Casa Bucco Cachaca Envelhecida 6 Anos. Casa Bucco has been producing Cachaca in Brasil since 1925. The family has even more history in spirits production in their native Italy producing Grappa. Once the family emigrated to Brasil they began producing cachaça.

Based in the Rio das Antas Valley, much of the sugarcane is harvested from the mountain areas. Like many of the cachacas I have reviewed the sugar cane is harvested organically. Due to the terroir it is noted that the sugar cane of Casa Bucco has a very high sugar content.

The sugarcane is cultivated organically in the Rio das Antas valley, harvested manually and transported to the mill. The decanted juice goes to the fermentation, where selected yeasts are used. This is then distilled in Alembic Copper Pot Stills.

The resulting cachaça is then stored in stainless steel casks for the traditional white “Prata” cachaça. Other cachaca is aged in oak barrels and Brasilian wood.

This particular Casa Bucco expression has been aged for 6 years in oak and balsam wood. In Brasil a bottle of this cachaça will set you back around R$120 – around £25 in sterling. Where this to come to the UK/Europe I would expect a retail price of around £50 minimum.

Presentation wise, aside from the metal screw cap its quite classy and doesn’t look to old fashioned. I like the slightly different shape to the bottle and a carboard sleeve to store the cachaça in is a nice touch as well. It’s quite understated but gives the consumer enough information to know what they are getting in the bottle. (As long as you understand Portuguese I guess!)

If you are seeking more information on the brand –  they produce a range of spirits beyond cachaça then they have a website which translates reasonably well into English here.

In the glass we are presented with a light golden brown spirit. Casa Bucco Cachaca Envelhecida 6 Anos is quite sweet on the nose – and has a real note of aniseed or licorice. It’s not the biggest nose I have ever encountered. Bordering on being almost neutral. I was expecting a bit more of the oak and balsam wood influence but this is a very light spirit.

Further nosing reveals some more fruity notes peach, apricot a touch of shortcrust pastry – a Peach Melba maybe? Notes of tangerine and a touch of strawberry syrup. There is also a very slight herbal woodiness lurking in the background. But I’m having to really nose deeply to pick these notes up.

That said there is nothing “wrong” with the nose its just a bit on the timid side I guess.

Sipped this is quite a light cachaça as the nose had suggested. Luckily however we are getting more flavour on the sip.

Once again sweet notes of aniseed or licorice are at the forefront of the entry. This quickly moves into the lighter fruits recognised on the nose. So lots of peach, apricot and a touch of white grape now emerges. It doesn’t have a great deal of length to it. It’s quite short overall. The finish is spicy with some ginger and cinnamon but again its just a bit too light.

This cachaça seems to have picked up a lot of awards and seems quite well regarded. For me its just all a bit too light. It doesn’t have enough body and enough oomph when compared to something like Havana or Pirigibana for example.

What it does it does pretty well. There is nothing out of place with this cachaça. No off notes or anything that is out of balance. Overall it is nicely balanced and very easy to drink. But it just doesn’t offer enough complexity for me to say this is a really great cachaça.

It’s above average and overall pretty pleasant but its not blowing me away at all. It’s a pretty expensive cachaça as well so I kind of expect a bit more of spirits at this kind of price point.

Not awful but a bit of disappointment. I was expecting a lot more of this. It’s still good though, just not as good as I had hoped.