Pastiglie Leone Absinthium - Fata Verde

From the makers of various candy pastilles, Pastiglie Leone, comes this absinthe. They are the ones behind the absinthe pastilles (which can be found in the Oddities section here). A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to taste the Pastiglie Leone absinthe. It's called "Absinthium" or "Fata Verde" which means Green Fairy, in Italian. The only thing I knew was that it couldn't be worse than the old italian "Dedo". And it wasn't. But by that, I didn't say it was all that good either. So, here's my "Fatal Verdict".

I had heard that it would have a citrusy flavour to it, so I pretty much expected something along the regular spanish fare type of absinthe. That was not quite right. It's a rather flat drink, really. No need to read the label to understand that it's artificially flavoured either. so, to get down to what this one is all about then...

The citrus smell is there - no doubt, you couldn't miss it. It's actually pretty much at war with the star anise. The citrus takes over every other smell there is. It presents a good enough louche though, but that's not hard to obtain with some star anise and oil extracts. I wouldn't say there's a need for sugar in this one. It neither improves the taste, nor destroys it. It pretty much doesn't do anything. The Leone Absinthium didn't do much for me either.

I'd say this isn't a very fine absinthe. However, I do believe that there are some people out there that might actually love it. Why? Well, it's got such a "special" taste to it that it's got to be tailor made for someone. I'm not going to totally off this one, since it's actually a step up from the Dedo, or... Several steps up. But it's got a long climb before it reaches the penthouse. Still, it's better than many absinthes (and absinths) available on the market.

Summary? Personally I'm not impressed at all. The taste is way too strange with way too much citrus/lemon flavour. They need to look at the Montmartre to get proper directions... Less star anise, more wormwood and why not try distilling it all? It's not the worst I've had, and if someone tries this as their first absinthe they will atleast not be totally put off about it. It goes upwards from here.