It smells like chicken with turmeric, salt, black pepper, and fennel. Frankly, it smells like an enjoyable dinner. The fennel grows the more I smell it and sweet anise come sour too. The flavor is very much like black licorice but with a bit of an earthy twist. The drink is quite numbing too. It's very odd. That hint of meatiness does remain, though it is often overpowered by other herbal flavors. This is a lot less subtle and complex than the Mata Hari and the numbing element makes it less pleasant to drink. It isn't like the numbing element dulls the harshness since it isn't very harsh to begin with. It amore bitter than I would like. It does have Jagermeister and fernet flavors, but the earthy notes and numbing element make it a lot less like those than Mata Hari is. The long finish is bitter, earthy, and numbing. Not great. This is a passable Absinthe, but it isn't all that great. Adding water makes the flavor more herbal and bitter rather than improving it. That's a real disappointment. The water also brings out the spice and dryness much more than I would like. Whereas Mata Hari arguably gets better with water, this drink gets worse. In the end, this isn't very drinkable, but it does pack a punch.