Cahaca is a Brazilian spirit made from fermented sugar cane juice. It is not quite the same as rum which is usually made from molasses a by product of sugar. Like rum and tequilla it has two forms a white young version, and an aged golden form.
It has been on my to try list for years, and years mostly because it isn’t as easy to get hold of as rum or vodka. Your lucky to find one kind in a supermarket and i have never seen more than one brand.
A quick trip to trusty Waitrose and we found a rather fine looking bottle.
This cachaca is made by Velho Barreiro it claims to have been made since 1873 and is double filtered, it is the younger clear version.
It is an clear spirit with a tinge, coming in at 39% ABV.
The label reads Velho Barreiro is one of the most appreciated cachacas in Brazil, because of it’s delicate aromas, due to the very careful way of double distillation.
Sounds good so far..
We open the bottle, it has one of those strange dispensing tops under the lid, which appear to be designed to keep a Q from her drink. It takes me three goes to get it out of the bottle and into the glass.
Smells of very slightly burnt sugar, no hint of rum white or otherwise, which since it is so often lumped in with rum i find surprising.
Tastes very sweet, like a really rough drambubie, freshness at the beginning of the sip, almost grassy, swilling brings out hints of heather, and maybe a touch of lilac. There is an after taste I can’t quite name. It has fire on the way down and spreads warmth outwards.
It is not possible to drink a lot of this neat, it grates after a couple of glasses. Reading the label suggests we mix it with coconut. As it happens Havana Club gold and kara is one of my most favourite drinks. We mix a small glass each., take a gulp, gag and pour the rest down the sink (yes it was that bad). Luckily we had some cranberry in the cupboard so switch to mixing it with cranberry and soda. Still not great but we can at least drink it.
The drunk. Feeling quite warm and tipsy about 100ml in, somehow after next glass we reverted to sober, at least in mind, body still felt it was processing alcohol but the drunk feeling had well and truly dissipated. Disappointing to say the least. At bedtime we had drunk half the 70cl bottle. On the plus side no cats where subjected to crisps
I wouldn’t choose to drink this again, and having tried it have no idea how this could ever be confused with rum. I am still curious as to how ageing affects the liquor and will be on the lookout for the gold version.
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