North Shore’s Sirène Absinthe

The lovechild of Derek and Sonja Kassebaum, North Shore Distillery in Chicago, has plans to release its new absinthe Sirène next week for those of you who live in and around the Windy City. I used to be able to get my hands on North Shore products when living near Chicago about a year ago, but nowadays, I have to settle for my few remaining ounces of their Distiller’s Gin No. 6. I knew I was going to miss out on more North Shore products when I moved away, but their absinthe plans seems to have been classified until just recently. This absinthe will make North Shore the second domestic absinthe produced since shifts in absinthe regulations occurred. The first was St. George Spirits‘ Absinthe Verte, and two other American distilleries, House Spirits and Integrity Spirits, both from Oregon, plan to release an Absinthe later this year.

North Shore’s absinthe appears to have been developed in two styles, a verte and a blanche. Verte absinthes are the more traditional bolder, green absinthes, while blanches are usually white and lighter in flavor. Here’s what North Shore had to say about the upcoming release:

“We take a very traditional approach to creating Sirène. We use the traditional trinity of absinthe ingredients along with a proprietary blend of additional herbs and spices to create Sirène’s richness and complexity. The process requires a significant amount of time, preparation and botanicals, but the result is worth the effort.”

This sounds like there is some potential here. If you can’t get your hands on any North Shore products yourself, the very least you can do is check out Sonja’s blog, Thinking of Drinking. For more information on the green fairy, check Drink Dogma’s posts on absinthe or visit The Wormwood Society.