Giffard Banane du Brésil

I would rank Giffard Banane du Bresil as the second-best banana liqueur out there (only behind Tempus Fugit). It's very popular in cocktail recipes and I haven't found one where it hasn't elevated the drink. The price is a touch high, but appropriate for the quality. The nose is heavy on ripe banana and caramel. The palate continues with the banana notes, thinking green bananas with a good amount of sweetness. It is much thinner than Tempus Fugit. The finish is quick, with no burn and some vanilla notes. As with the Tempus Fugit, you can't go wrong with this banana liqueur. Both are excellent in cocktails; the only real difference is neat the Tempus Fugit is a bit better and richer. It's also a touch more expensive, so if you want a slightly cheaper option, but one that still excels, especially in cocktails, this is a solid choice.

Less intense than Tempus Fugit, but no less a star. This one is less intense, cleaner, and more refined. Less sweet, too. Still quite sweet, just not quite as rich and pronounced. Really nice with cognac.

Rating: 19/23 N: My initial impression is that it smells just like banana Laffy Taffy. Smelling it a bit more though reveals substantial additional sophistication. There's a drier quality with some green banana coming out alongside apple, mango, and orange too. It's a pretty nice nose, though you do have to like banana and the complexity only goes so far. P: Sugary syrup quality pervades this. There's plenty of banana flavor, but also a nice greenness and quite a bit of orange. A bit of caramel heading in the direction of brulee comes through at times too. This is a surprisingly enjoyable palate that is actually kind of sippable on its own. I wonder what kind of drink it should go in. F: The banana lingers. The flavor turns more bitter and oddly a tad more floral, but it doesn't become unpleasant. - Conclusion - This is really good. I'm looking at at least a 15 and it might go as high as a 19, with the faint chance of a 20. OK, this is really throwing me for a loop. It has a bit of Laffy Taffy with a bit a of natural banana flavor. It's sort of like a substantially better version of banana Laffy Taffy. Initially, my impression was that this might be worthy of a 19 neat, but it was very hard to tell. I then tried it with spirits and was kind of disappointed, even when mixing it with light rum. It clicked for me with a few ones, like with some tequilas. Where this really shines though is (unsurprisingly) in tiki drinks. I see lots of potential here. Sure, it's not always great, but the core flavor here is very good and there are drinks that it adds a whole lot of value to. I spent a while thinking I'd give this an 18. Maybe I considered a 17, but I didn't go lower than that. Then I tried some tiki drinks with this (spirits, pineapple juice, lime juice, etc.) and this really did a good job. You need to want banana, but when you want it in a tropical drink, this is the way to go. I don't think I'd go up to a 20, but I think that a 19 is appropriate here. Another 19 for a liqueur, but I think that there are a few that are in that same range, though generally specific to somewhat different scenarios. Look, this is a terrific banana liqueur. If you want banana in your tiki drink, this is absolutely the way to go. It isn't blowing my mind anywhere, but unlike most liqueurs that focus on one flavor, this really nails its focus. I would absolutely stock this and use it routinely. Thanks to @ctbeck11 for the sample! This is why sample swaps are so great: I'd never have otherwise tried this one.

Wow that is deadly. Sugary, banana goodness. Sweet but not in an overwhelming nor cheap, artificial way. I could see this complimenting my tiki drinks quite nicely.