Absinthe La Valote Martin Sàrl

A love for a product, a story, a region: this is the secret of La Valote Martin absinthe, handcrafted in Couvet, Val-de-Travers (Switzerland). A "blue" absinthe with a beautiful bitterness, its aroma is composed of ten plants (grand and petite wormwood, lemon balm, hyssop, peppermint), grown primarily in the region's fields. It was there, in the 1760s, that the "green fairy" was born. Between the cultivation of the plants, their drying and distillation, absinthe thus contributed to the development of the valley. Until, in 1910, struck by a ban voted two years earlier by the Swiss people, it was forced underground. A myth was soon born, and dozens of clandestine distillers would perpetuate it throughout the 20th century; Francis Martin was one of them. When absinthe became legal again in March 2005, he decided to produce it legally, driven by the desire to share his passion for the "green fairy" and to keep its distillation in its "birthplace." His recipe hasn't changed. It's still just as popular with his customers, the older ones never failing to tell him that its taste reminds them of the absinthe of their youth. In 2014, his son Philippe Martin took over the distillery and is preparing to perpetuate this family tradition. In addition, La Valote Martin places particular priority on short supply chains, Swiss alcohol, plants from Val-de-Travers, local packaging, as well as gift boxes made in a sheltered workshop in Val-de-Travers.