In fact the original Absinthe was first distilled in Switzerland (Val de Travers) in the 18th century but forbidden in 1908 and only re-allowed in 2005. During the ban many other distilleries produced absinth-like ersatz-stuff named "Pastis" or "Ricard" but while the real absinthe contained anise and thuja all the substitutes and also the now legal "absinthe" just contain anise. Well, and alcohol of course; but no thuja. Only some private distilleries were always distilling the stuff with real thuja which was said to blind heavy drinkers and drive them crazy. Nowadays it's just the price of absinthe that will drive you crazy and it's not even KULT over here anymore. So don't let them fool you when they sell you some bottles named "absinthe" or even "absinto".
Read here if you don't know about thuja: [
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Mmmh.