Mansinthe was awarded a gold medal out of a group of 10 absinthes entered into the largest and most important spirits competition in the USA. The results of the professional tasting event “shocked” the amateur panel from an earlier attempt at judging the Mansinthe. The stark difference between the trained palette of a professional spirits taster and that of unqualified bloggers, demonstrates why consumers should be wary of accepting the tasting opinion of unskilled amateurs.
Being an “amateur” myself, I don’t think that the fact that the people tasting it were unskilled amateurs mattered, but more the fact that the blogger just wanted to make his prejudiced point, no matter how. There are many people out there that just will never like absinthe, which is their good right, but indeed you shouldn’t ask these people to give an opinion about the taste of new absinthe brands.
As for my own experience: As a Dutch person I’m used to the taste of aniseed/licorice/etc in all thinkable forms, and since I currently live in a town near Switzerland there is ample opportunity to try out absinthe. I have tasted several european brands in the mean time, and I tried Mansinthe as soon as I found out it was available.
I’d say it is a very accessible absinthe, not too much aniseed taste, also not too alcoholic in taste (*), and if I remember well also the thujon content is not very high compared to other absinthes. From the name alone I’d expected it to be much more aggressively tasting, but I guess it is better fitting the way it is, as this will probably be an absinthe that will be tried by many people (e.g. manson fans) that are unfamiliar to absinthe. If they will generally like absinthe or not is something even the best absinthe can’t change, but the people that do like absinthe will have a very good start into the world of absinthe with mansinthe, that’s for sure!
(*) that doesn’t mean there isn’t much alcohol in it, of course
“but more the fact that the blogger just wanted to make his prejudiced point”
Good point, PIM.
Im certainly no absinthe connoisseur, but I had some Mansinthe tonight and its was some fantastic stuff. I usually just buy a bottle of Green Fairy absinthe and be done with it, but after a glass of mansinthe, I was stunned at the colour it turns once water is added with sugar. Its a top drop. Congrats on the award and a great drink.
Another possible reason it didn’t test well with some bloggers is because you have assholes that do not like Manson, so no matter what would just say they hated it. I remember when Manson first announced his own absinthe would be put out, you had tons of bloggers saying “everything manson does sucks”…etc. It has nothing to do with the quality of anything he does, to some people they will never like anything he does because of their biases against him. As always though I hope he continues to do well with his art. I know I’ll be ordering a bottle of Mansinthe sometime soon. Im sure it is a hell of a lot better than the swill they sell at the state stores here (like lucid/absentee). Congrats to MM. Regards,
T.L.
I never realised there was anything more to absinthe beyond, well, getting blind drunk aha
But hey! Well done!
Love u Marilyn,unfortunately I am in Iran and I can`t taste amazing mansinthe,hope to do it as soon as possible! always on top man!
Saman
I am going to compare, as soon as someone gets me a bottle!
Does anyone know if the Mansinthe caries thujone in the US?
Sure it does - otherwise it wouldn’t be Absinthe!
Btw.: There is no such thing like a US version or Euro version of Mansinthe - it’s all the same!