Companheira Gatinha Cachaca. This is the second release from Companheira (Companion in English) that I have reviewed. I have previously reviewed the brands Extra Premium, which was one of the best cachacas I have sipped to date.

Companheira have been producing cachaca since 1994 and have a number of products in their portfolio. Companheira Gatinha has won awards recently at the Expocachaca in 2018 and Cacharitiba earlier this year. As a result of this I am assuming that it is a fairly recent addition to the market.

Companheira Gatinha is presented very differently to the Extra Premium. Companheira have a few different bottle types in their line up. They don’t keep a consistent “branded” approach to their bottlings. Presentation wise Companheira Gatinha is a little more “Brasilian” the Extra Premium with the opaque screw cap bottle. The label is a little more modern Gatinha translated into English means kitten, so this Companion Kitten cachaca.

The cachaca is available only in a 600ml bottle and will set you back around R$34-50 around £6-9. Were this to come to the UK/Europe I would expect to see it priced at around £30. It is bottled at 40% ABV. The price online of this cachaca is quite variable so if you are able to buy it from a Brasilian vendor then shop around.

Companheira Gatinha is a blend of cachacas aged in different types of wood. All the cachacas are first distilled in small batches on the companies custom built Pot Stills. The blend also includes some unaged cachaca.

The exact ratios are unknown but the blend includes cachaca which has been aged for 4 years in American and European oak barrels, Cachaca which has been stored in Amburana vats for 2 years and finally cachaca which has been rested in stainless steel tanks.

Should you require any further information on the brand then they have a pretty decent website, which is worth looking at. It translates reasonably well into English using most search engines and plug-ins.

So lets move onto the review. In the glass Companheira Gatinha is a straw/white wine coloured spirit.

The nose is full of double cream, vanilla and a slightly soapy aroma. A little light citrus can also be noted.

It is a nicely balanced and pleasant nose. There are some light spices from the oak which give it a bit more body – hints of ginger and some aniseed.

At 40% ABV it shows little “boozy” qualities and does not smell like a young spirit at all.

Sipped, it is certainly more fiery and spicy than I was expecting from the pretty delicate nose. It has quite an oaky bitterness on the initial entry which gives why to black pepper heat especially on the first sip.

After another sip or two you will feel the heat on the entry diminish considerably. This gives way to more of the creamy and vanilla notes that were present on the nose. There is a floral almost perfumed flavour to this cachaca. Fortunately it balances nicely with the creamy notes and I’m also getting a little fruitiness on the mid palate. Touches of peach and some rose water.

It’s a very pleasant, quite easy going cachaca to sip. It is also reasonably complex with a really nice overall balance.

Finish wise this cachaca has quite a long and very warming finish which I really enjoyed. It is howev

er, still a relatively young spirit so whilst I enjoy the overall balance it does have a bit of heat to it which might not be to everyones tastes as a sipper

Mixed it forms a great basis for a Caiprinha or a Ti Punch. The rough edges are smoothed out and it makes a very flavourful, yet in many ways subtle mixer. At the price you could certainly use it as a mixer.

It is perhaps of little surprise that this tasty little cachaca has already won a few awards since its release.

Another impressive cachaca from the Companheira stable.