Absinthe Bovet Le Chat is made by the La Valote distillery in the Val-de-Travers, the birthplace of Absinthe (read more about Absinthe's origins in our Blog post). The distillery was granted a license to produce Absinthes in April 2005, a few weeks after Absinthe was re-licensed in Switzerland. The business was run by Willy Bovet, Lucien Fornoni and Francis Martin, who each produced their own Absinthes there.
The "Le Chat" is a classic Swiss La Bleue with an aromatic, smooth, slightly sweet taste, dominated by licorice and wormwood aromas. You serve it with ice-cold water, but without additional sugar. The majority of the herbs used in this Absinthe come directly from the Val-de-Travers. Some were even from the garden of Willy Bovet himself. The image on the label is a variation of one of the most famous Absinthe advertisements of the turn of the century for the brand Absinthe Bourgeois.
Moonshine production (Clandestine) in Switzerland during Absinthe prohibition
Willy Bovet was a famous moonshiner in Val-de-Travers. He became famous for making illegally produced Absinthe. During the prohibition of Absinthe in Switzerland in the early 1900s, the production and sale of Absinthe was banned. But many people in the valley continued to produce Absinthe illegally, and Willy Bovet was one of the most famous and successful moonshiners in the region. The business was kept secret, to purchase Absinthe, it required a password. Willy Bovet once commented in a newspaper interview: "If you had asked me about Absinthe on the phone, I would have answered that I don't make any. But if you had asked for two chickens and three rabbits, I would have said you could come over.
Production of Absinthe in Switzerland was legalized in the 2000s. Willy Bovet passed away in 2018. But his heritage remains. His daughter Françoise Bovet scrupulously reproduces his recipes, in the same still that he used during the clandestine period, and continues the tradition of distilling absinthe in Val-de-Travers. Many people visit the region to experience the traditional way of making Absinthe, because the origins of Absinthe lie in this fertile valley on the border with France.
