Absinthe, Kubler [Strapped]

• Blanche Absinthe distilled by fourth-generation master distiller Yves Kübler at Blackmint SA Distillery in Môtiers, Val-de-Travers, Switzerland • 9 botanicals are macerated in neutral wheat spirit then distilled in a Holstein copper pot still; the majority of botanicals are sourced from the Val-de-Travers • Botanicals include grand wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), sweet fennel, green anise, peppermint, star anise, hyssop, lemon balm, coriander, and petite wormwood (Artemisia pontica) • Proofed with alpine spring water • Bewitching waves of candied anise and fresh fennel on the nose make good with a lush palate of sweet licorice, lemon, and mint. The dry finish provides echoes of gentle star anise and earthy licorice root. • 53% ABV Kübler still makes this clear, Blanche absinthe using the family’s original 1863 recipe. A quintessential example of classic Swiss absinthe made in the category’s undisputed birthplace, it is traditionally enjoyed as an apéritif, diluted with 3–5 parts chilled water. The mixture creates the textbook louche—an opalescent, blue-tinted cloudiness—that lends this Swiss style of absinthe its other moniker, La Bleue.