La Verdelette (circa 1925-1930)

For a long time I had one bottle of this but I didn't want to open it since it was in excellent condition. so, I recently got hold of another one and decided to give it a try. The first one I had, and still have, was a lot more greener and looked more like absinthe than the one I opened. This was a bit paler.

Considering that there was a few absinthes that even after the ban was known to actually be absinthes and not "modified" to fit the regulations and the text on the bottle "convincing" the government that this was indeed not an absinthe, one could believe that it actually was...
So, I extracted the contents of the bottle and poured them into a glass. It smelled very sweet and of course a lot of anise. From that I expected a quick and thick louche, but got nothing. The aroma only flattened and there was virtually no louche at all. The taste was nothing but very sweet and a bit of anise. Nothing else. I couldn't even find a remote bit of alcohol bite in it, so I poured the dilluted drink into a measuring glass and tested it with a alco-meter. It showed no alcohol at all. Hmmm. So, probably it was actually very low in alcohol from the beginning and wasn't meant to be "louched" at all.

I think there might be a difference between the two bottles, given the obvious difference in color, which is why I will eventually try the other one as well. However, for now - I will have to say that the Verdelette was a really sad experience and was nowhere near absinthe.