Spirited Advent-ures

OK, so as you know, I recently had a book published that features 31 Edgar Allan Poe-related cocktails.

Fortuitously, at about the same time I came into possession of an Advent calendar. But this isn’t any old Advent calendar; this one provides a different, 50 ml bottle of spirits for each day of Advent. Is this a great country, or what?

The manufacturer (“The Mixologer”) provides a recommendation for a cocktail to make with each spirit. But I’ve decided to sample each entry “neat” (i.e., straight and without ice). And I’m going to provide my honest assessment of each one, using four criteria: (1) appearance; (2) aroma; (3) taste; and (4) finish. I’m also going to use the opportunity to learn a little trivia about each of these different spirits. And I’m going to post my findings each day during Advent. Consider it my Christmas gift to you, Dear Reader.

So, without further ado, let’s get to today’s spirit.

1. Novo Fogo barrel-aged cachaça

Cachaça is, essentially, Brazilian rum. But don’t let a Brazilian hear you say that. They will insist that cachaça is a unique spirit, and in the legal sense they are right. By law, no one can call their rum cachaça unless it is made in Brazil and follows strict protocols. It’s akin to how no one outside of Scotland can call their whisk(e)y Scotch.

Cachaça is made from sugar cane grown in Brazil, with nothing else but water and maybe a little caramel coloring. (Regular old rum is goes through an extra step, whereby the sugar is first refined into molasses.) Cachaça can be aged in hardwood casks, or bottled directly. The ABV of the bottled spirit must be between 38 and 48 percent.

Today we’re tasting a barrel-aged cachaça made by Novo Fogo. Here’s how they describe their product: “This aged spirit bakes the banana notes from the un-aged cachaça in 53-gallon American oak barrels that have been taken apart, sanded, and re-toasted. The heat and humidity of the rainforest changes the spirit to the flavors of banana bread, with notes of chocolate, cinnamon bark, coffee, and black pepper.” Let’s check it out!

Appearance: Light-to-medium bronze-gold hue, like a urine sample when you’re a bit dehydrated. Or like Miller Genuine Draft, if that’s more your thing.

Aroma: Pleasant, not overpowering. The barrel aging really comes through–vanilla, baking spices, maybe a little clove. A slight hint of sugar cookies–inexplicably with raisins–baking in the oven.

Taste: This is unusual but surprisingly tasty. It’s got the sweetness of the milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl after eating Frosted Mini Wheats, and it’s balanced with the flavors of raw celery sticks, fresh-cut grass, and some Old English furniture polish.

Finish: The finish is definitely unusual and intriguing. You can tell you’ve just sipped something with minimal processing; the rough edges have not been sanded away, and your tongue is left trying to figure out what just happened. There’s also a notable solvent aftertaste that lingers at the end, but thankfully there’s no accompanying burn. It reminds me of when I was working with plastic pipe while plumbing the barn, and I accidentally got some PVC glue on the rim of my coffee mug. Each time I took a sip of coffee, there was a solvent-y taste in the background. It didn’t stop me from finishing the coffee, though.

Bottom Line: This cachaça is a bit more interesting and less heavy-handed than your standard Bacardi Gold…but it also costs over twice as much. I might pour myself a small glass of this stuff before dinner, but if I were making a cocktail, I’d just use Bacardi and use the money I saved to buy a new can of Weld-On.