Cachaca D’Lourdes Carvalho. This cachaca hails from perhaps the most famous cachaca producing state in Brasil – Minas Gerais. However, this cachaca does not hail from the more common city Salinas but even further inland, in the city of Congonhas do Norte.

Production of cachaca in this area is second only to raising cattle in terms of employment. Around 5,000 people live in the city and its surrounding farms.

The distillery is situated in the 7ª Reserva Natural da Biosfera dentro da Serra do Cipo, (7th Biosphere Nature Reserve within Serra do Cipo)

This cachaca is produced from sugar cane grown on the estate. It is harvested and the sugar cane juice is extracted within 24 hours of harvesting. The sugar cane juice is fermented with wild yeasts prepared with local microbiotics.

Cachaca D’Lourdes Carvalho is distilled on 2,000 litre capacity Copper Pot Stills. The oak barrels are from Europe (likely French Oak then). Some of the barrels used in the ageng of this cachaca are virgin oak. Cachaca D’Lourdes Carvalho is aged for around 18 months it is a blend of various cachaca’s produced at the distillery. It is bottled at a very respectable 42% ABV.

This is available in a 670ml bottle and should cost around R$50 as per this webstore. It comes in a tall, short necked clear bottle. Cachaca D’Lourdes Carvalho has a metallic screw cap enclosure. The presentation isn’t particularly enticing or up to European expectations but this isn’t a hugely expensive cachaca. As well as producing this gold/ouro cacahca D’Lourdes also have a Prata expression, which comes in a very similar bottle.

In the glass we have a very light coloured spirit – white wine. The nose is full of double cream and icing sugar. It’s light but nicely defined and the extra ABV definitely adds some body to the cachaca.

The nose has some of the wood influence – their is a touch of ginger and a hint of spice but it’s pretty deep in the mix.

Sipped – this is a very flavourful cachaca.The initial entry is much spicier than the nose with stronger notes of ginger and white pepper. A touch of cumin and maybe some turmeric. The mid palate has a slightly mineral like note which adds an extra layer of complexity.

The creamier notes that were present on the nose stay with you throughout the sipping experience. They meld nicely with the spicier notes in the cachaca giving a sweetness and a balance which makes this a very easy cachaca to sip.

Finish wise you get a lot of the mineral notes and the spicier elements. It’s a reasonable length and makes a nice finish to the experience. Overall this works nicely as a sipper but it isn’t as complex as you might want from a sipping experience.

In mixed drinks this cachaca works much better – the woodier and spicier notes really stand out in things like a Ti Punch or a Caiprinha. The extra ABV is a bonus and gives it just an extra little bite.

This is a very decent sipper/deluxe mixer style of cachaca. Another hit from Minas Gerais.