Distiller Lance Winters considers absinthe the pinnacle of the distiller’s art form. Why? Because creating a beautiful absinthe means taking a number of loud botanical ingredients and making them sing in harmony.

For us, it didn’t happen overnight.

While the U.S. ban was still in place, it was illegal to sell absinthe, but not to distill it. Commercial viability has never been what motivates us, so needless to say, we distilled a lot of absinthe during that period. In fact, it took Lance about 11 years to perfect his absinthe formula. When the American ban was overturned in 2007, we were ready.

There’s a lot of hype and mystery surrounding absinthe, but the process itself isn’t really all that esoteric. The real art is in finding just the right ingredients and creating a symphony of flavor.

For us, that means infusing brandy with the unholy trinity of wormwood, fennel, and star anise. We then distill this infusion on our 1,500-liter copper pot still. After that, we perform a secondary infusion of mint, tarragon, opal basil, lemon balm, hyssop, and stinging nettles.

The secondary infusion is what gives absinthe color; just after the secondary infusion, our absinthe is an intense emerald green. By the time we bottle it and the bottle reaches you, the absinthe will have turned its characteristic feuille morte (dead leaf) hue due to chlorophyll from all the botanicals breaking down with time and exposure to light.