cascode
Villa Massa Limoncello
Fruit Liqueurs — Italy
Reviewed
December 27, 2018 (edited August 8, 2022)
Appearance: Transparent but slightly cloudy. Chrome yellow. Some particulate suspension.
Aroma: Oily sherbet lemon, lemonade, boiled sugar sweets.
Flavour and Texture: A thick, sweet liquid with a dense lemon character. You can taste that this is derived exclusively from lemon zest with no artificial additives. It does, however veer towards being simplistic and there is a very faint oily metallic note.
Limoncello is very easy to make (I've made it myself) and the BEST limoncello is always home-made, but getting it perfect is hard. It's just lemon peel, macerated in alcohol then sweetened with simple syrup and cut to the desired proof with distilled water (if necessary), but you have to take great care to avoid it developing a bitter, oily aftertaste.
This is a classic limoncello, made since 1890, and it's a reasonably good one. Villa Massa use only PGI-certified Sorrento lemons and their process avoids as much of the fruit pith as possible. The result is a liqueur that tastes like pure sweet lemon essence with alcohol. My main criticism is that it lacks a certain freshness, and the taste of lemon oil is a little prominent. There's also very little finish.
Nice by itself in a small glass or over ice, with tonic or with soda water. Add a dash to a gin & tonic to add a sweeter lemony note and some body.
"Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
40.0
AUD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
"@The_Rev We can't buy Everclear in Australia but we can get Polish Rectified Spirit, which is the same thing. I tried it once and the masceration process worked better and faster and produced get a stronger infusion, but I found it to be just too strong and ended up tempering it down with distilled water. Using a good 38-40% vodka naturally results in about a 32-35% liqueur, which suits me fine. Guess I'm just a wuss :-)"
@PBMichiganWolverine Yep, the method that @cascode laid out is the same general way that I make mine...though I usually opt to start with Everclear rather than vodka since it's a legit neutral grain spirit. Let's just say it's not a limoncello for the faint of heart and usually needs some sort of, ideally non-alcoholic, mixer. Or you can just sip it at freezer temperatures very slowly in a reasonably small serving size. I've made a pear infused brandy before, too, using a similar method.
@cascode when life gives you lemons, make limoncello! Does sound straight forward.
@PBMichiganWolverine Super easy, and there are a hundred different recipes. I add the zest of half a dozen lemons plus a bottle of vodka to a small brewer’s carboy and let it steep for a month. Then add a cup of simple syrup and let it rest for another week. Strain and bottle. Works well with any citrus. Home made liqueurs are fun and very instructive - so is home brewing.
@The_Rev “make” some limencello?
You reminded me that I'm overdue to make some limoncello...it's been too long.