Pernod Fils
Pernod Fils (French pronunciation: [pɛʁnoˈfis]) was the most popular brand of absinthe throughout the 19th century until it was banned in 1915. During the Belle Époque, the Pernod Fils name became synonymous with absinthe, and the brand represented the de facto standard of quality by which all others were judged.
The brand's roots can be traced as far back as the 1790s. According to legend, it was during this time in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, that Dr. Pierre Ordinaire created a distilled patent medicine that would represent the earliest origins of the drink. The recipe then came into the hands of Henri Louis Pernod through the means of a business deal, and in 1797, he and Daniel Henri Dubied opened the first absinthe distillery in Couvet, Switzerland.
Pernod later built a larger distillery in Pontarlier, France, in 1805. This set the stage that would cause the sleepy community of Pontarlier to eventually emerge as the home of twenty-eight commercial absinthe distilleries, and the world's center of absinthe production.
The popularity of the Pernod Fils brand surged in the decades that followed, its impressive market share spawning a string of knock-offs and imitators with deceptive brand names such as "Pernot", "Parrot" and "Pierrot", among others. In 1901, the original distillery was almost completely destroyed by fire. A new, larger and more modern distillery was built in its place. In its heyday, the Pernod Fils distillery was producing as much as 30,000 liters of absinthe per day, and was exporting its product around the world.
By 1910, France's rate of absinthe consumption had topped some 36 million liters per year. With a temperance movement growing around the world, many prominent French politicians and scientists turned their interest to France's 'national drink'.
Like most quality absinthes, Pernod Fils was produced by macerating herbs, including wormwood, fennel, melissa and anise in a neutral spirit of agricultural origin (usually wine) in a copper alembic where the mixture was then distilled, to produce a transparent liquor. Part of the distillate was then steeped with additional herbs, such as hyssop and petite wormwood, to produce a green-colored fraction that was then filtered and reunited with the main part. The coloration process was done primarily to impart additional flavor and aroma to the absinthe, but the ensuing light olive tint also had the added benefit of enhancing its visual appeal. The colored distillate was then reduced in strength, with the 68% ABV product representing the most popular version of the brand. The predominant flavor in Pernod Fils, like all absinthes, was primarily anise - a flavor commonly misidentified by anglophones as "licorice".
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