Vita Divine Hazelnut

Rating: 9/23 Finishing this bottle at last. Aroma: Sugar, clean river water, and confectioner's sugar. There's some hazelnut providing richness and a reason for its existence, but that's about it. Taste: Very sweet with hazelnut and confectioner's sugar. The hazelnut flavor is of decent quality, but rather weak. There's not much complexity, but that means it works well if your primary goal is that hazelnut flavor and you can tolerate the sweetness. Finish: Not a lot of confectioner's sugar, but some is present. Clean water. Sugar. Faint hazelnut notes. - Conclusion - I purchased this for use in confections. For that purpose, its main drawback of excessive confectioner's sugar flavor isn't a significant issue. However, the lack of body might be a bigger problem. If increasing the amount of this in your recipe or possibly reducing it by boiling and then adding vodka isn't an issue, the hazelnut flavor is solid and it's an inexpensive bottle, so I'd recommend it for cooking. My rating, however, will be based on its drinkability, either neat or in various cocktails. I'm only aware of a couple of cocktails that call for hazelnut liqueur, and none that I consider essential, so this rating will primarily reflect its drinkability. Which is not very good. I truly do not enjoy drinking this. Pouring some over ice cream works quite well, but drinking it straight is not enjoyable. I'm looking at a 9 to 10 here; I think it will be a 9.

Rating: 9/23 Nose: I detect rich roasted hazelnuts and sweet, dense caramel, similar to praline. This is actually a very good aroma. Palate: The flavor is rather light, with notes of minerals and artificial caramel, plus a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar. It does have some nuttiness that I believe is hazelnut, but the alcohol is also noticeable. At least it's smooth, so it's not terrible, but it doesn't match the richness of Disaronno (I don't have Frangelico here for the obvious comparison). It's identifiable as likely hazelnut liqueur, which is more than I can say for many other liqueurs. Finish: The lightness persists along with the nutty, artificial caramel. It's actually an improvement over the palate at times because the lightness and alcohol begin to fade. However, the artificial character is prominent at the beginning and end. Compared side-by-side with Disaronno (my closest available comparison), both show a considerable amount of alcohol. Disaronno is richer with a sharper almond flavor and a caramel closer to butterscotch (though still slightly artificial). I prefer Disaronno, but not by a large margin. This offering has a gentler, more floral character. I fully expected this to be awful, but it's actually not. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it's better than anticipated. I think a 9 is appropriate, though I can see a 10.

This tastes of alcohol and chemicals. The aroma is rich and nutty, but the palate tastes artificial and off. It does have a faint hazelnut flavor, though it's not very convincing. The taste is predominantly alcoholic and sweet rather than nutty, with a strange fruity undertone. I certainly wouldn't sip this. It's fine for mixing, but otherwise undrinkable.