Absinthe - The Green Fairy

The precise origin of absinthe is shrouded in mystery. The use of wormwood in medicine dates back to the Pharoahs in Aincient Egypt and is reffered to in the Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BCE.

Wormwood tinctures and wine-soaked wormwood leaves were used as remedies in ancient Greece.

The first clear recorder use of absinthe as a distilled spirit of green anise and fennel, is in the 18th century but indeed it may be older.

Popular legend attributes absinthe as an general patent remedy created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Couvet, Switzerland, at the turn of the 18th/19th century. Ordinaire's patented recipe was passed on to the Henriod sisters of Couvet, who marketed absinthe as a medicinal elixir.
According to various conflicting accounts, the Henriod sisters were already been making the elixir before Ordinaire. Whichever is the case, a Major Dubied in turn bought the formula from them and with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod, opened the first absinthe distillery, Dubied Père et Fils, in Couvet. In 1805 they built another distillery in Pontarlier, France, under the new company name Maison Pernod Fils.

Absinthe's popularity and use grew and it was given to French troops as a preventative for fever. When the troops returned home, they brought their passion for absinthe with them.
By the mid-1800's , absinthe had become so popular that in most French Society 5 p.m. signalled l'heure verte ('the green hour'). It was an exclusive and expensive drink, mainly favoured by the bourgeoisie and eccentric Bohemian artists. By the 1880s, however, the price had dropped significantly, the market expanded, and absinthe soon became the drink of France; by 1910 the French were consuming 36 million litres of absinthe per year.

Absinthe was publicized by temperance movement and wine makers' as a modern evil, it was publicly connected with several violent crimes alegedly committed under the influence of the drink. The combination of this publicity with rising hard-liquor consumption caused by the wine drought in France during the the late 19th Century, effectively labeled absinthe as a social menace.

Edgar Degas' 1876 painting L'Absinthe (Absinthe) (now at the Musée d'Orsay) epitomized the popular view of absinthe 'addicts' as sodden and benumbed. Although he mentioned it only once by name, Émile Zola described their serious intoxication in his novel L'Assommoir.

In 1905, Swiss newspapers reported that Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted suicide after an absinthe binge. He was actually an alcoholic who had two glasses of absinthe in the morning and then drunk a large amount more of various spirits and wines was ignored, and the murders were attributed to the absinthe. This was the last straw, and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was rapidly signed by over 80,000 people.

Belgium and Brazil quickly followed suit and banned the sale and distribution of absinthe, although they were not the first. Absinthe was banned as early as 1898 in the Congo Free State. Following on from the earlier petition in Switzerland, the prohibition of absinthe was enshrined in the constitution in 1907. In 1909 the Netherlands implemented a ban, next was the United States in 1912 and in 1915 the French. Around the same time, Australia banned the liquor too.

Pernod relocated their absinthe distillary to Spain, where absinthe was legal, lack of sales caused by fewer countries it could be legally exported to eventually caused it to shut down.

Some nations never actually banned absinthe, notably the United Kingdom, which eventually led to its resurrection.

In the '90s an importer, BBH Spirits, realising that there was no law prohibiting the sale of absinthe in the UK other than the standard regulations governing alcoholic beverages. Hill's Liquere, a Czech Republic distillery founded in 1920, began bottling Hill's Absinth, which helped spark a modern resurgence in absinthe's popularity.

France never repealed its 1915 law, but a law was passed, in 1988, to clarify that only beverages that do not comply with European Union regulations with respect to thujone content, or beverages that call themselves 'absinthe' explicitly, fall under that law. This has resulted in the resurrection of French absinthes, now labeled spiritueux à base de plantes d'absinthe ('wormwood-based spirits'). Interestingly, as the 1915 law regulates only the sale of absinthe in France but not its manufacture, many distilleries also produce variants destined for export market which are simply labeled 'absinthe'. La Fée Absinthe, released in 2000, was the first brand of absinthe distilled and bottled in France since the 1915 ban, initially mainly for export from France, but now one of over twenty French 'spiritueux ... d'absinthe' available in Paris and other French cities.

