Castelo Branco Aguardente de Cana

Bythefatrumpirate June 7, 2020June 7, 2020

Castelo Branco Aguardente de Cana. Castelo Branco (White Castle) are a cachaca producer from Goias State. The brand is owned by Luiz Mantiega Alvares de Campos Filho.

It was formed in 1946 when Luiz’s grandfather who moved to Goias from Abaete set up a distillery using a 500 litre Alembic Copper Pot Still, from Minas Gerais. As well as being the owner of Castelo Branco Luiz is also the President of the Goiana Association of Cachaça Alembic Producers – AGOPCAL,

Castelo Branco Aguardente de Cana is produced from estate sugar cane juice which is distileld on Alembic Copper Pot Stills. The distillery currently has 3 Pot Stills with a 1000 litre capacity. Once the cachaca has been distilled it is rested for 2 years in 25,000 litre capacity Peanut Tree wood vats. It is then aged in ex-bourbon oak barrels for a year.

In the glass Castelo Branco is white wine in terms of colour. With the ABV of 44.5 the nose is sharper and stronger than a lot of other cachaca. It is quite sweet with wafts of double cream and vanilla ice cream. There is a slight tangyness to it as well with some nice orange citrus notes. It has a lovely balance to it and is very inviting.

In terms of availability, again this is a cachaca which is only available in Brasil. It retails at around the R$50 which is around £8. As you can see from the photos it is an “old style” cachaca. It comes in 600ml bottles. It has a very rustic feel to it a little “home made”. If it were to come to Europe and the US it would need an update, without doubt.

Whilst rum might have a bit of a problem with too much “Premium” looking product cachaca is a bit different in that some very good cachaca is packaged with what appears to be very cheap, out of date styles of labels. It will be interesting to see if Castelo Branco Aguardente de Cana falls into this bracket or it is as cheap and nasty as it appears!

I don’t have a great deal else information wise on this cachaca at present. I could not find a website for them only a small article here, so I may as well proceed with having a taste.

Sipped Castelo Branco is very easy to drink despite the slight increase in ABV. The initial sip is quite sweet but there is a nice balance of smoky wood and some peppery spice. Lots of ginger but it is a very clean, refreshing spirit. Initially the finish seems to fade quite quickly as the flavour on the initial sip is quite intense. However a few sips in it as if the finish has built itself up. The medium length finish is again slightly smoky with a nice balance of sweet vanilla, cloves and some peppery spices to add a little excitement.

As with many rather archaic looking cachaca’s the proof is in the pudding and fancy packaging isn’t needed with a spirit this tasty.

I’ve only sipped this cachaca because I found it really pleasant that way. No doubt it would work well mixed but I felt it was too good for that.

A really pleasant surprise for quite a young cachaca (and yes the packaging did initially make me a little apprehensive.

I found this quite similar to the Havana Anisio Santiago, which is high praise indeed.

A really pleasant surprise and a great sipper.

Rum Nation Rare Rums Engenho Novo 2009 2017

Rum Nation Rare Rums Engenho Novo 2009 2017
Bythefatrumpirate January 5, 2018January 5, 2018

Rum Nation Rare Rums Engenho Novo. Rum Nation are an Italian Independent bottler. Their “Rare Rums” series is a new venture by them in 2017. They have released a number of rums in this series. They are noted as being “Small Batch” rather than Single Cask.

Engenho Novo is a new name to me in the rum world. Engenho Novo is actually a middle class suburb of Rio in Brasil but it is also the name of a spirits producer from the Portugese island of Madeira. Unfortunately the groups website is down at the moment and I have little information to go on. I presume that Engenho Novo comprises of the distillery which produces the William Hinton line of rums that have recently become more commerically available over here in the UK.

Rum Nation Rare Rums Engenho Novo is an agricole style rhum. It has been distilled and aged entirely on the island of Madeira, aged in ex-Madeira wine casks. It was distilled in 2009 and bottled in 2017 with 8 years of ageing. This rum is taken from casks 128 and 129 and is limited to 570 bottles worldwide. It is bottled at 52% ABV. It does not denote it is Cask Strength.

Rum Nation’s Rare Rum series have been met positively in the Rum Community. Though due to the their ties with Millonario and their occasional “dosing” of their rums Rum Nation are met with a fair bit of skepitism by some rum enthusiasts. In this instance the hydrometer did bob around the 50% ABV mark so it appears 10g/L of “additives” are present in this rum. As the rum was matured in a Madeira cask I was expecting quite a rich rum so it will be interesting to see if the dosage is particularly noticeable. It may be the Madeira cask wasn’t completely empty when re-filled.

