Don't Do This at Home: Tasting Absinthe & Coca Leaf Liqueur
in Tasting , AbinstheWell, here it is… my first Absinthe tasting. I have had the samples around in the box for two years where they have been improving due to bottle maturation… well, not really… I am a lazy ass and I didn’t want to drink absinthe when I could be drinking a 40 years old malt whisky. #truth
But a few weeks ago Billy Abbot, Richard Barr and I were having a “passionate” chat about the qualities of Jim Murray as whisky taster and his Liquid Gold Award ( and 96.5 score ) for Johnnie Walker Black Label, yep, that very same whisky.
At first we were just talking about if the score was good or it was bad ( and I think that it is crazy ). I reckon that I usually score whiskies between 85-93 with very few bottles outside that range as I explain here.
Personally I think a score-less review is like a way of cheating you, the reader of this blog, of saying that I am not sure that I want to say the whisky is bad because I will lose something ( free samples anyone?! ).
I can understand that there are people out there that don’t score whiskies. Perfect. But in whatever way you do, you must mentally sort your whiskies… with a number, with a color, with stars… but it is hard ( for me ) to believe that a bad whisky and a good whisky can live one next to the other.
And so here the conversation started to get mad ( I even read about the quality of Black Label as a whisky not as a windows cleaner )… and finally it ended in Absinthe. ( Take that one Godwin! ). So I remembered about the poor absinthe samples that I had here and planned myself a tasting. And as a extra a Black Label review :)
So here are the whiskies… err… absinthes…
Agwa de Bolivia Coca Leaf Liqueur
What?! A Absinthe tasting and you start with other liqueur?! Well… I had this sample on the box for a while and I didn’t know what else mix it with… so what better that another stuff I have no clue about how it tastes…
Particularly, I bought a bottle of this Coca liqueur a few years ago because it was really curious. Just keep in mind that coca leaf isn’t cocaine. Also it looks like that the coca leaf used on this beverage has had their psycotropic components removed. Booooo!
“Sniiiifff! Much like a decent tequila with a ton of sugar. More hype that other thing... WTF! Did you see that red dragon?!”
AGWA contains guarana, an extract from the seeds of Paullina Cupana (which contains caffeine); ginseng (a stimulant); and approximately 40 grams of coca leaf in every bottle.
This dram has a fino-like color.
Nose (75): more than average. green, agave, citrus. Like a white Tequila... not bad.
Palate (77): light, smooth. honey, floral, agave, sugar.
Finish (76): short. sugar, citrus.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Agwa de Bolivia Coca Leaf Liqueur with 76 points over 100.Buy this bottle at
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Not sure I would recommend you this. I really go and get a proper Tequila and add some sugar to it… pretty much the same experience. With much less hype on the other hand.
Le Diable Rouge Absinthe
Now a range of Spanish Absinthes that have been in my samples box for too much time. I think it is the same recipe with different colors and alcohol contents, with the blue raising to a whooping 80% ABV. #scary
“I prefer Anis del Mono but definitively it is a decent anise taste here”
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (69): more than average. anise, citrus, sugar. Mostly anise
Palate (69): powerful, oily. anise, floral, sugar.
Finish (69): long. anise, herbal.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Le Diable Rouge with 69 points over 100.Le Diable Vert Absinthe
This is the green one at 60% ABV…
“Anise and alcohol... lots of alcohol”
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (67): average. citrus, herbs, alcohol, anise.
Palate (69): powerful, oily. anise, citrus, herbs, sugar, liquorice.
Finish (69): long. anise.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Les Diable Vert with 68 points over 100.Le Diable Blue Absinthe
And finally the Blue one at 80% ABV…
“I want this to end! I can't stand it! Someone finish me! Who though about bottling this stuff at 80%?!”
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (65): more than average. citrus, anise, herbs, sugar. It is really unpleasant to nose because of the alcohol
Palate (70): powerful, oily. anise, herbs, citrus, liquorice, sugar.
Finish (68): very long. anise.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Le Diable Bleu with 68 points over 100.
I dunno if it is because of the absinthe or because of the alcohol but I don’t feel right.
Angelique Verte Suisse Absinthe
“Woo! Wooo! This is strong! Everything is so fuzzy”
This dram has a white wine-like color.
Nose (69): more than average. anise, herbs, sugar, citrus.
Palate (75): powerful, oily. anise, herbs, citrus, sugar, liquorice.
Finish (72): longer than average. anise. herbs.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Angelique Verte Suisse Absinthe with 72 points over 100.Miguel says…
Well… you can’t say I didn’t try it but really I don’t like Absinthe. I find the alcohol content too aggressive, even dangerous. And overall too much anise. In Spain it is very typical to drink Anis del Mono straight or with a bit of water. It is sweeter and with even more anise that absinthe… and well, it isn’t neither my kind of drink.
Sorry but you won’t see A Wardrobe of Absinthe anytime soon :P
Share your thoughts! 