Oregon was my second guess. States that have a combination of favorable legislation, robust and diverse agriculture and a good Ag Extension system are, by far the states that are seeing the biggest growth in the market. In Oregon, there are actually currently 100 DSPs (distilled spirits plants). Some of those are just bottlers, but the vast majority are actual distilleries. Some, such as McMenamins, own multiple distilleries around the state and, therefore multiple licenses, but for the most part those are all discreet entities. That’s up from probably 10 or so just a decade ago.
Absinthe isn’t actually a Federal Class/Type designation, but falls under the “Distilled Spirits Specialty” type. What that means is that there is no protection of the name Absinthe (as opposed to Bourbon or Brandy) and therefore no obligation whatsoever to use Wormwood (artemisia absinthum; tagging @Bozobub & @Tevir_Elim back in here). However, if Wormwood is used, or, more specifically, any Thujone containing substances such as common Sage, a TTB lab analysis must determine that Thujone is below the “detectable” threshold of 10 ppm. This, as you point out, came about in 2007 (link here) due to the research of Ted Breaux and a few other absinthe enthusiasts testing authentic pre-ban absinthes (pre-1909) and proving that their selected samples fell under the detectable limit. The TTB didn’t actually change the law, but found that the evidence didn’t support a ban on the term Absinthe, which was actually just a holdover from the original US ban which had been superseded by language in the revision to the Pure Food & Drug act in… 1968, I think? Basically, the revision had dropped the language banning Absinthe per se and changed the wording to all Thujone-containing substances and set a threshold for declaring them “Thujone Free”.
So, to my original comment, when I said “real absinthe” I was referring to absinthes distilled in the proper style developed in the Val de Traverse area of France, being distilled with the proper primary herbs and then following with a hot maceration of different secondary herbs for coloration. Most absinthe, even from craft producers, are a simulacrum using extracts instead of whole herbs and artificial coloring. I have been a distiller and distilling consultant for over 10 years and I can unequivocally state that not only is Absinthe one of the most complex distillations, it is also one of the most difficult to pull off even remotely capably and is almost always done with shortcuts and a poor understanding of the process. There is really nothing else like it. Here is a decent list of authentic absinthes, but fairly limited. The ones listed, though, are largely from producers who came out of the online group that did all of the research and legwork to bring absinthe back out of the shadows.
Also, it does not get you high or crazy or make you hallucinate in any way. Never did.
