladies and gentlemen, this is veronica bomb! Second comes pontica, so definitely colouration was strong and definite, then some little hyssop becomes snitty, and there is a nice floral wormwood aspect, whilst anethole buddies are in the back. Taste is complex, spicy, unusual but quite nice.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 7/10
A real Durchbruch in absinthes made in the Czech Republic. It will not appeal to everyone because of strong colouration and delicate louche action, but I am very satisfied with it and I must add I am making the 2nd glass of St. Antoine, just for pleasure. That absinthe requires some work: louche department needs fining, wormwood note should be more pronounced, and colouring herbs subdued, of course, but it is a nice, traditional if unusual product.

absinthist scores Absinthe St. Antoine 77 out of 100

Reviewed by spoon 6/3/2008

COLOR BEFORE WATER 7/10
Attractive dark olive/amber.

LOUCHE ACTION 3/10
I couldn’t get it to louche as well as mthuilli. I don’t use sugar, but I always use very cold water and lots of ice in the fountain, with a slow drip. The louche was very thin.

COLOR AFTER WATER 4/10
Not terribly attractive thinly translucent drab olive.

AROMA 18/30
Neat, I smell the nice aroma of the coloring herbs, with some nice floral character. I don’t smell the alcohol at all. After louche, it’s just a bit weaker.

MOUTH-FEEL 4/10
Thin and slightly biting, but the more I sip it the less I find it objectionable.

TASTE 9/20
Almost all I can taste are the coloring herbs. There’s only a weak presence of wormwood, anise, and fennel. It’s actually rather pleasant, but is clearly lacking the most important flavors that should be in absinthe. Before this, I wasn’t really sure what veronica tastes like, but now I’m pretty sure I recognize it. That aspect is quite nice.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 6/10
I wanted to like it more. The bottle and label are beautiful, far better than most. And of course it’s far above the normal Czech crapsinthe. It’s clearly made with quality ingredients, distilled without a trace of tails etc. but it’s just lacking in anise/wormwood/fennel presence. I hope Martin will try some of our suggestions (no triple distillation, gentler coloration). I think with some tweaking it could be much better. My overall score seems a bit harsh to me, but I can't really justify raising the scores for any of the categories. It's not undrinkable, it's just flawed.

spoon scores St Antoine 51 out of 100

Reviewed by Ricki 5th June 2008

COLOR BEFORE WATER 7/10
Very clear and nice looking amber/olive colour.

LOUCHE ACTION 3/10
I could barely get a louche out of Absinthe St Antoine and i was really trying hard to make it louche. Low points here.

COLOR AFTER WATER 4/10
Slightly cloudy and the colour is a bit lighter than before water. Nothing special.

AROMA 20/30
The aroma is very nice before adding water. Water just dilutes these aromas slightly but doesn't lose them.

MOUTH-FEEL 4/10
Mouth feel is thin but smooth with a slight bite afterwards.

TASTE 9/20
Slightly medicinal in taste. A bit weak though.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 6/10
The best Czech Absinthe out there but not good enough to compete with the French and Swiss variety just yet.

Ricki scores St Antoine 53 out of 100