Avuá Cachaça, the leading artisanal, single-sourced cachaça brand, introduces a new expression to its range of hand-crafted cachaças named after the homegrown woods they are aged in – Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça. Aged over one year in high density bálsamo wood casks native to South and Central America. Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça is available in select markets nationwide for $49.99.

Situated in the hills of Carmo near Rio de Janeiro, Avuá Cachaça begins in the single-estate sugarcane fields of a small, family-owned farm, produced by one of Brazil’s few female distillers and using a family recipe honed over three generations. Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça is aged for up to two years in burgundy-colored bálsamo hardwood harvested from trees with a height that ranges from 65-98 feet and a trunk measuring 24-35 inches in diameter. These tall trees with a fine grain imparts herbaceous aromas and slightly astringent flavors. The medium to fine texture grain is interlocked with lighter golden brown to a burgundy property.

“Avuá Cachaça’s seven offerings and various indigenous wood aging experiments were created to challenge the perception of the cachaça category,” says Pete Nevenglosky, co-founder of Avuá Cachaça. “Bálsamo hardwood can be found from southern Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul and imparts a truly unique flavor profile to the American spirits landscape. The thoughtful selection of this type of wood for Avuá’s Bálsamo Aged Cachaça was made with the bartender in mind, designed to offer unique flavors for adventurous cocktail applications and pairings.”

Tasting Notes: Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça
750ml / 40% ABV / $49.99 SRP
Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça is produced in large vertical casks and aged over one year.  The bálsamo wood harvested from tall trees with a fine grain imparts a complex, herbaceous aroma with a flavor that hints at minerality, citrus and bitterness. Enjoy in classic cachaça cocktails such as a Rabo de Galo, herbaceous gin-based cocktails or sipped neat. Additionally, pair a neat pour with a cold beer to experience a tabelinha by alternating sips of cachaça and beer, inspired by the back and forth of a soccer ball between two players often seen on the beach in Ipanema Beach in Rio.

Organically produced with only renewable energy, Avuá Cachaça uses water piped from a natural source to grind the sugarcane and a boiler for the still is fired by the residuals of the sugarcane pulp, known as bagasse. Sugarcane-based spirits, such as cachaça exhibit more terroir as the juice pressed directly from sugarcane is used for fermentation and distillation. The cane, composed of four specifically chosen varietals, is hand-cut, ground with a waterwheel, and fermented for less than 24 hours using airborne wild yeasts, before being distilled in a copper-crafted alembic still.

As Avuá Cachaça continues to be heralded by spirits critics for its depth of flavor and coveted by leading bartenders for its versatility in cocktails, here are four cocktails that showcase Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça (photos and recipes available by request):

Bálsamo Boulevard
Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça, Carpano Antica, Campari, Giffard Banane
Created by Dave Kaplan, partner, Death & Company, N.Y.

Soul Mate
Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça, Lustao Amontillado Sherry, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, Lemon, Orgeat, Massenezz Crème de Peche
Created by Pietro Collina, bar manager, The Nomad, N.Y.

Sertão
Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça, Lime, Rapadura, Zulu Bitters, Dry Apple Cider
Created by Laércio Zulu, head bartender, Vista Bar, São Paulo

Bálsamo Old Fashioned
Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça, Cocktail Juice, Vanilla, Cardamom
Created by Mike Neff, partner, The Cottonmouth Club, T.X.

The complete Avuá Cachaça collection includes: Avuá Prata Cachaça (the unaged 84 proof version), Avuá Still Strength Cachaça (one of the highest proof cachaças available in America), Avuá Amburana Cachaça (the only cachaça available in America aged in Amburana wood, found only in the forests of South America), Avuá Oak Cachaça (aged in French Oak casks for up to two years following Brazilian tradition), Avuá Jequitibá Rosa Cachaça (first of its kind in the United States) and Avuá Tapinhoã Cachaça (the only cachaça available in America aged in a recommissioned barrel of Tapinhoã wood).

To discover more about Avuá Cachaça, visit www.avuacachaca.com.br, follow the brand @avuacachaca, #thrillofdiscovery, and via Facebook, Facebook.com/avua.cachaca.

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About Avuá Cachaça:

Launched in the United States in 2013, Avuá Cachaça’s mission is to challenge the perception of the cachaça category as a one-trick caipirinha pony through a terroir-driven artisanal product that expresses the 500 years of traditional production in Brazil. To further that mission, Avuá Cachaça founded Tiki by the Sea in 2015, an annual bartender-focused educational and cultural experience focused on cachaça education and Tiki history. Avuá Cachaça has been heralded by spirits critics and leading bartenders alike for how it reflects the depth of flavor and botanical richness garnered from distilling fresh sugarcane juice using the indigenous yeasts, cane and soil of Brazil. Distilled by one of Brazil’s only female distillers using a family recipe honed over three generations, Avuá Cachaça begins in the single-estate sugarcane fields of a small, family-owned farm situated in the hills of Carmo near Rio de Janeiro. Avuá Cachaça’s small-batch expressions can be traced to a combination of distilling mastery and thoughtful wood selection, using only exotic woods native to Brazil and South America. The range consists of seven expressions that reflect a pioneering approach in wood ageing, the unaged 84 proof Avuá Prata; Avuá Still Strength Cachaça, one of the highest proof cachaças, at 90 proof, available in America; Avuá Amburana, the only cachaça available in America aged in Brazilian Amburana wood; Avuá Oak, aged in French Oak casks; Avuá Tapinhoã, the only cachaça available in America aged in Tapinhoã casks; Avuá Jequitibá Rosa Cachaça, the first Jequitibá Rosa wood cask aged cachaça in the United States; and Avuá Bálsamo Aged Cachaça, the newest edition to the collection.

 

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