Verdict: Petrone’s reviewed bottle began extremely sweet and finished with the harshest alcohol bite in the comparison—an arresting combination rather than a balanced sip.
- Availability
- Current; regional
- Alcohol
- 35% reviewed; 33% current
- Bottle reviewed
- Cello-shaped bottle
- Style
- Very sweet, very hot
Compare Petrone with all reviewed brands →
Petrone Limoncello
This is definitely an interesting bottle. It has the shape of a cello (clever, very clever). The color is a light yellow that is very similar to the color of my own finished product. There’s rather a lot of sediment, what looks like it might be lemon pulp, floating on top of the liquor. The filtration must have left a lot to be desired or this is just “home-style” limoncello.
The flavor has a seriously split personality. It starts VERY sweet with a flavor that I’d describe as lemon cotton candy but with the emphasis on cotton candy rather than lemon. Then it does a Jekyll and Hyde transformation on the palate to a very mean alcoholic bite. It’s so strong that I find it uncomfortable, which is REALLY saying something.
The alcoholic heat is on par with with batches I’ve made with 190 proof Everclear and didn’t properly dilute them. This is strong tasting stuff and sure enough it does have the highest alcohol content of the commercial brands I’ve reviewed so far at 35% or 70 proof. The next closest is Caravella (at 32%) which does a much better job of hiding the heat.
Petrone Limoncello Review Graph