Notes: Glenrose is a small distillery even by micro distillery standards – they only had a 4 plater 30 gallon hybrid pot still from Artisan Distilling. They just recently added a 100 gallon Bain-Marie multipurpose from StillDragon and a small home brew experimental rig.

Glenrose makes a large variety of products for such a tiny distillery – among their spirits are their Apple Shine, made from local apples, Pear Brandy,  their lovely Snow Devil Gin, Wild Jim’s Old  Saloon Four Grain Whiskey , and Wild Jim’s White Wolf Malt Moonshine. This absinthe ( done in the Pontarlier style) is one of their newest editions in their expanding portfolio.

Appearance: Clear with a lovely naturally occuring green when first distilled, later on it turned a nice fallen leaf color that shows it is a naturally made absinthe. Nice oily but clear appearance on the glass, on swirling leaves a very thin coat with tears. Absinthe is well mixed as you cannot see separations of individual ingredients.
As a sidebar under appearances, this absinthe does not louche (turn opalescent) well unless you are using very cold water/icewater, a minor aesthetic point, but some people might consider this a more than minor fault. On the other hand I think the taste balance achieved more than makes up for the absinthe theatrics.

First Impression: Delicious, almost salivatingly luscious absinthe bouquet with anise, fennel nicely entwined with lemon balm, wormwood notes in a complex yet harmonious blend.

Taste: Nicely complex and herbal bitter with the anise and fennel taking the front stage with the underlying bitterness of the two wormwoods giving them a nice underpinning and edge without overwhelming the other ingredients moderate length finish that is warm, cold and tingly.

Drinks: The usual classic absinthe cocktails (Frappe,or Drip, Death in the Afternoon, Earthquake etc., all show this Absinthe to good effect. Indeed this absinthe seems to work well because of it’s balanced taste and the restraint of the flavors.Too many absinthes have either too much anise (licorice type flavor ) or wormwood (tastes like dirt when mixed with other herbs, otherwise  stunningly bitter by itself)

Bottle: Small apothecary type bottle, synthetic cork with wooden top. Fabric textured label stock with an illustration inspired by the appearance of the senior distiller from the 1970’s.Colorful, humorous, and amusing, it is an easy bottle to spot in the crowd and attractive. Dark green neck capsule with pull tab

Other: Only absinthe made in New York State north of the Hudson River area.

Glenrose also produces an  aged Applejack or Apple Brandy, 2 Pear Brandies,   Batch 1 and Batch 2, Snow Devil Gin , an unaged whiskey , and several editions/releases of their Old Saloon Four Grain Malt Whiskey ( we reviewed Barrel/Batch 1, 11, and 14 ) . Check their Facebook or website pages for updates.

Final Thoughts: For a first attempt at making an absinthe they hit it right out of the park. Kudos !

Website: http://www.glenrosespirits.com

Fairly simple and straightforward webpage- easy to navigate and full of humorous drawings too.

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/glenrosespirits
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