From Oxygenee.com: Lyons was a noticable centre for absinthe production, and an "absinthe Lyonnaise" was a specific regional recipe (a high percentage of angelica root in the distillation, and veronica added to the colouring step).
"Absinthe Suisse" was the highest quality designation possible in the era, indicating a naturally coloured absinthe of the finest quality. The wording "Grande Distillerie Lyonnaise" almost certainly indicates that this was manufactured by the Ferrand Freres distillery in Lyon.
AVERAGE SCORE 96Reviewed by Mthuilli 3/29/2008COLOR BEFORE WATER 10/10
Splendid feuille morte with a beautiful orange tint, a forest in autumn.
LOUCHE ACTION 10/10
Quick and thick! Me likes!
COLOR AFTER WATER 10/10
Still has that wonderful amber/orange tint.
AROMA 28/30
Hard to beat such a floral bouquet, an explosion. A great panel of fruity and fresh aromas that mainly includes green anise, then angelica, then a bit of A.a. and a few others hard to identify because of the wonderful mixture of perfumes.
MOUTH-FEEL 8/10
Milky and savory. I was expecting it to be a bit more creamy because of the wonderful thick louche.
TASTE 19/20
Definitely not a Pontarlier style absinthe, a real change and a real blast for my palate, the most unusual vintage absinthe I've ever tasted. That angelica is incredibly perfumed, I've never tasted it that way in any modern absinthe. And the green anise is as fruity and biting as the one in PF 1914.
OVERALL IMPRESSION 10/10
I want more, I'm still sniffing the empty sample bottle with a straw.
I was married with the wonderful Pernod Fils from Pontarlier, now I have a mistress from Lyon.
Mthuilli scores Absinthe Suisse Grande Distillerie Lyonnaise, circa 1895 95 out of 100Reviewed by hartsmar 7/23/2008COLOR BEFORE WATER 10/10
A beautiful dead leaf brown/amber with a hint of orange. Not too dark - very inviting.
LOUCHE ACTION 10/10
It builds up wonderfully and steadily from the bottom. A perfect louching which ends up as a textbook example of The Louche.
COLOR AFTER WATER 10/10
It shows a very interesting and beautiful hint of peachy color mixed with a bit of green and of course the classic brownish yellow so well known from the pre-bans.
AROMA 28/30
Before water it is very floral with the most wonderful perfume. A nice Angelica touch finely tuned with a nice scent of fruity wormwood and fine anise. A slight hint of Veronica is present and it's all nicely balanced and rounded.
After water it turns into full bloom and with an amazing freshness it is highly intriguing. This is actually one of the finer aromas I've encountered in a pre-ban to date.
MOUTH-FEEL 10/10
Wow! The creaminess and richness of this is amazing. An absinthe this thick and creamy is often otherwise a bit tongue numbing or too coating in the mouth, but this is not. Very nice!
TASTE 18/20
A little less actually than expected from the wonderful aroma and mouth-feel but absolutely great. Each major ingredient is nicely present without taking over the show and the taste is nicely balanced.
OVERALL IMPRESSION 10/10
For once I'm truly impressed. I've had several vintage absinthes of various ages but only very few have been this good. I'm amazed by the level of quality and character this absinthe shows after almost 115 years. This is what absinthe is all about.
hartsmar scores Absinthe Suisse Grande Distillerie Lyonnaise, circa 1895 96 out of 100 Jul 13 2008, 12:04 PM
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