Magnifica de Faria Tradicional. At last we have a cachaça which is available in the UK (and in parts of Europe). I first came across this brand and cachaça around 7 to 8 years ago in a chain restaurant here in the UK.

Las Iguanas is the name of said restaurant. The restaurant is a Latin American themed restaurant – with some of their dishes being Brasillian in origin (well you know as Brasillian as a Chicken Tikka Masala is Indian) they serve Cachaca. Their own brand nonetheless Magnifica.

Except it isn’t maybe exclusively their brand as it appears Magnifica cachaça is also available in Brasil – minus the Las Iguanas logo. Nevertheless it still gave me a chance to try some cachaça.

At the time I couldn’t really drink Agricole Rhum so white cachaça was a bit too much for me. It was a number of years before I tried any cachaça again. It’s only really been over the past 18 months that I have had my eyes opened up as to just how good cachaça can be.

Magnifica de Faria Tradicional is produced in Miguel Pereira, Rio de Janeiro. Despite being a clear cachaça it is not unaged. It has been aged for 2 years in Ipe barrels. Ipe is a very hard wood from the Brasillian rainforests. It does not impart any colour on the cachaça whilst ageing.

A 1 litre bottle of this cachaça retails at £21 you can buy online or direct from the restaurants. To be fair £21 for a litre of any spirit, these days is not bad going. It is bottled in the UK at 38%. In Europe it can be found at 40% ABV and in its native Brasil it’s 43% ABV. Magnifica de Faria Tradicional is produced on Copper Pot Stills.

The two paragraph’s below I have amended slightly from a review on The Sugar Cane Collection on this cachaça. Stijn who runs the site, is the only other person in Europe I know, who is actively reviewing cachaça beyond the odd bottle here and there. PS I will seek out some information on what exactly “Alegria” distillation is. It seems to be something used in Brandy/Cognac/Armagnac.

Magnifica de Faria distillery is the only cachaça distillery in Brazil using “Alegria” distillation. This is ran on 3 pot stills, with the first one acting as a ‘chauffe vin’.
Magnifica manually harvest their sugarcane without using any chemicals/pesticides. Each batch of cachaça is about 2000 litres.

The cachaça gets its name partly from the family producing the cachaça (Fária) and partly from the fact that the lady of the house was the very first female ‘Rectora Magnifica’ of the Santa Ursula university at Rio de Janeiro.

On the nose Magnifica de Faria is quite grassy – freshly cut cane. Underneath this is a slightly creamy note. A slight vinegar not and some balsamic cut in alongside some olives and ginger. It’s quite a vibrant nose for such a low ABV. It’s quite like a white Agricole. Slightly aggressive with quite a big “boozy” hit.

Sipped it’s actually not bad at all. It’s quite grassy again with a lot of spices – ginger, a touch of cinnamon, some curry powder and some soy sauce. Despite the rough edges on the nose it’s actually very sippable. It’s clean and quite enjoyable.

Further sips reveal how “short” the spirit is overall. The initial flavour profile quickly fades and there isn’t much in the finish beyond spicy wood and some ginger. Overall this is not a bad cachaça but it is perhaps a touch too light. Maybe an extra bit of ABV might have helped.

The overall balance is quite good and at £21 for a litre, it represents good value. Mixed in drinks such as a Caiprinha it works well. The grassier and boozy notes give drinks a nice kick to the drink.

Overall it’s not the best but it’s above average and available!