I first heard of limoncello when I was at a small Italian restaurant (I mean the kind run by somewhat embittered old Italian women, but the food is fantastic), and they had an old advertisement for it. Then, I heard that Danny DeVito had some brand of it for which he made a catchy jingle that I can't remember. So, I guess it wasn't ultimately catchy enough. Either way, aside from it being yellow, and I know that lemons are used in the process of making it, I don't know what I'm in store for.
First sip is sweet lemons, and alcohol. The alcohol is not spoiling the show as you might expect. Instead, the alcohol is just as noticeable here if not more so than some moonshine's that I've had, but the lemon seems to deal with it well. It reminds me of the way that a good adult cream is capable of dealing with large amounts of alcohol smoothly. The moonshine reference may be apt, as I could easily be fooled into believing that this was a lemon-flavored moonshine. I guess the main differences are that this is a lot sweeter, and it has a much smoother texture.
Subsequent sips confirm significant sweetness, especially right up front. The sweetness will tend to trail off with the beverage, and lemons are hitting in the middle with a smidge of lemon tartness to round out the beverage itself. The alcohol hits the roof of the mouth pretty hard, but there's no burning going down the throat or warming sensation in the chest. I guess the paltry 26% ABV isn't enough to bring warmth down that far.
Bottom Line: I may have a different opinion by the end of the bottle, but this is pretty good.
3.5/5
