Giffard Banane Du Bresil Liqueur 750ml

Giffard traces its roots to 1885, when Emile Giffard, a pharmacist in Angers, used steam distillation of Mitcham peppermint to create a refreshing liqueur and soon turned his pharmacy into a full distillery. That founding spirit of careful, fruit and herb driven production has carried through four generations of the family, with Bruno and Edith Giffard now continuing the tradition from the same base in Angers, in France's fruit-rich Loire Valley.

Banane du Brésil begins with plump, ripe bananas sourced mainly from Brazil and the Caribbean, which are crushed and slowly macerated in a neutral spirit distilled from sugar beets. This maceration is then blended with a separate spirit distilled from bananas to intensify the fruit character, along with a small addition of oak-aged Cognac for depth and complexity. The liqueur is sweetened with beet sugar and finished at a moderate 25 percent alcohol by volume, favoring authentic banana flavor over the artificial, overly candied notes common in the category.

The color is a warm canary yellow with golden hues. The nose is heady and tropical, layering ripe and dried banana with baking spices and a touch of vanilla. On the palate it opens soft and buttery, almost like flambéed banana, warmed through by the oak-aged Cognac to a smooth, rounded finish.