With Velier, we were not only the first to import La Fee into Italy, but also the ones who enabled the return of absinthe to our market, where an old law prohibiting its sale was still in effect. It was George Rowley who relaunched absinthe worldwide by creating the La Fee brand. What we did was import his absinthe, knowing full well that it would be confiscated. However, European Union regulations established the legality of absinthe below certain limits of thujone content. So, at that point, we filed an appeal, submitting the documentation and winning the case, thus clearing the import and distribution of absinthe in Italy.

HISTORY

Owned by George Rowley, La Fée is one of the most renowned absinthe distilleries in Europe. Following the product's enormous popularity between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and its subsequent ban in 1915, George succeeded in obtaining permission from the British government to resume absinthe production in 1998, resulting in a historic ruling that allowed its legal sale throughout the European Union. The distillery offers various styles of absinthe, from French to Swiss, all inspired by the techniques used in the past, thanks to the collaboration with Marie-Claude Delahaye, a world-renowned absinthe expert.

PRODUCTION METHOD

Absinthe is a highly alcoholic distilled spirit derived from herbs. Its key ingredient is Artemisia absinthium. The process that gives absinthe its green color is traditionally achieved by macerating the herbs in the spirit—extracting chlorophyll from the herbs to achieve the desired depth of color. Green absinthe turns a milky, opalescent green/yellow (known as louche) when mixed with water and is historically referred to as "La Fée Verte" ["The Green Fairy"].

Country: UK

Founded: 1998

Distributed by Velier since: 2003

La Fée

FOCUS

Made famous by the praise of great artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Baudelaire, traditional French absinthe has always been enjoyed by slowly adding 4-6 parts ice water through sugar, placed on an absinthe spoon. Many Parisian bars used fountains to drip the water.