Cachaca Santo Grau P.X. Solera Pedro Ximenez. Santo Grau are one of a few cachaca producers that have more than one distillery. The Santo Grau brand has 3 distilleries in total that they use to bring their cachaca to market.

The distilleries are as follows –

Coronel Xavier Chaves – Minas Gerais

Paraty – Rio de Janeiro

Itirapua – Sao Paulo

They all produce different Santo Grau cachacas within their portfolio. Today, we are focusing on the Cachaca Santo Grau P.X. Solera Pero Ximenez, which hails from the Itirapua distillery.

Cachaca Santo Grau harvest all their estate grown sugar cane manually. The sugar cane is milled within 24 hours of being harvested. The mills are powered by waterwheels. The cachaca is distilled in small batches on Alembic Copper Pot Stills.

The cachaca of Santo Grau is produced using ingredients and methods which are typical of the region of each of its distilleries. On its labels you will see the DOCG seal – Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. For more information of this standard please see this article.

In order to produce this particular cachaca Santo Grau have adopted a traditional Sherry Solera. This is overseen by the Figueiredo Cristofani family, who have 5 generations of experience in producing quality cachaca.

Cachaca Santo Grau P.X. Solera Pedro Ximenez is aged in barrels formerly used to age Pedro Ximenez (P.X.) sherry. A very sweet sherry which is produced in Jerez, Spain. There is no age statement attached to this bottle.

It is noted as Cachaca Adocado – which means added sugar/sweetened. The producer has not added any sugar. The P.X. barrels did contain some sherry. When they originally started producing this cachaca, 12g/L of sugar were noted in their analysis. As the Solera (and it is a very small Solera, as you can see) has matured and spirit has been drawn from it, the left over Sherry has left the system. There is no way a “topping up” system is in place here. I tested my sample of this cachaca and the Hydrometer bobbed a touch below the 39% ABV.

A 70cl bottle of Cachaca Santo Grau P.X. will set you back around R$100 – which equates to around £18. It has been bottled at 39% ABV, as already mentioned. Presentation wise, Cachaca Santo Grau are more modern in appearance than many of their counterparts.

The bottle is quite modern and could easily be stocked as it is on European shelves. The bottle is clear and has a cork stopper. The labelling is clean and up to more modern European and US standards in terms of appearance. From what I understand this cachaca is to be stocked in Europe soon. You can already find this cachaca on Amazon from the same distillery.

So I think that is pretty much this cachaca explained. So it’s perhaps time to have a look at this particular cachaca and see how the P.X. maturation impacts the spirit.

In the glass we have a light golden brown liquid. A few shades darker than straw. Nose wise despite the use of P.X. casks this is unmistakably a cachaca. Unlike, I have to say many P.X. matured/finished rums.

The nose is slightly smoky. Hints of tobacco mingles alongside stoned fruits – touches of light peach and under ripe plums. There is a nice hit of double cream and some light spices – a dusting ginger and some really nice well developed oak notes.

Despite the low ABV the nose is very pleasant and pretty complex.

Sipped the cachaca is nowhere near as sweet as I had feared when I saw P.X. on the label – bad rum experiences! It’s a really nicely balanced, woody spirit with a lot of oak spice and light tobacco. Leather, and a real smoky overall flavour particularly on the mid palate.

This is a very “barrel” driven spirit. There is no real vegetal of grassy notes with this. It is only really the creamy and slightly “stony” notes, that really identify this as a cachaca rather than a molasses based rum.

Further sips reveal a slight sweet note of grapes and a touch of sourness but nothing which spoils the overall balance. It’s a complex and very well balanced cachaca.

Finish wise it holds itself together a lot longer than I was expecting. The finish is long and dry, with a lot of woody oaky spices. Ginger, chilli powder and some white pepper.

I haven’t mixed this particular cachaca. Cachaca Santo Grau P.X. Solera Pedro Ximenez is very much a sipper. It’s a complex, dry but well balanced spirit that has been aged beautifully.

I really like this one. Viva Brasil!