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Archive Spirits is a joint venture between two passionate absintheurs, David
Nathan-Maister of Oxygenee, and Peter Schaf, and is dedicated to producing small runs
of meticulously hand-crafted absinthes based on the very earliest known recipes, usually
from unpublished manuscript sources.
Our first product, the Roquette 1797 is a complex, unusual and spicy absinthe, based
directly on a late 18th century manuscript recipe. It represents the first serious attempt
in the modern era to recreate an absinthe from the very birth of La Fee Verte, when the
drink straddled the line between liquor and potion, when it was as much magical and
mysterious elixir as fashionable aperitif.
The 1797 contains the classic trinity of anise, fennel and grande wormwood, together
with several other herbs, some of which will be found in no other commercially available
absinthe. The absinthe is batch distilled in Pontarlier in an antique alambic, and is
available in only very limited quantities.
Nathan-Maister of Oxygenee, and Peter Schaf, and is dedicated to producing small runs
of meticulously hand-crafted absinthes based on the very earliest known recipes, usually
from unpublished manuscript sources.
Our first product, the Roquette 1797 is a complex, unusual and spicy absinthe, based
directly on a late 18th century manuscript recipe. It represents the first serious attempt
in the modern era to recreate an absinthe from the very birth of La Fee Verte, when the
drink straddled the line between liquor and potion, when it was as much magical and
mysterious elixir as fashionable aperitif.
The 1797 contains the classic trinity of anise, fennel and grande wormwood, together
with several other herbs, some of which will be found in no other commercially available
absinthe. The absinthe is batch distilled in Pontarlier in an antique alambic, and is
available in only very limited quantities.
| This website and all its contents Copyright 2002- 2008 Oxygenee Ltd. No pictures or text may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission of the site owner. |
The word "Roquette" doesn't, as you might first expect, refer to the speed of the horse, it
refers to rocket, the salad green, which grows wild in the region, and on which the horse
presumably liked to graze. The medicinal use of rocket at the time was for the treatment of
impotence, so the modern equivalent might be to say Dr Ordinaire rode around on his
horse "Viagra"...
Further releases in the Roquette range are in the pipeline, including a "1731", an "1804",
and a "1912", all based on original unpublished manuscripts.
refers to rocket, the salad green, which grows wild in the region, and on which the horse
presumably liked to graze. The medicinal use of rocket at the time was for the treatment of
impotence, so the modern equivalent might be to say Dr Ordinaire rode around on his
horse "Viagra"...
Further releases in the Roquette range are in the pipeline, including a "1731", an "1804",
and a "1912", all based on original unpublished manuscripts.
An overhead photo of the alambics in which the 1797 is distilled. In the
middle are the rectifying balls, with the twin condenser coils in their water
tank visible below.
middle are the rectifying balls, with the twin condenser coils in their water
tank visible below.
The grande wormwood used in Roquette is especially
grown for Archive Spirits just outside Pontarlier.
grown for Archive Spirits just outside Pontarlier.
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The "1797" indicates the date of the manuscript
recipe we've used, and "Roquette" pays tribute to
the name of the faithful horse on which Dr
Ordinaire - the legendary father of absinthe - rode
around the Val deTravers. We could hardly call
the absinthe after the good doctor himself -
"Absinthe Ordinaire" just wouldn't have been
appropriate for such an extra-ordinaire absinthe...
recipe we've used, and "Roquette" pays tribute to
the name of the faithful horse on which Dr
Ordinaire - the legendary father of absinthe - rode
around the Val deTravers. We could hardly call
the absinthe after the good doctor himself -
"Absinthe Ordinaire" just wouldn't have been
appropriate for such an extra-ordinaire absinthe...
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