Ponche Caballero 25%, Luis Caballero

Appearance
Mahogany fading to amber with coppery gold glints.
Nose
Very fresh and clean which avoids over-sweetness and not over alcoholic. There is a lovely balance of brandy and spices as well as an attractive fruitiness. Cinnamon and vanilla are perhaps the most prominent spices, and there is lots of orange with nutmeg not far behind. Lovely.

Palate

Sweet, naturally, and very tasty with hints of toasted almond, caramel, orange, cinnamon and vanilla. There is a gentle tanginess which mitigates some of the sweetness while all the different flavours bind together to form a liqueur better than the sum of its parts. No cloying and gently spicy finish.
Comments

This is the best selling Ponche, and that's because it is very good, and was arguably the first. In fact it is the top selling liqueur in Spain and in the top ten worldwide. The formula has been used by the firm for 180 years and needless to say it is a secret, however it contains spices from all round the world which have traditionally been imported into El Puerto de Santa Maria for centuries. They include vanilla, cinnamon, clove, orange peel and nutmeg, based on brandy. In 1943 the bottle was wrapped in silver paper as a homage to the old silver punch bowls, and in 1969 a better process was invented, and copied by many. Grupo Caballero produces Milenario brandy and the lovely Miura cherry liqueur among others, and owns Bodegas Lustau in Jerez, (they also bought Burdon and Cuesta) as well as being a large drinks distributor. Ponche is lovely straight from the fridge or on the rocks.

Price
9.35 euros, Roali

Ponche: the Liqueur of Jerez

The origins of Ponche (or punch) go back to ancient Persia where they made a drink called “panj.” The word means five and it contained five ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon, water and tea. In the XVII century The British East India Company introduced the drink to the western colonies where the recipe would be adjusted to local tastes. Seamen would often mix it with rum.  It was a likely forebear of what we now call the cocktail.

Ponche has been made in the Marco de Jerez since the early XIX century and nearly every bodega had an example. It is the classic Jerez liqueur and is basically a blend of Jerez brandy, a little sweet Sherry and various spices with an alcoholic strength varying between about 23-35ᴼ. It is often used as a digestif and makes a wonderful additive in desserts. Some bodegas felt this was a spirit with more appeal to women as it was sweeter and less fiery than brandy.

An old bottle with the certification

Old labels often claim health-giving properties such as “tónico reconstituyente” or “tónico sin igual.” The Ponche Soto label even used to have a certification from the municipal chemical laboratory of Jerez. This sort of claim is no longer legal, but after a hard day’s work an evening glass of Ponche on the rocks is just what the doctor ordered. It is a gentle quite sweet liqueur, amber in colour with complex aromas and flavours of fresh orange, almond and vanilla. It is lovely!

The leading brands, which are all made from secret recipes but much the same ingredients, are often in silver bottles.

Ponche Caballero: First produced in 1830, this is the oldest brand and has been the brand leader since 1969. Its secret formula is based on 5 main botanicals: Oranges from Andalucía, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, vanilla from México, clove from Madagascar and nutmeg from Indonesia. The firm also produces Ponche Caballero 10, a more luxurious version in a gold bottle, based on 10 botanicals: almond, raisins, prunes, mandarin peel, coriander from Morocco, nutmeg from Grenada, vanilla from México and cinnamon and clove from Sri Lanka. There is even Crema Caballero, a version made with fresh cream at 17%.

Ponche Soto: (Garvey) This important brand (number two) dates from the late XIX century. Ponche Garvey was dropped when the firm took over José de Soto)

Ponche Ataola: (Diez Mérito) (not in silver bottle)

Ponche Santa María: Osborne (silver bottle)

Ponche Real Tesoro (Marqués de Real Tesoro, not in silver bottle)