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Type: Spirits/Liqueur
Name: Limoncello of Sorrento
Price: Gift
Made: Sorrento, Italy
Alc/Vol: 30%

A friend of mine came back from a recent trip to Italy and brought back a little surprise for me. It was a little thin bottle with a long slender neck, delicate almost like a vase for the single most dainty flower that ever was. Written over the bottle was the word Sorrento and there was a little tag that called it ‘Il Limoncello.’ I was intrigued from the very beginning needless to say by this bright yellow drink I held in my paws.

I was told it was a dessert drink of sorts, being lemon filled and what I figured to be sweet I was sure to place it in the fridge once I got home. I didn’t ask how exactly to drink it, I just assumed that it was taken in shot form. More than likely served in shot sized glasses but sipped since it was a sweet drink. From what I could gather, I was generally right in my assumptions, although it is not always drunk cold.

The internet, abundant in many things, does not lack in limoncello home recipes. So I decided to investigate what exactly this was made of so I knew what to expect when I tried it. Most of the home-made recipes call for Everclear, sugar, limes and water, and that is pretty much what it tastes like. However, some substitutions can be made with your choice of alcohol. I’ve seen strong, 100 proof, vodka or grappa, an Italian brandy style drink traditionally made from the stems and seeds of grapes.

Enough of the history and ingredients, how about the taste? It was overly sweet and  syrupy. Not necessarily sour, just lemony to the 10th power. I’m unsure if I’m suppose to mix this with something because it taste like either a lemon drop shot with Everclear or some concentrate mix form. Although the syrupy nature of this drink may be too thick for a cocktail.

The taste grew on me, the first was more of a shock than anything else I didn’t expect such a strong alcohol presence compared to the sweet lemony taste that was shared with this drink. It was good but I’m not sure if I could down a whole bottle of this, even if it is mini. I try to imagine myself enjoying a meal close to the source of where this is made and sipping down limoncello afterwards with friends. After some red wines this may be a good change in drink, after whites I may be over sweetened a bit. I guess I’ll never really know until I go there and try it first hand. I give this drink a 3, it is an interesting lemon candied liqueur that was a bit much but yet I kept sipping it and enjoying its tangy flavor.

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