Cachaca Agua de Arcanjo Prata. The first thing you may notice about this Cachaca is the distinctive shaped bottle it comes in. All that will become clear later in the review.

Hailing from Maquine, Rio Grande do Sul this cachaça is available in the distinctive 750ml size bottle. It is available for around 110 R$ in Brasil which equates to just over £20 in sterling. I would expect to see this cachaça retail at around the £35-45 mark if it hits UK shores.

Agua de Arcanjo roughly translates into English as the Archangel’s Water. It is a premium cachaça artisanally produced in Copper Pot Stills and rested in stainless steel to remain clear. From what I can gather this Cachaca is not aged in any wood barrels. It is bottled at 40% ABV. Agua de Arcanjo is very proud in that pesticides are not used at any stage during the growth and harvesting of the sugar cane. The sugar cane is harvested and the sugar cane juice is extracted within 24 hours.

Now we’ll move back onto the strange shape of the bottle. As well as buying Agua de Arcanjo Prata on its own you can also buy it alongside the companies aged Cachaca in a very smart presentation box. So the bottle actually make up two sides of one larger bottle. The presentation of this cachaça is very sleek and would easily fit in on European shelves. Unlike some Cachaca which would look very cheap and inferior. Even if the contents are not……

Should you want more information then Agua de Arcanjo have a website which is in Portuguese but it translates reasonably well with a translation tool. They are also on Facebook and Instragram.

I don’t have a great deal else to say about this Cachaca so we may as well move onto the exciting part and see what this tastes like.

In the glass it is as expected crystal clear. No signs of any oak ageing or any filtration having to take place.

The nose is quite grassy, with notes of sour cream, white pepper and ginger. It’s quite strong on the alcohol front even at 40% ABV and it does smell quite “young”.

On the palate Agua de Arcanjo Prata is more subtly flavoured than I was expecting from the nose. It is reasonably sweet but not overbearingly so. Quite grassy akin to a younger low ABV Agricole Rhum. It’s clean and refreshing with a hint of lemon and mint. It’s surprisingly easy to sip and has very little burn despite the quite boozy notes on the nose.

Finish wise it doesn’t last too long but what is there is gently warming and it has a nice burst of spiciness which fades out into notes of vanilla and lemon zest.

It’s all very nicely balanced and well put together. It mixes really well in drinks such as a Ti Punch or a Caiprinha but I found it most enjoyable on its own almost as a palate cleanser. Like a sorbet in many ways in that it gently cleanses the palate.

It is perhaps not the most full flavoured Cachaca I have tried but in comparison to many white rums it packs more than enough flavour. It’s certainly a very nicely but together and very well balanced spirit. I’m intrigued to try the aged variety as I am sure that will also be of a very high standard.