Pernods
Pernod Fils was the most popular brand of absinthe prior to 1915, the year absinthe was banned throughout most of Europe. The predominant flavor in Pernod Fils, like all absinthe, was anise, which has a noticeable liquorice taste.
1792 According to legend, it was in this year in Neuchâtel, Switzerland that Dr. Pierre Ordinaire produced a wormwood liqueur made with anise, melissa, and chamomile.
1797 'Major Dubied of Couvet, Switzerland received the recipe for the absinthe drink, and set up production of the drink with his son, Marcellin, and son-in-law Henri Louis Pernod.
1805 Another distillery was opened in Pontarlier, France, to avoid paying excise duty. This then set the tone that caused Pontarlier to forever be one of Europe's most famous absinthe towns. Soon after the plant's opening in Pontarlier, a string of knock-off absinthe brands appeared, including Pernot, Armand Guy, Oxygénée, and Terminus, among others.
1800s France's rate of absinthe consumption had topped 13 million liters of absinthe per year. Dubied went back to Couvet, and the company Dubied Pere etc Fils passed to a cousin.
Louis Pernod, the youngest of Pernod's sons, ran the Pernod Fils company in Pontarlier, and increased the company's production.
1901 A fire broke out at the factory, destroying the original distillery. A new, bigger distillery was built in its place. In its prime, the absinthe distillery was producing as much as 30,000 liters of absinthe per day.
1915 Although absinthe was banned in France, they opened new distilleries in Spain, where absinthe had never been formally banned.
- 1950s Pernod Fils closed their Spanish distilleries, but they began to produce what is known as pastis, which is an absinthe-like liquor (albeit with a different herb mix and production process), but without the wormwood. They did this with some success, leaving us with the modern French Pernod-Ricard company.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Wikipedia
- Trademarked. A History of Well-Known Brands - from Aertex to Wright's Coal Tar by David Newton. Pub: Sutton Publishing 2008 ISBN 978-0-7509-4590-5