A worthy variation but we take issue with the label French Vanilla – tastes more creme brule , caramel or toffee, all of which we have an unnatural fondness for. But we do find the Fresh Vanilla is not an accurate description
Notes: Kahlúa French Vanilla Coffee Liqueur is part of the recent Kahlúa line extension other products being the Kahlúa Hazelnut, Kahlúa Mocha and the latest Kahlúa and Cream. The original Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur is reviewed here.
First Impression: Coffee notes with sweetness form the base notes with the aromas of French Vanilla and caramelized sugar providing a aromatic backdrop filled out with the alcohol notes. The French Vanilla as noted has heavy notes of carmellized sugar or Crème Brûlée. you can almost imagine a crackly crust to the brulée.
Appearance: Pleasing bronze/caramel color, dark but not opaque, on swirling leaves an even, somewhat thick coat on the glass with some legs developing.
Taste: Sweet, creamy/oily mouth feel sweet coffee, vanilla, touch of crème brûlée, toffee, butterscotch a lingering finish that transitions to a long sweetish aftertaste.
Drinks: We found all of their proprietary recipes to be excellent, and any number of recipes on the web for drinking and cooking. Adds some very nice like flavors and layers of taste to all the usual Kahlúa recipes.
Bottle: Dark brown glass bottle (somewhat bullet shaped) that is almost immediately identifiable as Kahlúa with the modifier of French Vanilla near the bottom of the label and a “French Vanilla” shoulder flash with a red ribbon near the top.
Final Thoughts: Another very nice variation of Kahlúa – which continued to exceed our expectations of a line extension. Our only slightly negative observation is that the flavor (in our opinion) is not French Vanilla as such but much more a crème brûlée flavor with the butterscotch /toffee/caramel notes. We quite like it, but the label of French Vanilla doesn’t seem quite right.
Website: http://www.kahlua.com/
Quick-loading webpage with drinks recipes.
