The OG of absinthe?

Now that the FDA is allowing absinthes with low thujone levels to be sold, the fact that the once-banned high-alcohol drink is now legal is old news. Though a full-on product war may not have begun yet, the brand competition is heating up significantly in the States. Monday night, Kübler, a Swiss made absinthe launched in Chicago with an invite-only party at Crimson Lounge, featured body-painted absinthe fairies and costumed turn-of-the-century newsboys—bearing the news about the U.S. availability of the first Swiss-made absinthe in 100 years, naturally. Altamar Brands, LLC, which is importing the spirit, has an office in River North, yet Chicago is getting Kübler a couple months after New York, San Fran, Vegas and LA got theirs.

Every absinthe needs a story, and Kübler has a good tale behind it. According to its literature, absinthe itself was originally invented in the Val-de-Travers area of Switzerland around 1740 by a Swiss doctor for his patients (though most sources cite a French doctor, Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, who was living in Switzerland). Since 2004, Kübler has been made in Val-de-Travers at Blackmint Distillerie by Yves Kübler using his grandfather's recipe. But Kübler's Peter Karl tells me that the drink has been in production without interruption since the 1860s. With the distillery located, as he said, in "the asshole of Switzerland," it didn't get much attention when it turned to making Pastis during the years of prohibition, and kept making small batches of absinthe on the down-low. This jibes with this 2004 New York Times report on Switzerland's underground absinthe makers going legit. Kübler will stay small, Karl says. It might be slightly bigger than "two guys and a donkey," but it  plans to produce only about 200,000 bottles a year.

Whatever the lore behind it, Kübler (53% ABV), compared to the recently launched French-American lucid, is a bit smoother at first sip. Its formula includes locally-grown wormwood, coriander, mint, anise and fennel and less of the green herbs of traditional absinthe, and is therefore clear. When made in a drip with ice cold water and a sugar cube, the resulting louche comes out white and cloudy, rather than opalescent. No green fairy then. As for narcotic effects, I had a very clear and social, if brief, night out after tasting a Kübler and prosecco cocktail. While at the absinthe party however, I left my car parked with the hazard lights on for no apparent reason. Except perhaps, to let the green fairies know just where to find me.

Photo: Steven E. Gross