Novo Fogo Barrel-Aged

40%. Agreed 2 years in oak barrels. Copper put distilled. Dry wine on the nose, dissipates quickly. Nose is warm but not hot, with some brine. Hint of cane and yeast. On the palate: more brine. Fairly smooth/watery with some youthful harshness. Brine fades after time. 7

Although this was only aged for 2 years in oak, I find it a little bourbon heavy for my liking.

Notes of bourbon, sugarcane, oak, and cinnamon, it's a little dry to be a favorite of mine.

Compared to the other cachacas that I have rated, it rates as an upper 6 right near it's silver cousin. The flavor on this one is quite subdued, so for anyone who cannot stand one of the better cachacas that get right up in your face, give this one a try. For me, this one is only good for caipirinhas, and being quite toned down in flavor at that. If you want a REAL caipirinha, pick another cachaca other than this one.

Update one week later: While listening to some more CD's that arrived in the mail, I ran out of one of my bottles of rum . This one was the next logical progression. Wow! It has quite a few tropical fruit notes and would make a great rum punch frozen ahead of time for an island trip. One batch got mixed with strawberry banana nectar and the other got mixed with guava nectar. Of course, a small amount of coconut rum and a very small amount of lime juice was added to this mix. In other words, I found a really good use for this Brazilian rum.

You either really like this or you don't. Personally I really loved this stuff an easy straight sipper all day. Very well done and refined.

Had a rum tasting on a sunny afternoon, because why not. Novo Fogo Barrel Aged Cachaça bottle and label design looks boring and dull. Strong alcohol, plenty of wood and smokiness coming through to the nose and palate. Strong burn at the end, so better to mix it up with plenty of lime and Demerara sugar.

Funky for a cachaca with notes of vanilla, nutmeg, pepper and woody. Not a great sipper and worry it could overwhelm cocktails like daquaris.

The company's website claims a flavor profile of banana bread, chocolate, cinnamon, and coffee. Not sure I really get those, but it's still tasty nonetheless. Am curious to try more cachacas to compare overall quality.