Flor do Brasil Aguardente de Cana. These Cachaca’s have been produced in Castelo, Espirito Santo since 1949. Information on this brand has been hard to come by. It appears that this cachaça the Special Reserve is their premium offering. Their other Cachaca’s are presented with differing bottles and logo’s. Which was a bit confusing.

The Flor do Brasil Cachaca I have for review today is aged for 5-6 years in 200 litre Balsam barrels. As with most of the Cachaca’s I am reviewing it is produced on a column still from freshly cut sugar cane. Unlike many of the Cachaca’s I have reviewed recently it is not distilled on a Copper Pot Still. It is bottled at 41% ABV and the bottle pictured is a 700ml bottle. Price wise I haven’t found a site with this for sale. I’d hazard a guess and say I would expect this to be around £50-60 or more if it ever came to Europe or the UK.

Formed in 1949 by Maria Jose Prata Frossard Flor do Brasil originally only produced brown sugar. Unfortunately this did not prove very successful so “Dona Pratinha” as she was affectionately known turned her attentions to the production of Cachaca in the same year. Flor do Brasil has been passed down to sons and grandsons and it remains a family business.

Flor do Brasil are one of the domestic Cachaca producers in Brasil that wish to expand onto the International market, Presentation wise this Cachaca would sit proudly along other Premium Rum and Cachaca in a store. The red and gold colour scheme is eye-catching and the Cardboard Sleeve suggests premium. They perhaps need to add something more in keeping with the overall presentation at the very top of the bottle. The gold metal screw cap isn’t quite so premium. Maybe an upgrade to that may be required.

In the glass Flor do Brasil Special Reserve is a white wine to straw colour. It’s very light.

On the nose it is quite a soapy, almost waxy affair – candlewax and some tree sap. I am also noting a note of what I can best describe as fermenting apple juice. Which adds a little sharpness.

Overall the nose on Flor do Brasil is very nutty – cashews and peanuts, some buttery pastry like Shortbread and the more I nose the more the fermenting apple juice turns into something like a Chenin Blanc.

It’s a very interesting nose and it is a Cachaca which very much shows why Cachaca aged in woods such as this should be recognised as a spirit in its own right. Rather than having people try to lump it under rum or rhum Agricole.

Sipped this is quite a sweet tasting spirit. The notes from the wood deliver a quite distinctive profile. It’s not very spicy – the wood has delivered a slightly soapy/waxy quality to the flavour couple with some mild notes of ginger and some sweet note of white grape. It’s a very light spirit that is ridiculously easy to sip.

Much of the flavour is delivered on the initial sip and the mid palate and finish tend to fade out perhaps a little quicker than you might like. For someone unaccustomed to drinking spirits this may be an easy, light introduction. In many ways it doesn’t really feel like a 41% spirit. This is both to its advantage and detriment.

Bizarrely as I am sipping Flor do Brasil I feel that it might well be better appreciated chilled. It’s light and refreshing character would work very well as a palate cleanser.

The mid palate and finish on this Cachaca don’t offer a great deal beyond what the first sip gives you. The finish just fades out but its nice and mellow and you are left with the nice nutty and buttery elements of this Cachaca when you are finished.

This is a nicely balanced spirit – it is perhaps a touch to light to be truly exceptional. It is a very easy going sipper that delivers a nice alternative to a heavier glass of rum or cachaça. It won’t be to everyone’s taste. I enjoyed the influence of the balsam wood on this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite the fact the finish and mid palate weren’t quite as “big” as I might have liked.