by Miriam

Just like every year, the annual Absinthiades were held in Pontarlier, France last weekend. The competition defines the most interesting absinthes of the year, split in two categories: Verte and Blanche. And just like every year, we from Absinthes.com had to be there!

An exclusive absinthe tasting

What’s most exciting about the Absinthiades is tasting new absinthes and check out which brands entered the competition. For example, we tasted a new absinthe from the Guy Distillery, called Perle d’Absinthe. Guy has a tradition of creating a special, limited absinthe for every Absinthiades. This year’s special was aged in casks and is a blend of absinthes from two different vintages: 2015 and 2016 – a highly interesting composition! We decided to take a few bottles home with us straight away – which you can now buy online!

Absinthe antiques collectors market

At the Bernard Blier theatre where the Absinthiades take place each year, collectors and absinthe fans can admire and buy original absinthe antiques. Our friend and colleague Marc Thuillier always takes quite a few things home to make them available to your on his site absintheoriginals.
We met the maker of the Véritable fountains there: Jean Baptiste Dewever. His fountains are truly unique and count to the most precious absinthe fountains one can own.

We enjoyed seeing Marie-Claude-Delahaye again, who showcases her thorough books on the history of absinthe and absinthe accessories.

The other stalls had a few interesting antiques to offer, such as absinthe spoons, absinthe carafes and quite a few antique absinthe glasses!

Learn about the history of Pernod Fils

A very interesting exhibit was showcased at the Museum of Pontarlier this year. Plenty of paintings and photograph guided us through the history of the most famous and largest absinthe distillery, including its rise. We enjoyed seeing original Pernod Fils bottles.

Sunday – the results are in!

The most curious moment is when the results of the year are published. Everyone is eagerly suffling in front of the paper which shows the absinthes that won a medal. This year, Absinthe La Verte by Bourgeois became the winner across all categories and was awarded the gold medal.

Absinthe Kübler won in the Blanche category and Martin’s Esmeralda Absinthe managed to score the first place in the Verte category.

You’d like to learn more about the Absinthiades? Read one of our past posts on this topic here.