In the glass Engenho Novo is a very, rich dark brown. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and say this is due to the ageing in the Madeira casks. The nose is unusual. It’s quite sweet with notes of sherry and port. I wouldn’t guess it was a cane juice or agricole style rum. I would think it was a “finished” molasses based rum. Notes of prunes, raisins, caramel and a definite mintiness runs through it. Almost menthol.

Above further nosing you may get a slight freshness which hints at agricole but I think it may be because I am searching for it. Its definitely not a grassy or vegetal rhum. It has quite a sharp sweet alcohol note on the nose as well.

Sipped it reveals more of its agricole beginnings. Mixed with a lot of its maturation in Madeira cask. Initially it’s quite grassy and more of a familiar agricole style. However, this is very quickly overtaken by the richness of what I can only assume is the Madeira cask. Notes of prunes and raisins from the nose are joined by a slightly beefier almost old tasting wood. Its not spicy its a little musky and a touch old. Leather, mixed with a touch of tobacco. An old, musty tobacco pouch perhaps.

Despite its initial sweetness it does reveal quite a lot of interesting and complex notes. The finish whilst not huge is long and spicy enough to keep you from immediately taking another sip.

There is a note in this rum that I have experienced before – possibly in tropically aged Demerara. A slight bitterness but nothing too much. A kind of red wine like note.

I’m a bit torn on this one as I am not quite sure where all the cane juice rhum has gone. It’s a very interesting and quite distinctive rum. It’s arguably not the greatest rum you will ever sip but it is definitely worth considering if you are in the market for something a bit different.

In fact as I write and reminisce I have just thought of the nearest comparison to this rhum. The Rhum Rhum Liberations from Marie Galante. I’m not saying this is quite as good but its definitely not a million miles away.

Complex, interesting and most of all quite unusual.

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Dead Reckoning Australia 9 Year Bourbon Cask

Dead Reckoning Australia 9 Year Bourbon Cask
Bythefatrumpirate September 15, 2023December 9, 2025

Dead Reckoning Australia 9 Year Bourbon Cask. We have become quite familiar with the Dead Reckoning line up of rums of the past couple of years. For those who are unacquainted with the bottler they are one of the first Australian Independent bottlers. Certainly one of the first to be exporting to the lucrative EU and US markets.

Headed up by Justin Boseley, I have been hugely impressed by their output thus far. As well as bottling more popular and in demand distillery rums, such as Foursquare, they have also been happy to bottle some less well known distillers and produce some very “out there” single cask offerings. Along with a few bespoke blends.

Today, we are a reviewing a 9 year old rum from the iconic Australian distillery Beenleigh. In a real twist of fate this rum was aged for 4 years in tropical North Queensland, Australia before being sold on to a European rum broker, where it has enjoyed a further 5 years of continental ageing. It was then picked up by Australian Justin Boseley to be bottled as part of his Dead Reckoning line up.

Dead Reckoning Australia 9 Year Bourbon Cask is a blend of Pot and Column distilled rums. The rum is produced from locally sourced molasses and the fermentation period prior to distillation is between 24 and 72 hours. The rum has been aged as I mentioned already for 4 years in Tropical North Queensland and a further 5 years in the less tropical port of Amsterdam. It has been aged in ex-bourbon barrels (small white oak).

This is a EU and US only release and is limited to 430 bottles, it is a single cask rum and has been bottled at a beefy 55% ABV. No additives and no chill filtration.

For those unfamiliar with the Beenleigh Distillery it first began distilling rum in 1884 (though it has not been active continuously), whilst not quite as well known as Bundaberg in their native Australia they are largely seen as being a far superior producer. They have also produced “genuine” Navy rum which was issued to the Australian Navy for their daily tot.

Justin has began to seek out distributors in the EU and here in the UK we are fortunate enough to find that he has enlisted Rarerumclub to handle distrbution and he is using Zeewijck in the Netherlands for EU distribution.

The rum is priced at £107 for a 70cl bottle.

So that is as much information as I have on this particular bottling so we may as well move on to the fun part.

In the glass Dead Reckoning Australia 9 Year Bourbon Cask is your typical “aged rum” colour. A nice golden to dark brown with a slightly yellow/orange hue.

