The Five Best Bottles of Absinthe

Imagine if suddenly you could walk into your local Walgreens, plunk down a couple of twenties, and walk out with a gram of pink Peruvian flake. That, or something very much like it, happened last year when two brands of absinthe, the French Lucid and the Swiss Kübler, were approved for sale in the U. S. Were talking real, honest-to-Satan absinthe, not some lame-ass substitute. Now, the great green elixir of darkness -- basically high-proof neutral spirits flavored with wormwood, anise, and pungent herbs -- has been illegal in the U. S. since 1912, and that hasnt changed.

So what gives? Its a matter of chemistry. The government never banned absinthe itself but rather thujone, the wormwood-derived compound that supposedly gives the stuff its mind-bending edge. However, modern chemical analysis shows that thujone survives distilling in quantities so small they are actually legal. This is something of a double-edged sword: That same analysis also shows that the old brands that spawned absinthes dark legend didnt have all that much thujone, either -- all along it was just really strong, herb-flavored booze. Plus, half the excitement of absinthe was the fact that it was contraband. Now anyone can get it.

Well, okay. Glamour is a big part of why we drink what we drink. But so is taste, and a good absinthe has that in spades -- provided you handle it right. Its designed, you see, as a sort of cocktail concentrate: hence the strong herbal notes and the high proof (traditionally, between 120 and 140). So you dont want to drink this stuff in shots. But mixed with a lot of cold water and a little sugar, it makes for a refreshing drink with a complex, herbal fragrance (think mountain meadow). One or two and theres no way youll cut your ear off. But these things go down easy, and if you overdo it, all bets are off.

The Five Best Absinthes

1. Versinthe ($55) The only one of these in which the anise dominates, and at 90, the lowest in proof, this is nevertheless a good training-wheels absinthe.

2. Mansinthe ($65) Marilyn Manson not only has impeccable taste in women, hes a fine judge of absinthe, too -- as this, made in Switzerland to his taste, demonstrates.

3. St. George Absinthe Verte ($75) A nontraditional blend of herbs makes this, the only domestic absinthe on our list, something of an acquired taste. Worth checking out, anyway.

4. Top pick: Vieux Pontarlier ($65) An absolutely classic French absinthe. As good as it gets.

5. Pernod Absinthe, shown at top ($65) Pernod was the leading brand of absinthe before the ban. Now its back, and its clean, balanced, and tasty.