Taste of Absinthe

I picked this little bottle up awhile ago. It was one of those things, as usual, "Hey that is cool. I MUST HAVE IT!!! " It fit the description of the things I like. It is a bottle. It is small. It is old as dust. Even still has the contents. It is in perfect shape and even has a little bit of the label left on it. Good thing too, because without the piece of label I would have had no idea what the heck was in it. I still had a couple questions though. Who is L.E. Jung? and What the heck is Anise? (hey I didn't know)

Antique L.E. Jung New Orleans Anise Bottle 

After poking around the net a bit I found very little information. Apparently L.E. Jung & Wulff was / is a distiller in New Orleans. Earliest I found was founding in 1883 I think. I'm sure someone out there knows better then me on that. Other then saving space, I am not sure why this bottle only says L.E. Jung and does not include "& Wulff". Maybe it is from the beginning before Wulff got involved. Maybe it is just to save space or money. Heck, I don't know...

WTF is Anise?

Ok, next question...What the heck is Anise? Whatever it is, this bottle is full of it. Seems as though I don't spend as much time in the kitchen as I thought I did. Unbeknownst to me it is an extract of a anise plant. It is used as flavoring in cooking, or drinks. Apparently to those in the know, it is known for a strong Licorice taste. I was not in the know. Apparently. 

L.E. Jung New Orleans Anise Bottle

So. What kind of business did L.E. Jung have with little bottles of Anise down in the Big Easy? (The cool factor of this bottle is about to shoot way up.) Well it seems as though until it was banned (must have been too much fun) in 1912, L.E. Jung was the only documented distiller of true Absinthe in New Orleans. Anise is what was added for the flavor! So this should be from between 1883-1912. Must have been considered pretty special also to have it's own little embossed bottle. 

Probably not good anymore, but still has the cork in it. 

I learned a good bit about Absinthe while trying to find out about this bottle. I liked the shape when I first saw it but the curiosity of what it was is what made be buy it. Seems as though the large bottles of Absinthe from L.E. Jung are pretty rare and valuable. Even the Ojen  I imagine the bottle for the flavoring is just as rare if not more since I cannot find another example. Empty or full. The only other one close to this is an Ojen Bottle but they are a lot bigger as they were an end product. 

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