Cachaca Indaiazinha. Today I continue my Cachaca journey with another cachaça from Salinas, Minas Gerais. For many the mecca of good artisanal cachaça. Once again we are looking at a spirit which in terms of presentation, seems quite “basic” and unspectacular.

This cachaça is very much in the same vein as Havana Aniso Santiago and Pirigibana. Long standing and well respected cachaça, much like Mount Gay XO or R.L Seale’s 10 Year Old from Barbadoas or Appleton 12 Year Old for a Jamaican standard, equivalent in the rum world.

Cachaca Indaiazinha is closely related to another cachaça I reviewed recently Cachaca Nova Alianca. Whilst Cachaca Indaiazinha does not seem to have its own website – it is included on their website as a product. It also has a separate part of the website devoted to Indaiazinha. So I can give you a little background on this cachaça.

Cachaca Indaiazinha was first brought to the market way back in 1958. Cachaca Indaiazinha is aged for “around” 8 years. I would imagine that as the product has been in production for so long in order to keep flavour consistency the actual age of the cachaça will need to be tweaked from time to time. The cachaça is produced from sugar cane to bottle at Fazenda Esquerda (Left Farm). It is distilled on Alembic Pot Stills and aged in balsam wood.

In Brasil a 600ml bottle of Cachaca Indaiazinha will set you back around R$75 which is around £15 in sterling. Were this to come to the UK (in the existing presentation with the beer bottle enclosure that is unlikely) I would expect to see it retail at around £50. Having said that production of this cachaça is limited on a yearly basis and demand is high. I don’t think the producers have a great deal of motivation or indeed capacity to scale up production to reach Europe. That said, you never know.

In the glass we have a white wine coloured spirit. The nos. Se is buttery with notes of shortcrust pastry and croissants. There is also a slight soapiness on the nose and a touch of aniseed. The nose despite the ABV of 48% is still quite light and has a really nice balance to it. Some light floral notes and a touch of rosewater bring a lovely balance to the nose.

Sipped it is immediately apparent that you are dealing with a truly world class spirit. The mouthfeel is refreshing and well rounded. The flavour explodes with notes of aniseed, butter biscuits, sweet sugar cane notes and some hints of cardamom and cumin. It is quite a spicy cachaça but again nothing is out of control. It is all beautifully balanced.

A refreshing and light cachaça but at the same time one which has a good deal of depth to it as you sip it more.

The mid palate is spiciest part of the sip and it is almost “curry” like in some ways. This however, moves nicely into the creamier and slightly woody finish. Which is longer than I was expecting and leaves a really nice tingle in the mouth.

This is a touch spicier than Havana Aniso Santiago – a touch heavier perhaps. It isn’t quite a wood influenced as Pirigibana but it certainly sits up there with both of those cachacas.

Once again I feel the higher ABV cachaca’s give the best sipping experience. Offering the light style, that is cachaça but with an extra ABV to give the spirit some extra oomph.