Cachaca Festival 2019

For a change, let’s move to alternative spirits for a short while. As part of Rumfest 2019, there-in lay the Cachaca festival.

Cachaca is a Brazilian drink. With over 40,000 producers and 5000 brands, cachaca is by far the most consumed spirit in Brazil, only 2% of which is exported. First distilled in the early 1500’s, cachaca pre-dates rum by a hundred years or so. Like other spirits, cachaca is typically governed by preservation and protection laws. In general:

• Cachaca must be derived from the juice of fresh sugarcane.
• The mandatory bottling alcohol strength must lie between 38-48% abv.
• Up to six grams of sugar per litre can be added.
• Unlike whisky, cachaca can be aged & stored in casks of numerous wood types including many native Brazilian species unfamiliar to European noses & palates. Casks should be no bigger than 700 litres [the same as for Scotch].

Like mezcal and tequila, there are many types and sub-categories of cachaca with differently applied rules, and like most drinks other drink categories, there is cachaca and then there is cachaca. Further reading: cocktailwonk.com: cachaca’s regulations demystified

I start my cachaca journey with Companheira. I tried four from their range of unaged & aged cachaca from 0-8 years.

1. Companheira Prata [2019] Ob. 40% [50cl]
2. Companheira Castanheira 2yo [2019] Ob. 40% [50cl]
3. Companheira Imburana 2yo [2019] Ob. 40% [50cl]
4. Companheira Carvalho 4yo [2019] Ob. 40% [50cl]

With thanks

• C: The unaged [Prata] cachaca is where it’s at for me, though both two-year-olds [Castanheira & Imburana] are unusual and intriguing to my palate. Indeed, I haven’t the experience/knowledge to describe notes born from native Brazilian trees used to make barrels from. I’m told the Castanheira is matured in casks from chestnut, though pictures of those fruits/nuts/seeds look more like hazelnuts. Tinterweb says it’s a Brazil nut! Once we get to four years [Carvalho], the spirit is largely quiet and the presentation more cognac-like. I didn’t manage to reach the Extra Premium 8yo, instead going back to the unaged Prata that I loved for its soft pong and sublime mouthfeel. It is however begging for a higher strength presentation.

 

Alambique Brasil Amburana [2019] Ob. [750ml]

Aged for a short time in Brazilian cherry wood.

• N: Peas and apples with a little more funk than the one that follows, but a touch tame overall.
• T: Tamed but with an interesting wood element unfamiliar to my whisky-centric palate.
• F: Roots and bark [from the cherry wood], and a touch of aniseed.
• C: Funky soft butyric. Nice, intriguing.

Scores 82 points

 

Alambique Brasil Carvalho & Amburana [2019] Ob. [750ml] tFRP4/5

Aged for 8 months in new Brazilian wood and French oak.

• C: Soda water, a dash of lemonade and loads of vanilla over neutral/column still rum, with lemon cake sponge at the death. Very tame/standard.

Scores 78 points

 

Some advice that has been circulating, was to look out for cachaca’s in beer style bottles. Additionally, to seek out cachaca enthusiast [and distributor of over 400 brands], Leszeq Wedzicha [tFRP]. Once located, Leszeq took me through some of his cachaca ‘specials’ that were placed in a large ornate silver fruit basket at the back of the stands. We start with a natural soft funky product.

 

Weber Haus [2019] Ob. 40%/80 proof [1ltr]

• C: Smells stronger than it tastes, yet it’s only 40%! Like the Companheira Prata [above], I can taste its deliciousness on the nose – olfactory joys! I was too engrossed in listening to Leszeq to take much else in.

[Not scored]

 

Indaiazinha [8yo] Ob. Balsa wood 47% [300ml] tFRP4.5/5

I’m told this highly respected cachaca is very “natural”, and limited by design.

• N: Light fruity pechuga vibes, light murky papery/woodiness, something perfumed, fruit yoghurt, poppadoms,…. yet I’m only scratching the surface. There are notes here I cannot possibly identify.
• T: Tight, light-yet-acute sugary metals and more unfamiliar, murky flavours. Seems like there’s a marriage here, the wood shaping the spirit. A never-ending spicy bone-dry chewiness ensues.
• F: With a rootsy herbal spice, the balsa appears as a dry tickle on the tongue.
• C: I’m very grateful to Leszeq, who is providing me with the dog’s proverbials.

Scores 88 points

 

Pardin Oloroso cask ‘experimento’ unreleased abv unknown

• N: It’s Brazilian Christmas time! We’ve boozy fruit juice with aromatic spices – so a seasonal punch if you will.
• T: Spirit, in general, can struggle against dominant oloroso casks and here’s another example. The spirit has coped very well, but it’s on the edge. We are provided with Brazilian mince pies, accompanied by a glass of sweet sherry on the side.
• F: Sustained mild-sweetness and even milder fresh.
• C: I’d prefer the spirit to be freer from the wood, but this is one lovely [experimental] cask and boy does the sugar cane spirit pair nicely with it. A drinker for sure.

Scores 86 points

 

Santo Grau Solera P.X. [2019] Ob. 39% [750ml] tFRP4.5/5

Santo’s solera system is comprised of five 500ltr casks. Proper farm maturation I’m told and pictures attest to it.

• N: Fruity funk, PX > sugar cane, onion gravy, roast dinners,… I ask Leszeq what the essence of sugar cane is. “Grassy” he replies. I ask about the frequent appearance of metal-y/coppery notes. Again, “essence of sugar cane”, he says. [Note to self: To love rum and cachaca is to love sugar cane].
• T: Thyme, rosemary, stout [this appeared before], and more gravy action – think of the last mouthful of a roast dinner when you use the last roast potato to scrape the plate clean.
• F: Becomes really earthy like a slightly green raw potato with lettuce.
• C: Boy does this stands out. Peculiar!

Scores,…. I’ve no idea. My instinct says somewhere around 88 points but I lack the context to fairly place this juice style on a points scale.

 

Leszeq Wedzicha again: “With cachaca, never look at the colour”.

Cambeba 10yo [2019] Ob. Organica 39% tFRP4.5/5

• N: Deliciously soft with notes of fusty honey dunnage/putty. A style familiar then, to a whisky palate, and yet not.
• T: Whilst the nose is more cask-led, the spirit holds the palate. We’ve the most unusual narrow, soft yet vibrant & juicy fruity arrival I’ve ever experienced, followed by acute sour fruits that are a touch fusty.
• F: Plenty of oak action here with an illusion of barley sugar. In between, I got moderately-sweet [non-descript] juice dripping from sun-baked drying fruits hanging from the tree.
• C:  Complex, soft and vibrant. Best cachaca of the day.

Scores 89 points

 

Check out cachaca crystal blenders glasses. Cute! Check out cachaca too, a world within a world. With thanks to Leszeq Wedzicha and co.

 

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