Turmalina da Serra Carvalho is the latest cachaça to be reviewed on the site. Hailing from Areia in Parariba state. Turmalina da Serra is produced at the Cachoeira Sugar Mill. The property spans over 60,000 m2 in the Atlantic Forest.

At one point there were over 120 cachaça producing sugar cane plantations in the town of Areia alone. Today this stands at around 30 – still quite a lot of cachaça to be producing. Especially as this is a swamp area…..

Turmalina da Serra Carvalho is produced in small batches on Copper Pot stills. Production of this cachaça is around 10,000 litres per year. So for a cachaça it is pretty much a “limited edition” release. All the sugar cane used in the production of Turmalina da Serra is harvested by hand at the Cachoeira sugar mill.

This cachaça has been bottled at 42% ABV and has been aged for 9 years in Carvalho – French Carvalho to be specific (French Oak).Turmalina da Serra also have a Ouro, Freijo and Jequitiba cachaça, in their line up. From what information I can find this cachaça retails at around the R$100 mark. Which is around £/€25. Again don’t expect to see it priced like that in Europe. More likely £5o plus, I would imagine.

Presentation wise the bottle in particular is a modern 3/4 stubby style rounded look. The branding is really strong and overall the cachaça would sit nicely alongside other rums and cachaças were it to reach Europe. It’s good to go and would need no updating. The plastic topped cork stopper is a nice feature as well! All very modern.

For the curious amongst you they do have a Facebook page. Which does show a listing for a website but sadly I couldn’t get that link to work.

In the glass this is a straw/light brown colour.

The nose is zesty and slightly peppery. It reminds me a little of a molasses based rum. It seems to have less grassy and vegetal or even smoky like notes, found more so in other cachacas.

Further nosing reveals some slight grassy aromas that do remind you that is a product of sugar cane rather than molasses. Some light notes of red wine, raisin and some almost licorice like aromas.

Sipped, it is very flavourful with an almost port like note to it. It has a lovely lemon zest running through it, alongside some notes that are reminiscent of pastrami (?) – peppery and slighty meaty.

This is quite a distinctive and full flavoured cachaça and one which I am enjoying very much.The mid palate continues to evolve with notes of maple syrup, raisins and some rosehip. It’s a really complex and rewarding cachaça. Further sips reveal more complexity as you get a slight smoky note moving into the finish. The 42% ABV does give this a cachaça slight edge I feel over some of the 38% ABV offerings. Not a great deal extra but just a slightly more boozy kick, which I enjoy. I like to enjoy a bit of the ethanol when I’m drinking!

Finish wise it’s really pleasant and warming – slight smokiness mingles alongside more  of the rich fruity notes, fading out into a really nice warming burn of mild ginger.

With this being such a limited product it is, sadly unlikely we will see it in the UK or Europe. That said if demand were sufficient they maybe could expand production. I fear however the ball is very much in the producers court!

If you are lucky enough to travel to Brasil or no someone who will act as your cachaça mule, this is well worth picking up.