Today, we’ll introduce a German distillery to you, that is renowned for their excellent, high quality absinthes. At first focused on just fruit brandies and liqueurs, a small absinthe contest had a significant impact on the direction the distillery was going to. Learn all about the history of the Eichelberger Distillery now.

We love historic photographs of people with absinthe! Here is a man holding a bottle of absinthe, probably around 1900.

You have certainly already noticed that there are various ways of spelling our favorite spirit from the Val-de-Travers (a small region in Switzerland where absinthe was first ‘discovered’).  Absinthe, absinth, absynthe, absenta…which of these spellings then captures the real spirit of absinthe?!  The following explanations shine some light on the various spellings of absinthe.

Absinthe is French for wormwood (artemisia absinthium),

The famous newspaper report in Le Matin of 15th June 1907, describing the previous day’s anti-absinthe rally at the Trocadero.

Hardly any other drink in the world has had such a tumultuous history as Absinthe.  Once considered to be a mystical drink with legendary medicinal powers, the green fairy’s popularity – called so lovingly by Absinthe’s many consumers – slowly developed until it became the national drink of the French by the 19th century.  But the drink’s decline soon ensued after its glorious reign.  Absinthe was forbidden in most European countries, as well as the USA, between 1910 and 1915.  With the law forbidding transport of absinthe (RGBl. I S. 257) that came into passing on April 27, 1923, the prohibition of absinthe in Germany and Austria then followed suit.

Oak barrel aged absinthes have been around for a while, and more and more distillers are experimenting with their absinthes recently. You have probably heard about La Clandestine VSO Barrique, a version of the La Clandestine Absinthe that aged in a barrel for six years.

Recently, the producers of Absinthe Valkyria have announced that they are experimenting with a barrel-aged version of their absinthe. There are other distillers doing the same

Less well know than Gantner’s poster for the prohibition of absinthe in Switzerland, is this companion lithograph lamenting the final prohibition of absinthe in France 5 years later, by ministerial decree of 7th January 1915. In the centre,

Dear friends, we were invited to the Green Velvet Launch Party at Dante in Zurich last week.

Green Velvet VAL. 340 – Fée Verte and Green Velvet VAL. 275 – La Bleue

Today, we would like to introduce the Sankta Annas Bränneri AB to you. A refreshingly young distillery, and the first legal absinthe distillery in Sweden.