What Is the Best Brand of Limoncello? I Tasted Them All to Find Out.

Commercial Limoncello Reviews

In this section I’ve bought and reviewed some of the widely available commercial limoncello products on the market. The prices varied a little but $20 for a 750ml bottle was pretty standard. I used one of my own batches as a reference batch for comparison. The batch I used was #13 (Lemon with a mint leaf) because it was a pretty good and very neutral batch on the flavor graph. I tasted it in between each of the commercial brands.

Not All Brands Are Equal

One of the biggest surprises was how different all the batches were from each other. The colors varied a lot and the flavors varied a lot. Some of this was surely due to differences in processing and possibly age, but there were also obvious differences in philosophy of how limoncello should taste. All the commercial brands tasted like they were as fresh and therefore as refreshing as my own batch. I think sitting on the shelf and making the journey from Italy is an impediment to flavor.

I like my own batches better, but then again they are customized to my palate. I did notice that my batches are on the stronger side, not as strong as the Petrone but probably stronger than the others. Though I sometimes criticize my own limoncello for having off flavors, it’s really nothing compared to this gang. There were very potent and wide-ranging off flavors in this group, a characteristic I chalk up to mass production. In sum, I found no acceptable substitute for making your own limoncello, but Luxardo (though heavy) was the closest thing I found to decent limoncello at the liquor store.

Update

UPDATE: After a lot of tastings, I can say that there are really two distinct tiers of limoncello available on the market. There are the artisanal makers (Fabrizia, Ventura, and Rometti, that I know of so far) and the big commercial brands, which is everything else I’ve tried. The only big commercial brand I ever really liked was Danny DeVito and that is out of production now. If you can find a bottle from an artisanal producer, do it. They are just better.

Commercial Limoncello Reviews

Reviews of Limoncello Brands

Caravella Limoncello Review

Luxardo Limoncello Review

Mezzaluna Limoncello Review

Pallini Limoncello Review

Petrone Limoncello Review

Danny DeVito Limoncello Review

Ventura Limoncello Review

Sogno di Sorrento Limoncello Review

Rometti Limoncello Review

Fabrizia Limoncello Review

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(4) comments

Podcast #31 - Limoncello: A Drink of a Different Color - Super Brewers December 31, 2014

[…] has an extensive collection of commercial limoncello reviews. If you want to learn about which brands to try, his reviews are a great starting […]

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Lemonhead July 20, 2018

Was wondering what you think of the following limoncellos and where they would fall on your graph…
Il Gusto di Amalfi Limoncello
Profumi della Costiera “Daniele Mansi” Ravello Costa d’Amalfi
Gioia Luisa Limoncello

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Ben July 22, 2018

I’ve never seen any of those in stores, but if I can procure them I’ll gladly graph them for you.

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Karen Stucky August 1, 2019

Thank you very much for this review. I am looking forward to trying these.

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