In the Holland, the law was successfully challenged by an Amsterdam wine seller Menno Boorsma in 2004, making absinthe legal once again, citing European food regulations as sufficient. Belgium, as part of an effort to simplify its laws, removed its absinthe law on 1 January 2005.

In Switzerland, the constitutional decree banning absinthe was repealed in 2000 during an overhaul of the constitution, but the prohibition was written into ordinary law instead. Later that law was also repealed, so from 1 March 2005, absinthe is again legal in its country of origin, after nearly a century of prohibition. Absinthe is now not only sold in Switzerland, but is once again distilled in its Val-de-Travers birthplace, with Kübler and La Clandestine Absinthe among the first new brands to emerge, albeit with an underground heritage.

It is now legal to produce and sell absinthe in practically every country where alcohol is legal, the major exception to this being the United States. It is not, however, illegal to possess or consume absinthe in the United States.

The Whisky Exchange, as well as stocking over 1300 different whisky's, stock's a fine range of Absinthe from Bulgarian, Swiss and French distillers. They also arrange delivery to almost every country in the world.
From small sample sized bottles, to the creme de la creme of Absinthe - Hapsberg Yellow Label 89.9% proof! This latter one does come with a very strong warning that it is best served heavily diluted!

UK Delivery 2-3days
USA Delivery 6-7days
Far East/Australia 7-8days
Rest Of World 7-10days

Higlands, North-East of Aberdeen and west - south-west of Inverness. They range from light floral honeyed whiskies, to an almost Liqueur like sherried sweetness and some even have the odd peated malt taste.

Some of the top Speyside Single Malt's to enjoy and to seek out include -

Hapsburg - Green Label Absinthe

Strength 72%, 50cl Bottle - This Strong Bulgarian absinthe which should be well diluted with water before drinking.

Hapsburg - Yellow Label Absinthe
The strongest Bulgarian Hapsburg Absinthe will be hard to beat for it's 89.9% alcohol content, serve well watered for your own safety and keep away from sources of ignition if you wish to keep your eyebrows!

Kubler Blackmint Absinthe
A more genteel Absinthe with a meager 53% alcohol content in this 50cl bottle. Kübler Absinthe is distilled in the Val-de-Travers region of Switzerland, known as the birthplace of absinthe. First produced in 1863 it was the first brand to be legally sold in Switzerland after the ban on absinthe was lifted in March, 2005.

Pernod Absinthe

68% alcohol and a more generous 70cl bottle. Arguably the most famous of Absinthes, they changed to a thujone/wormwood free brand after most of Europe legislated against it at the beginning of the 20th century. This absinthe should not be mistaken or confused with normal Pernod which was an aniseed based liqueur

La Fee Bohemian Absinthe

70% alcohol in a 70cl bottle. This particular absinthe is distilled in the heart of Bohemia and it is a common drink to be found in the bars of Prague. Their is a slightly different traditional ritual associated with this absinthe. Rather than using the absinth spoon a portion of sugar is placed on a normal spood with a few drops of absinth, lit and then doused in the glass with the addition of water. This method is not safe for higher percentage absinthes!

Trenet Absinthe / Eiffel Tower

70% alcohol, 50cl bottle. A most unusual bottle will certainly attract attention on any bar shelf! Though with only a minute wormwood content absinthe aficionados will often turn their noses up at this brand.

Although Whiskey Exchange, above, provide a fantastic range of the worlds top Absinthe's at incredible prices, we would also like to recommend Absinth X, a genuine Absinth distilled in Czechoslovakia from an original recipe. They also export and supply absinth legally all over the world.

Delivery
Normally, it takes 2-3 business days to process an order after which it takes between 1-3 weeks to arrive depending on your location and distance from the Czech Distillery. On average, most orders arrive in 2 weeks after placement.

What Choice?
Absinth X stocks a wide variety of absinths and they particularly recommend the King of Spirits GOLD has the traditional formulation including the 100mg of thujone, thus ensuring you get the full effects of absinthe. However, it is more bitter. The Staroplezenecky and Red Absinthe's have a less bitter, more moderate taste but only have 10mg of thujone in them. They sell miniature bottles as well.