Cachaca Santo Grau Itirapua. The Santo Grau brand brings together 3 different sugar mills/distilleries for its range of artisanal cachaca. The cachaca I am reviewing today is one the three signature bottlings from each of those distilleries.

It is also closely related to the previous Santo Grau cachaca I reviewed as it comes from the same small distillery in Sao Paulo state Itirapua.

Itirapuã mill keeps with the tradition and craftsmanship of being powered by a water-wheel since 1860. Under the diligent care of the Figueiredo Cristófani family, who are fourty generation owners of the distillery.

The Itirapuã mill is responsible for the production of four Santo Grau cachaças. The Santo Grau Itirapuã I am reviewing today, the aged Santo Grau Reserve Itirapuã, the Santo Grau Solera Cinco Botas and the Santo Grau Solera P.X

Cachaca Santa Grau is produced from fresh estate sugar cane juice and the waterwheel powers all the production at the distillery. The waterwheel processses corn which in turn is made into cornmeal which is used to help ferment the sugar cane juice. Once the fermentation is complete Cachaca Santo Grau Itirapua is distilled on traditonal Copper Pot Stills. No pesticides or chemicals are used at the distillery.

Although this is noted a silver cachaca it is not down as being unaged. Indeed it has been aged in a combination of Jequitiba and Oak barrels. I assume only for a matter of months though, rather than years.

The Santo Grau range is being imported in the EU by Bodegas Osborne Cadiz, Spain. This may explain how the Santo Grau line have access to sherry barrels for ageing. They are using standard 70cl bottles. Cachaca Santo Grau Itirapua is bottled at 41% ABV. In the UK it is quite readily available. Master of Malt are currently stocking it at just over £32.

Presentation wise it comes in standard bar style bottle with green glass (cachaca producers often do this to protect the cachaca is a hot climate). We get a wooden topped natural cork stopper. The label is nicely branded with information readily available in Portuguese and English.

I bought this cachaca on the basis of how much I enjoyed my previous Santo Grau bottling. So it will be interesting to see how I find this one.

In the glass (the photos maybe a little deceptive it isn’t that milky looking really) we have a pretty clear liquid. There is a trace of “yellow” in the but it’s very faint really.

Nosing Santo Grau Iritapua it is quite a rich, mineral heavy type of nose. It has a real smoky note which reminds me a little of Mezcal. It’s clean and a little stony. Not very grassy or vegetal at all. It’s a clean, crisp kind of cachaca.

Further nosing reveals a slight soapiness and some pencil “rubber” and a little burning rubber. It’s not a sweet smelling spirit but there are hints of vanilla and a little gingerbread.

Although this is a fairly young cachaca a lot of Pot Still cachaca is still worth experiencing neat. This is certainly no exception. The intial sip is quite “mineral heavy” with a fair bit of burnt rubber and a touch of pencil shavings. It’s not sweet but it has a very crisp, clean delivery.

Once you get past the inital sip it opens up to give a vanilla and a light note of honey to add some sweetness to the more “stony” mineral like notes. It’s slightly metallic but in a good way. Whilst flavours such as burnt rubber and chimney smoke might not sound very appealing, it makes for a very interesting tasting spirit.

The mid palate moves on with the lighter notes taking over giving the cachaca a lighter more delicate profile as we move on towards the finish. With this being fairly young the finish is only really of a reasonable length. It fades into a kind of salted creamy note and some spicy ginger and a little oak. It’s nice.

As a mixer Santo Grau Itirapua certainly stands out in mixed drinks such as Caiprinha’s where it adopts a different approach to a lot of the grassier unaged cachaca’s. It has an extra layer of complexity and offers a different flavour profile to many. The smoky and burnt rubber notes really work nicely with the more balanced vanilla and the fresher mineral like notes.

Much like the previous Santo Grau PX finish that I reviewed I’ve really enjoyed my little trip to Sao Paulo. At just over £30 this offers a lot more a sipping experience than most cachacas at that price point.

Well worth a look and for once quite readily available in the UK and Europe at least anyway. Sorry ‘Merica.