MYSTIQUE-LACED ABSINTHE, LONG OUTLAWED, COMING TO B.C.

The Exotic Liqueur Has 'Underground Appeal'

Absinthe, the emerald-green, 140-proof liqueur banned throughout North
America for most of the last century, will soon be for sale in B.C.

"Sometime in the next few months, it will be available," Kate Pasieka,
a spokeswoman with the province's liquor distribution branch, said
Tuesday.

The licorice-flavoured drink has long been a favourite of artists
throughout history -- everyone from Oscar Wilde to Pablo Picasso.

But North American liquor control boards have done their best to keep
it away from consumers since the early 1900s.

The concern is not just its high alcohol content, though absinthe is
nearly twice as potent as most spirits on the market.

Rather, liquor regulators have been troubled by the presence in
absinthe of "thujone" -- a psychoactive product much like marijuana
derived from the oil of the wormwood plant.

The brand of absinthe that will be available in this province --
Hill's Absinthe from the Czech Republic -- has a relatively low
content of thujone, according to tests done in Ontario at B.C.'s
request, Pasieka said.

"For this particular brand, the level of thujone was determined by . .
. the testing lab at the [liquor control board] in Ontario to not pose
any health concerns," Pasieka said.

But for some absinthe fanatics, that lack of thujone may be a problem.
Many liqueur connoisseurs in Britain, where absinthe has long been
available, deride the low-thujone Hill's brand.

It is not clear whether B.C. will become the first province to have
the drink available. Some provinces -- like Manitoba -- have rejected
recent applications to approve absinthe, Pasieka said. Ontario is
considering approving a different brand, but has not yet put the
product on its shelves.

While absinthe is on the cusp of approval in this province, you won't
be able to just walk into the local liquor store and pick up a bottle.

It will only be available for sale through special orders of 12-bottle
cases, which will cost a whopping $960.

Those wanting just a taste, however, will still be able to get it at
numerous clubs and restaurants.

Many club managers and restaurateurs are anxious to pour the tonic for
their customers.

"There's a sense of mystery about absinthe, and I think the product
will be welcomed by people who are looking for something with an
underground appeal," says Adrienne Noble, promotions manager at the
Chameleon. She recently tried it herself and was struck by its
potency. "It's an extremely strong drink, but there's a clarity to the
buzz."

The list of restaurants set to stock the drink includes some of the
city's most illustrious, spots such as Lumiere, where, says maitre'd
Mark Steenge, a buzz about absinthe's return is already beginning to
grow.

The arrival of the drink in B.C. has been spearheaded by Vladimir
Hill, a local man with family ties to Hill's Distillery in the Czech
Republic, located in the area formerly known as Bohemia.

"It took close to a year get the green light," says Hill. "We were
asked to remove a food dye that isn't permitted here, but that was the
biggest challenge."

Hill, who has lived in Canada for more than 30 years, has become a
North American spokesperson for the drink. He recently travelled to
Washington, D.C., to promote absinthe at a party at the Czech embassy.
Although absinthe is still prohibited in the U.S., dignitaries were
able to sample his family recipe because the Czech embassy is
considered foreign soil. Even Hillary Clinton was reputed to have indulged.

Before absinthe was outlawed, the emerald green elixir was a mainstay
of the bohemian crowd. Indeed, for certain Impressionists, a shot was
as essential as the paintbrush and canvas.

Nineteenth century French artists Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and Paul
Gauguin, to name a few, all embraced the drink that was said to be
both an aphrodisiac and a mild hallucinogen.

Vincent van Gogh, who suffered from numerous disorders, was rumoured
to be in an absinthe-altered state when he cut off his ear. Symbolist
painter Gustave Moreau once remarked that Toulouse-Lautrec's work was
"entirely painted in absinthe," while American author Ernest Hemingway
liked to perform knife tricks while under its influence.

Absinthe reached its peak during the 1880s, when it was consumed with
such zeal that the daily Parisian cocktail hour was affectionately
renamed l'heure verte. Around that time, it was exported to New
Orleans, where it is said to have sparked further outbreaks of
creative expression.

Absinthe's seductive allure can be attributed to a heady mix of
ingredients. Herbal extracts of chlorophyll, coriander, mint, lemon
balm and aniseed are blended with 70-per-cent alcohol.

Forms of absinthe have been around since ancient Greek and Roman
times, but it was invented for modern-day consumption in 1797, when
Pierre Ordinaire created the concoction as an all-purpose remedy. A
few years later, Henri-Louis Pernod founded an absinthe distillery in
Switzerland and its popularity intensified.

Early in the 20th century, however, questions were raised about the
drink.

In 1905, Jean Lanfray of Vaud, Switzerland, went on a drinking binge
that ended with the murder of his family.

Although he guzzled numerous drinks that fateful evening, the public
fixated on the two glasses of absinthe he had downed, and his deed
became known as the absinthe murder.

A syndrome called absinthism was coined, and health officials
cautioned that continued use could lead to addiction, epileptic
attacks, delirium and hallucinations.

On July 25, 1912, the drink was banned in the United States. France
and many other countries in Europe followed suit shortly afterward.

While not formally banned in Canada, provincial regulators have
refused to approve absinthe with high concentrations of thujone.

Absinthe was never banned in Britain, where in recent years it has
become fashionable with London clubgoers.

Hill's, the brand that will be available soon in B.C., already sells
its product online at bohemiabsinthe.com.

"The first stage is like ordinary drinking," Wilde once said of
drinking absinthe. "The second when you begin to see monstrous and
cruel things. But if you can persevere you will enter in upon the
third stage where you see things that you want to see -- wonderful,
curious things."