On the nose (and even before its near my nose) I am getting wafts of vanilla and oak spice. Some walnuts and peanut brittle. It is many ways very typical of an English Style of rum. Think of Foursquare or (non pun intended) English Harbour in particular. There is a lot to be said for a well blended Pot/Column rum. Something which I feel is often overlooked by some rum enthusiasts.

Having said that this isn’t a particularly gentle rum. We are not talking about English Harbour 5 Year Old or Doorly’s XO. No the extra ABV certainly gives this more of a punch. So we are more in keeping with a Foursquare ECS or the Velier Antigua bottlings.

Another thing which gives this rum a little more “oomph” is the unmistakable hit of molasses which carries over the nose. There is a really nice “treacly” note which I really enjoy.

SIpped, initially the rum is quite fiery with the molasses and oak spice taking centre stage. A few sips in and as the palate and throat acclimatise to the rum – we begin to get more of the softer bourbon influenced notes. So the suggested flavours from the nose begin to shine through. Vanilla, light caramel and peanuts all appear.

As we move into the mid palate I begin to get the molasses coming back along with a very nice hit of oak and spice. I’m also getting notes of corn flakes and I keep thinking about freshly buttered toast and golden syrup. There is a hint of smokiness.

The finish is dry but very long. The molasses and caramel notes stick around for a long time after the sip. As your mouth dries out the oak and spice come out to play again giving a very more-ish feel to this spirit.

This is the first time I have sat down properly with a distillate from Beenleigh. I have to say I am highly impressed.

This is great stuff.

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Cachaca Santa Terezinha Arte

Cachaca Santa Terezinha Arte
Bythefatrumpirate May 7, 2018

Cachaca Santa Terezinha has been produced in Marechal Floriano, Espirito Santo since 1943. It is a young white Cachaca with minimal ageing. The brand work with Brasillian artists to create their distinctive labelling and packaging.

It is aged in Cerejeira casks, for 6 months. Cerejeira is a wood Native to Brasil. Which gives the Cachaca its distinictive character.To produce Santa Terezinha a 50/50 mix of boiled sugar-cane “broth” and cold broth is fermented for 4 to 5 days with toasted bagasse and a handful of corn-flour. Whilst this broth is fermenting a fire is set up in the same room where orange or tangerine leaves are burned.

The fermented broth is transferred into metal tanks for a further 5 days to develop into a “mash”. It is then fed into the water-cooled copper still and the resulting distillate is the Santa Terezinha Cachaca Arte. Once the Cachaca is distiled it is aged in the Cerejeira wood for 6 months.

Presentation wise Cachaca Santa Terezinha Arte is very “Brasillian” bright colours – reds, yellows and greens. Their labels are created by Brasillian artists such as Helio Coelho and Haroldo Busotti. You will note from the photos that the label states “Serie Artes”. Cachaca Santa Terezinha is bottled at 43% ABV the producer states that the Cachaca works well with food such as Chicken and Fish dishes.

I apologise for using information direct from the producer. Its not my usual style but it is difficult finding any information written in English. I cannot find anything which will reliably translate Portuguese in a satisfactory manner.

In the glass Cachaca Santa Terezinha Arte is very slightly off-white – slightly lighter than white wine even but there is a tinge of colour.

Nosed this cachaca is quite vegetal and grassy. Freshly mowed fields, fresh sugar cane. This reminds me more of the white Cachaca’s I have tried in the past. Rather than some of the more aged Cachaca’s I have more recently.

It’s fresh and nicely defined though it doesn’t smell quite as “boozy” or as “industrial” as some of the brands found in the UK. There is a nice perfumed/flowery note – again coming from the native wood which I am really growing accustomed to and really growing to like!

It’s quite sweet on the nose but quite potent nonetheless.

Sipped it is surprisingly complex and goes down nicely. It’s surprisingly smooth and quite easy-going. The initial burst is quite spicy – perfumed wood, ginger, notes of vanilla and a nice sweet/sour hit at the back of the throat.

It shows its relative youth in the mid palate and finish which whilst not short – fades quite quickly to little more than a residual burn.

Again this is a very approachable and easy to drink spririt. It works very nicely with lemonade or even soda water. Cola is perhaps not a good option but its still quite a tasty “vegetal” take on a “rum” and cola.

