I’ve known the St Antoine Absinthe since its very first batch in 2008. Martin Zufanek has worked a lot on his flagship absinthe since 10 years, and quickly became an unavoidable figure of the absinthe world, and even since, of the gin world.

I had never written tasting notes on the St Antoine over the last years, so I felt I had to rectify this big mistake!

Color: nice pale green with some golden glints.

Aroma before water: herbal, veronica (the herb of course) is well present, but it’s also slightly floral at the same time.

Louche: shy at the beginning, but then the first clouds show up progressively and the louche becomes clearly visible.

Aroma after water: in many absinthes, after adding water, floral and/or fruity notes come out more prominently. Here it’s quite the opposite, the herbal aspect of the St Antoine comes out first. A slightly soapy aroma lie in the background, strangely familiar, but I can’t associate a specific herb with it.

Taste: rich in mouth, a lot of flavors are mixing together with a very invigorate anise, shortly followed by a well established grand wormwood, and a bouquet of herbs that bring alternately freshness, roundness and some bite. One of the ingredients only comes out at the end of the sip, a “foreign” ingredient that only Martin has the secret I suppose. I’m personally not a big fan of this ingredient, but seeing the big success of the St Antoine, it has its enthusiastic followers, and I’m glad of it, we don’t all have the same palate after all.

Conclusion: a well mastered absinthe, Martin knows his job and all his products are of great quality, no doubt.

How to drink Absinthe St. Antoine

I would recommend to taste it with and without sugar so that you can fully benefit of all the different flavors that will not stand out the same way if the absinthe is sugared or not.

Buy Absinthe St. Antoine online