Description
La Fee Absinthe with Spoon 700ml is La Fee Absinthe Parisienne, a French absinthe bottled at 68% ABV and packed with a traditional absinthe spoon. It is distilled in copper stills at the Cherry Rocher distillery in south-east France from nine herbs and spices, including grand and petite wormwood.
Buy La Fee Absinthe Online in NZ
La Fee was launched in 2000 by George Rowley with the support of Marie-Claude Delahaye, founder of the Absinthe Museum in Auvers-sur-Oise. It was the first absinthe to be legally distilled and bottled in France since absinthe was banned there in 1915, and it follows a 19th-century French recipe. Delahaye oversees each batch.
The botanicals are built around three types of artemisia: grand wormwood, petite wormwood and genepi. These are joined by green anise, star anise, fennel, hyssop and coriander. The pale green colour comes from macerating herbs in the spirit rather than from added colouring, and the bottle has a coating to help protect that colour from light.
To serve it the traditional French way, pour a measure into a glass, rest the spoon across the top with a sugar cube on it, and slowly drip chilled water over the sugar. A ratio of around three to five parts water to one part absinthe is usual. As the water goes in, the absinthe turns cloudy, known as the louche, and releases its herbal aromas. Small amounts also work in classic cocktails such as the Sazerac or Death in the Afternoon.
- French absinthe distilled at the Cherry Rocher distillery
- Nine botanicals including grand and petite wormwood
- Bottled at 68% ABV, supplied with an absinthe spoon
The nose shows fennel, coriander, aniseed and liquorice. With water, the palate opens into soft anise and herbal sweetness backed by the dry, slightly bitter edge of wormwood, and the finish is long and fresh.
Because it is bottled at high strength, La Fee Parisienne is meant to be diluted rather than drunk straight.
A good choice for anyone curious about traditional French absinthe and the ritual of the spoon, sugar and water.