A Caiprinha is perhaps the best use for this Cachaca. As a sipper it is good but just comes up short overall. You would like to savour it a bit more in the mouth but much of the intiial complex burst of grassy notes, vanilla and the perfumed wood doesn’t last long enough, to really enjoy them. An aged Santa Terezinha? I’d be keen to try that and there are other Cachaca’s in their range.

I notice a slight difference between this and the Cachaca Fuzue and Mandaguahy. The wood seems to be to be a touch lighter. Imparting a little less overall, in terms of flavour. Having said that, it could be due to the time in the cask as well. This is something I will learn over time. This forage into Cachaca is very much a learning curve. One which I am happy enough to share with you all but please take my notes with a pinch of salt!

I enjoyed this one overall but its perhaps best used as a mixer.

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Smith & Cross London Traditional Jamaica Rum

Smith & Cross London Traditional Jamaica Rum
Bythefatrumpirate June 27, 2014July 28, 2015

Smith & Cross can trace their heritage back as far as 1788, producing of sugar and spirits. Importing vast quantities of rum and sugar from Jamaica. At one point they had a Sugar Distillery at 203 Thames Street at the old London docks. on the banks of the River Thames.

Smith & Cross is a 100% Jamaican pot still rum. It is distilled in Jamaica at the famous Hampden Estate, who still produce their own line of rums. The rum is produced from molasses, cane juice and syrup from freshly pressed sugar cane. It is a mixture of heavy Wedderburn pot still rum (aged for only six months) and the more medium bodied Plummer, which is aged for up to 3 years in our old friend the bourbon barrel. For further detailed information try http://www.alpenz.com/images/poftfolio/smithcross114rum.htm they will explain things far better than I ever could!

Smith & Cross comes in a typical bartender friendly bottle. Having said that the bottle does have a slightly thicker more bulbous rounded neck and unlike most bottles similar to this, you don’t get a metallic strip screw top. You get an authentic quality cork stopper. The rum retails at around the £30 mark in the UK per 70cl bottle. The labelling is simple, clear and unfussed. Gold lettering with navy backdrop is easy to read and the information on the bottle is sufficiently detailed to let you know exactly what is contained within. It is simple and gives the rum an authentic and slightly nautical feel.

Bottled at 57% the rum is navy strength. This means it is (in old money) 100 proof. This simply means that if any of the spirit was spilt on board a British Royal Navy vessel, it would not affect the lighting of gunpowder. BOOOOOOOMMMMM! This is not to be confused with Navy Rum. Navy rum is traditionally more of a sweeter heavier mostly Demerara based rum, such as Lambs. It doesn’t necessarily have to be bottled at navy strength, though examples such as Pussers and Woods are. This is very definitely a Navy Strength Jamaican only style rum.

For anyone who has sampled a Jamaican rum, many will have tried an Appleton you know that they are quite pungent. For many rum drinkers this can be quite off putting. I have to say I have found this style of rum takes quite some getting used to. However, that is the beauty I find in rum. So much variation and difference in the “one” spirit.

The cork produced a lovely pop upon opening the bottle and seals the bottle nice and tightly when re-applied. The rum immediately releases its pungent heavy odour. It invokes a picture in my mind of fruit punch laden with oranges, apples and pineapple. It reminds me a little of taking those fruit pieces out of the punch and sucking the alcohol which has absorbed. The smell is rich, sugary, heavy molasses. It is reminiscent of an Appleton but also has that extra alcohol feel, which reminds me a little of Pussers. On pouring, the rum seems to lighten considerably. Smith & Cross is a light golden amber colour. In the bottle it did look a lot more orange coloured. This may be due to the dark label?

Upon sipping, the rum offers a considerable and quite rough alcohol burn. You need a few sips before you can even begin to detect the flavours . It leaves a long lasting tingle on the tongue and in the roof of your mouth. It isn’t aged long so it is still a young quite rough rum. It is heavy with caramel tones and there is an element of fruitiness to the overall flavour but not one which I can immediately pick out. Perhaps a little pineapple and banana. When mixed 50/50 with cola I find that the rum becomes more oaked and a slightly tart.

On the rear of the bottle there are two cocktail suggestions. One is called “Million” and calls for lemon juice and Angostura bitters, the other is “The Doctor” and calls for Swedish Punsch and lime. I don’t even know what Swedish Punsch is (I’ll look later) but I do have bitters and lemon juice.

The “Million” was interesting to say the least. My effort ended up looking like a bloody mary. In some respects the spiciness reminded me a little of the peppery vodka concoction as well. It was a very strange drink indeed. It pretty much disguised the taste of the rum, which I really didn’t think was possible! To be honest the drink was pretty vile, thought that might be partly due to my inept cocktail making skills.

