Reviewed by hartsmar 11/15/2006

COLOR BEFORE WATER 5/10
The question here is wether or not it is intended to be a blanche. I think so. The problem is that there is this very slight yellow tinge to it which I do believe is actually coming from either added wormwood extracts or possibly a quick "coloration" with wormwood.

LOUCHE ACTION 7/10
The louche builds up slowly but steady with a nice clear layer on top all the way until it's completely louched. Not very spectacular but it gets there.

COLOR AFTER WATER 7/10
Greyish white with a little hint of that yellow. Pretty nice though.

AROMA 20/30
I've had this bottle for about four years and it's clear that this has benefitted from the ageing. The dominant nose is from anise and mint with a fresh hint of melissa. Not bad but it doesn't show any top quality in the ingredients or any real blooming here.

MOUTH-FEEL 4/10
Initially it's a nice round and creamy mouth-feel. After swallowing it, it leaves an unpleasant sticky bitterness in the mouth though. Now, did I mention wormwood oil?

TASTE 7/20
At first it presents a nice quite good taste of a simple but decent blanche. It is, however, completely destroyed by the terrible bitter finish.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 4/10
If they would only get rid of the notion that wormwood needs to be added as extracts or an additional maceration after an otherwise nice distillate is finished, this could be a decent product. It isn't now.

PERSONAL NOTES
Funny thing here is that it has been pre-sweetened according to the label. It could use a lot more sugar to level that bitterness. And, with sugar added to the drink it gets better. So... Considering the price and if you have nothing else, it might do the trick. I wouldn't run off buying it and expect wonders though. There is much better stuff to be had.

hartsmar scores Emile Coulin 54 out of 100