Maria Joao Cachaca Brasileira Amburana. This cachaca producer hails from Santa Rosa in Rio Grande du Sol state.

Maria Joao cachaca is named rather simply after the owner Joao and his wife Maria. The brand was introduced in order to make the family farm ran by João Adalberto dos Santos, more profitable and less reliant on the local markets.

Joao looked at various different ventures but eventially decided he would produce an 100% natural artisanal cachaca on a Copper Alembic Pot Stills. Feasability studies on the property began in 2011. The first harvest of sugar cane for the cachaca took place in 2013 following two years of intensive training on how to distill and produce a quality cachaca.

Maria Joao Premium Cachaca Brasileira is one of the three cachacas currently in the Maria Joao portfolio. As well as a white cachaca they also have a Ouro cachaca, which like this expression is aged in native Amburana wood often called Brasilian Oak. It also goes by a great variety of other names in its native Brasil. Cachaca producers have largely stuck on Amburana as the spelling.

Maria Joao is a family run business with 6 members of the Adalberto dos Santos family working for the brand – Joao and his wife Maria along with their daughters Vanessa and Fernanda with their husbands Rodrigo and Vinícius respectively.

Information (which is sadly cannot date) notes that Maria Joao is produced from just 2 hectares of sugar cane with around 100 litres of cachaca produced per day. Sales are mostly to the south and south east of Brasil.

Maria Joao Cachaca Brasileira Premium is distilled in small batches on a Copper Alembic Pot Still, it is then rested for 1 year in stainless steel vats. The cachaca is then aged for 2 years in Amburana casks. It is bottled in a stubby 700ml sized bottle at 40% ABV.

Presentation is modern particularly the stubby bottle and the card sleeve for the cachaca. It’s clean and nicely done without any of the usual “flair” associated with some cachaca. It’s far from being gaudy or over the top. Maria Joao Premium Cachaca Brasileira retails at R$147 (£23), which is fairly pricy. It would cost a fair bit more than £23 were it to come to the UK and Europe.

Maria Joao have a website but it doesn’t show this particular cachaca. A little bit more infromation on the production of their cachaca would be welcome but it’s not a badly presented site at all. Likewise with their Facebook page – it all looks very modern and professional. They also have a few different videos on Youtube. Sadly, all in Portuguese so no use to ignoramuses like me. That said the area this cachaca is situated in looks very nice!

In the glass the Maria Joao Premium Cachaca Brasileira is a golden/dark brown colour. The nose is pretty strong for a spirit at just 40% ABV. Quite heavy. The Amburana influence is immediately apparent. There is a soapy/pine aroma coming from very prominently from the glass. It smells a little like disinfectant.

This I admit probably doesn’t sound to inviting but it is balanced by a creamy, milky note along with some nicely intergrated ginger and some less sharp herbal notes – pine cone and a touch of Pot Pourri. A slightly perfumed note that ensures this has balance to it’s heavier elements.

This is heavier and more intense than a lot of cachaca at this age.

Sipped Maria Joao Premium Cachaca Brasileira is much fruitier than I expected. Quite a lof of citrus zest on the initial couple of sips. Especially on the initial entry. The mid palate quicky evolves into more of the notes I got when nosing. Ginger comes through pretty quickly, along with the pine and a touch of carbolic soap. Again this might not sound to pleasant but once you acquire the taste for Amburana aged cachaca, it becomes something you enjoy about them.

Despite the quite “fiery” and intense nature of the nose the cachaca makes a lighter sipper than I expected. The finish is nicely done and beautifully balanced with vanilla and ginger balancing the notes of citrus, soap and pine cones. It is pretty long and the burn is just right.

As a sipping cachaca this is really pretty good. As long as you like Amburana aged cachaca. Price wise it’s certainly pretty expensive if you look at it solely on its age.

I enjoyed this and didn’t mix any of my sample.