Bowser
08-13-2008, 02:34 PM
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/02/absinthe-taste.html
Anybody fans of Absinthe? Anybody fans of Marilyn Manson? Boy, are you in luck! Rage against the wholesome and get freaking stoned/drunk all at once!
Hell, I'm still waiting to try out Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo. I hear it's pretty good stuff.
Absinthe Taste Test Part 3: Mansinthe (Marilyn Manson Absinthe)
by Michael Y. Park
on 02/11/08 at 03:59 PM
Yes, this is that Marilyn Manson's absinthe. It's made in Switzerland, but the shock rocker gave the distillers permission to put his name and his artwork on the bottle. (The portrait you see is Manson's rendering of himself as an old man.)
OK, so the guy's got the goods to get women like Rose McGowan, Dita von Teese and Evan Rachel Wood (wait, is that last one even legal?!). But does his absinthe have the stuff to go head to head with top-notch greens?
(For more more details on the background of absinthe, how to prepare it, why it's "suddenly" legal in the U.S., check out my quickie primer. Otherwise, to read the Mansinthe review, continue after the jump.)
But first a little more on how the Mansinthe people describe their product:
"Mansinthe is a natural absinthe, distilled from vermouth, aniseed, fennel and other fine herbs. Naturally, pre-sweetening is avoided and artificial colourings are out of the question for reasons of quality. Oliver Matter characterises Mansinthe as a classic absinthe that absinthe lovers can appreciate, but which primarily appeals to novices.
"There is just ONE Mansinthe—there is NO 'sans wormwood' version!"
Technically speaking, Mansinthe isn't legal yet in the U.S., and I won't go into the details of how we got our hands on some, but the distiller and distributor hope the government will come through with its OK soon.
Mansinthe
Color: 3.4
"Oily"
"Pale, green in color, like the fourth horse of the Apocalypse"
"Color is too light"
Louche: 3.0
"Too milky"
"Light green, with slight orange hue"
"Not as colorful [as other absinthes]. Fewer 'oily' effects. Too cloudy"
Aroma: 2.2
"Very complex scent. It doesn't just smell simple like anise, and the scent changes"
"Smells too strong [like] rubbing alcohol"
"If a smell could speak, this absinthe is saying: 'Do not touch.'"
Flavor: 2.4
"Main flavor is just plain."
"Yuck. Sour + bitter"
"If you don't smell it, the taste is good. A little woodsy, but not too much"
"Holy sh*t, Michael, is this poison?"
Finish: 3.0
"Aftertaste is quite interesting."
"After the venom, what is the finish worth?"
Overall: 2.25
"Serve this slightly chilled at your next holiday party, along with that old, stale Stollen"
Total: 16.25 (out of a possible 30)
Conclusion:
So did Mansinthe have what it takes to be a premium absinthe? According to the tasters, the answer is, sadly, no. The No. 1 problem was the aroma, which some verbally compared to sewage water or swamp mud, but with the exception of a lone taster, the panel felt it wasn't really worth wading through the odor to get to mediocre flavor anyway. Sorry, M.M.
Anybody fans of Absinthe? Anybody fans of Marilyn Manson? Boy, are you in luck! Rage against the wholesome and get freaking stoned/drunk all at once!
Hell, I'm still waiting to try out Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo. I hear it's pretty good stuff.
Absinthe Taste Test Part 3: Mansinthe (Marilyn Manson Absinthe)
by Michael Y. Park
on 02/11/08 at 03:59 PM
Yes, this is that Marilyn Manson's absinthe. It's made in Switzerland, but the shock rocker gave the distillers permission to put his name and his artwork on the bottle. (The portrait you see is Manson's rendering of himself as an old man.)
OK, so the guy's got the goods to get women like Rose McGowan, Dita von Teese and Evan Rachel Wood (wait, is that last one even legal?!). But does his absinthe have the stuff to go head to head with top-notch greens?
(For more more details on the background of absinthe, how to prepare it, why it's "suddenly" legal in the U.S., check out my quickie primer. Otherwise, to read the Mansinthe review, continue after the jump.)
But first a little more on how the Mansinthe people describe their product:
"Mansinthe is a natural absinthe, distilled from vermouth, aniseed, fennel and other fine herbs. Naturally, pre-sweetening is avoided and artificial colourings are out of the question for reasons of quality. Oliver Matter characterises Mansinthe as a classic absinthe that absinthe lovers can appreciate, but which primarily appeals to novices.
"There is just ONE Mansinthe—there is NO 'sans wormwood' version!"
Technically speaking, Mansinthe isn't legal yet in the U.S., and I won't go into the details of how we got our hands on some, but the distiller and distributor hope the government will come through with its OK soon.
Mansinthe
Color: 3.4
"Oily"
"Pale, green in color, like the fourth horse of the Apocalypse"
"Color is too light"
Louche: 3.0
"Too milky"
"Light green, with slight orange hue"
"Not as colorful [as other absinthes]. Fewer 'oily' effects. Too cloudy"
Aroma: 2.2
"Very complex scent. It doesn't just smell simple like anise, and the scent changes"
"Smells too strong [like] rubbing alcohol"
"If a smell could speak, this absinthe is saying: 'Do not touch.'"
Flavor: 2.4
"Main flavor is just plain."
"Yuck. Sour + bitter"
"If you don't smell it, the taste is good. A little woodsy, but not too much"
"Holy sh*t, Michael, is this poison?"
Finish: 3.0
"Aftertaste is quite interesting."
"After the venom, what is the finish worth?"
Overall: 2.25
"Serve this slightly chilled at your next holiday party, along with that old, stale Stollen"
Total: 16.25 (out of a possible 30)
Conclusion:
So did Mansinthe have what it takes to be a premium absinthe? According to the tasters, the answer is, sadly, no. The No. 1 problem was the aroma, which some verbally compared to sewage water or swamp mud, but with the exception of a lone taster, the panel felt it wasn't really worth wading through the odor to get to mediocre flavor anyway. Sorry, M.M.