Arborea Blend Amburana e Carvalho. Arborea are a cachaca brand which hails from Pirapetinga, Minas Gerais. The south eastern state of Minas Gerais is perhaps the most well known cachaca producing state in all of Brasil. A number of high quality and long established cachaca distilleries and brands are synonymous with Minas Gerais.

The distillery which produces Arborea Cachaca is situated at Sao Joao Farm S/N, Caiapo District, Pirapetinga, Minas Gerais. This farm originally focused on cattle production and livestock. The name Arborea (Eucalyptus) comes from the vast corridors of Eucalyptus trees which surround the farm.

Arborea Cachaca is a modern cachaca. As you can see from the presentation. It is geared up to both the younger domestic market and will also be suitable for export to the US and Europe. In such territories it will compete with the likes of Leblon, Avua, Abelha and Novo Fogo. All who just like Arborea are presenting their cachaca with very slick modern bottles and presentation.

Arborea was brought to the market in 2018 and currently has four varieties in its range. Arborea Branca, Arborea Carvalho, Arborea Amburana and the blend of Carvalho and Amburana aged cachaca, I am revieiwing today.

This Arborea Amburana e Carvalho is often referred to as the “Yellow Label”. In charge of the artisinal production of this cachaca is Master Distiller Asmindo Sousa, who is helped my another industry expert and sommelier Isadora Fonari.

In Brasil Arborea Blend Amburana e Carvalho retails for around R$65, which works out at around £9.50. However, for a 70cl bottle if it were to retail in UK/Europe I would expect a price tag of at least £35 for this. It is bottled at 39% ABV.

Arborea like so many artisanal cachaca producers employ organic and wholly sustainable practices. All the sugar can is hand harvested and the cane is crushed within 24 hours of the harvest. The juice is then fermented with natural yeasts. The sugarcane bagasse is reused to feed the boiler and as compost on the farm. The cachaca distilled on a Copper Pot Still.

After this process, Arbórea cachaça goes to storage, where they use stainless steel tanks and oak, amburana and maplewood vats for ageing. Please note when they talk of vats this could be barrels as I am trying to translate from Portuguese and I fear some of the meaning is misinterpreted.

Arborea Blend Amburana e Carvalho is a blend of cachaca aged for 1 year in Amburana and Carvalho (Oak). As mentioned already the brand is trying to encourage a younger audience in Brasil to discover cachaca. As a result as well as slick presentation they are have a very active Social Media and Internet presence.

Should you wish to learn more about the brand then they have their own website. If you wish to interact and stay in touch then they also have Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Now the last cachaca I recall reviewing which was a blend of Oak and Amburana aged cachaca, was Cachaca Alambique Brasil Carvalho e Amburana, which hailed from Parana state. I quite enjoyed that one so lets see how I find this one.

In the glass we have a white wine coloured spirit. This is to be expected of a blend aged for 1 year in Oak and the lighter Amburana wood. (For those unaware Amburana is a native wood to Brasil).

Nosing Arborea Blend Amburana e Carvalho, is quite a warming familiar experience. The spicy notes from the oak and the vanilla are softened by the lighter more delicate creamy notes from the Amburana wood. As with many cachacas aged in Amburana, there is a slight soapiness, which is just the right side of the tracks to not overpower the notes of whipped cream, cinnamon, baking spices and a touch of all spice.

The nose is pleasant and very approachable with little rough edges and minimal burn.

Sipped the cachaca perhaps exhibits more of it’s youth. It’s fairly spicy with a fair amount of white pepper, ginger and a touch of curry powder. There is however still quite a lot of vanilla and ice cream on the initial entry.

As with a lot of younger and lighter cachacas this does deliver most of it’s flavour up front. So the initial burst of flavour is immediately followed by a more muted mid palate. Initially you may feel that the flavour has all but gone.

However, what is left behind is a gentle, light note of vanilla ice cream, ginger biscuits, and a touch of a herbal note. This sticks around for quite a while and makes the finish, although very easy going – a reasonable length.

As a sipper, this is gentle and easy going. There are no off notes. If you enjoy cachaca aged in Amburana then I would be surprised if you do not get some joy from this. More so than you might expect from any spirit with only one year of ageing. On the website’ and Social Media accounts they have various suggestions on how to mix this cachaca.

I tried this in a simple caiprinha and it worked very nicely.

Whether we see this in Europe/UK only time will tell. It will certainly be a good addition to what is currently available.