The Val de Travers is a district in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel, stretching from Lake Neuenburg across the Jura to the French border. Like many places in Switzerland, it is known for its watchmaking, and more importantly for being the birthplace of the green fairy!

The first ever commercial absinthe distillery was built in the Val de Travers town of Couvet in 1798. With the Swiss absinthe ban of 1910 production was forced underground, these clandestine producers opted for a clearabsinthe in order to keep the spirit easy to conceal from the authorities.

Today, despite being once again legal much clandestine production remains - along with many other high quality commercial distillations, a fine example being the highly decorated La Fée XS Suisse.

Above: La Fée XS Suisse is distilled in small batches in the Val de Travers