The rum is steeped in tradition it is an old fashioned rum (similar to the also UK produced Old Salt Rum – see my review). It is not a rum which I found particularly pleasant to sip or in my more familiar territory, mixed with coke at first. It would seem that the rum is really for mixing in tiki cocktails and other long drinks requiring a bit of oomph. It might even prove useful in getting rid of the old troublesome guest or at least helping them have some time out…..

However, first impressions are often deceiving. As I have continued my rum journey I have discovered and tried other Jamaican rums and began to appreciate them more and more.

Smith & Cross is definitely not the sweeter newer style of rum which have been more prevalent since the 50’s and 60’s. It is no Ron Zacapa or Diplomatico. It is a million miles away from that. It is in many ways like Ronseal – it does exactly what it say on the tin (bottle). Smith & Cross make no allusions or false claims about their product.

As a rum to recommend its a difficult one you either like dunder heavy Jamaican rum or you don’t! I’ve had around 100ml of the stuff during this review and I can certainly feel it! The ABV obviously attributes to this!

This is a good rum – well made and constructed and has no pretences about being anything other than an old fashioned hard hitting Jamaican pot still. It might well go great with a bit Ting – jammin!

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Diablesse Caribbean Rum

Diablesse Caribbean Rum
Bythefatrumpirate September 18, 2019September 18, 2019

Diablesse Caribbean Rum. This is the second rum from the Diablesse brand, that I have reviewed recently. At present the two rums are their full portfolio.

The first Diablesse rum I reviewed was a Spiced Clementine Rum, I really enjoyed that one. This rum is perhaps their more “serious” effort. Founder of Diablesse Rum, Cleo Farman is very keen to attract drinkers to try out rum for the first time, so has went for a blend of rums from some of the Caribbean’s real powerhouses of rum production.

Diablesse Caribbean Rum is comprised of an 8 year old Barbados rum from the Foursquare Distillery, a 4 year old Jamaican rum from Worthy Park Estate and 2 year old Guyanese Rum from Diamond Distillery.

Presentation wise Diablesse is presented in a rounded stubby bottle with a very attractive and distinctive labelling, which includes the mythical Diablesse. It all looks very premium and stands out on the shelf. Kudos to The Label Makers Limited, who designed this. Diablesse Caribbean Rum currently retails at around the £35-38 mark. It is available from a number of online retailers including Master of Malt.

All the rums in the blend have been aged in ex-bourbon casks and there is no finish or extra maturation provided to the rums at any stage. So what we are getting is a very clean, very traditional blend of what many might see as Navy rums. Unlike Navy rums such as Lambs there is no caramel colouring or additives in this particular blend. Diablesse Caribbean rum is bottled at 40% ABV.

Blends have kind of fallen out of fashion recently, especially amongst more serious enthusiasts. Even casual drinkers seem to be going towards rums from specific islands or countries with very distinctive profiles rather than opting for a multi-island/country blend. That said as has been seen with The Duppy Share, a well constructed blend is still a very decent rum.

In the glass we have a rum which is a light to golden brown, a shade lighter perhaps than many more “traditionally” coloured gold rums. So definitely the claim for no caramel colouring with this blend, stands true. Even the DDL hasn’t darkened this rum and we all know their penchant for “extras”.

The nose is quite funky with lots of banana cake, pineapple and some nice dunder like notes. Bit of pencil shavings an some light nail varnish (is there such a thing?).

Further nosing allows some of the sweeter notes from the DDL rum (Enmore), so we get some toffee,raisin and some mixed fruit peel. Barbados is represented by a very healthy dose of vanilla and light baking spices. There are wafts of oak and spice but it is overall quite a fruity and funk forward rum.

As a sipper this has a lot going on. There is an intial sweetness, which gives way to a peppery mid palate and a slightly sour/tart note. A touch of gooseberry and some sharp citrus – lemon and lime. It’s a very dry and clean tasting rum, with just enough spice and oak to balance out the more citrusy elements and provide a good balance overall.

The balance is also lent a hand by the Barbados element which keeps everything together. It doesn’t let the DDL or the Jamaican elements run away with the show.

Finish wise I am quite surprised at the length of the finish. That said it does lose quite a lot of the flavour, especially the fruitier notes. Diablesse Caribbean Rum does become slightly bitter towards the end and is dominated a little by the oak. That said at 40% ABV, this never feels too boozy or uneven. As a sipper, maybe it could do with an extra bit of ABV but all in all its not a bad little tot of rum.

As a mixer in cocktails is perhaps where Diablesse Caribbean Rum works best. Such is the character and flavour profile of the rum, it doesn’t hide away when mixed. A simple drink such as a rum and cola is very flavourful and very smooth. Not something I necessarily see as a good thing, as it often means a lack of flavour. However, add a squeeze of lime and a few ice cubes and you have a very tasty and very more-ish drink.

Likewise cocktails such as an Old Fashioned or some of signature serves on the Diablesse’s website all work very, very nicely.

Diablesse Caribbean Rum is a versatile and very enjoyable blend of rum. They could easily have went for a cheaper blend and added some young Trini rum. Instead they opted for better quality more interesting rums and you can tell the difference.

As good a blended rum as I have tried for a while. If you don’t believe me then have a look at the review Steve at Rum Diaries Blog did. I may have borrowed one of his photos……..

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Velho Alambique Ouro

Velho Alambique Ouro
Bythefatrumpirate June 23, 2019

Velho Alambique Ouro is a cachaça from the town of Santa Tereza, Serra Gaucha in Rio Grande do Sul state, in Southern Brasil. Velho Alambique refers to “Old Alembic” or “Old Distillery” in English.

Finding information particularly background on this brand has proven a little tricky. They do have a website. Unfortunately, a lot of the information isn’t translating too well using simple translation tools available to me. Regrettably my Portuguese is non existent.

From what I can gather sugar cane has been cultivated on the site where Velho Alambique cachaça is produced for over 100 years. From what I understand the cachaça is produced by the Remus family. Information here suggests that Velho Alambique cachaca’s began as recently as 2010. But as I have said the translation is all a bit rudimentary!

So I will instead focus upon what I know about the actual cachaça for review today. This cachaça is aged for upto 2 years in a combination of oak, ex-grappa and Angico wood casks. The individual cachaca’s are then blended together to create Velho Alambique Ouro. The cachaça has the Producto do Organico designation on the label. This means that all the production methods used when making this cachaça are completely organic. So no pesticides or other chemical nasties.

The cachaça producers are quite keen on being seen to have this kind of production and it something which is much sought after amongst the smaller producers.

Distillation occurs on small Copper Pot Stills. It is bottled at 39% ABV. Presentation wise it is more an “old style” cachaça with a tall bottle with a very wide neck and big metal screw cap. The neck is much wider than you find in the UK and Europe. Quite normal for cachaça though.

Whilst the presentation is a little old fashioned it does have a certain appeal. A bottle of this cacacha retails at around $R80 (around £17). Were this particular cachaça to reach Europe I would expect a price tag of around £30.The cachaça is available in various bottle sizes from 160ml to 700ml.

It is quite a young cachaça but it is very well though of and has won numerous awards.

In the glass this cachaça is a straw/white wine colour. Nosing Velho Alambique this is quite an unusual cachaça. I have not reviewed one with a similar profile to this cachaça.

The nose is difficult to describe. It’s quite smoky with an almost “burnt” type of profile. It smells like scorched earth. Really unusual. Further nosing reveals vanilla, toasted oak, coconut and some fiery notes of chilli pepper.

As the cachaça settles in the glass the smokiness does subside a little. Once this happens you get a bit more of the fruitiness, lurking in this cachaça. I can’t say I have noticed any tomato ketchup in a rum or cachaça before.

I am getting those kind of notes with this. Tomato Juice and a spiciness bit like a Bloody Mary. Pulped Apple, vinegar, cider vinegar, tomatoes, bit of chilli powder. This is a really interesting nose!

Sipped it tastes a bit more like a conventional cachaça. Its a very smooth and very tasty one as well. Lots of different flavours in the mix. These are more familiar and more conventional than the nose. Vanilla, a touch of double cream, toffee and some slight grassiness.

This cachaça then has an extra layer of flavour. A slight mintiness and a slightly sharp note ( a bit like Grappa). The tomato and spice comes back a little more on the mid palate and slightly in the finish.

Really nice and really different. The finish (with this just being 39% ABV is short) but what is there overall is really pretty good. It just would have been nicer if it were a little longer. That said we have another really enjoyable and easy to sip cachaça. This has a little twist which helps it stand out from the crowd.

Well worth giving it a try.

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