The Bottom Line
- Smooth, clean cachaça unlike most white cachaças available.
- Creates outstanding, complex Caipirinhas.
- More expensive than most cachaças.
Description
- Ultra-premium cachaça distilled with fresh sugar cane pressed one time in Brazil.
- Aged in used Cognac casks and refined in southern France.
- Released in late 2005.
- Gold medal winning spirit at the 2006 San Fransisco World Spirits Awards.
- Retails for around $30 per 750 mL bottle.
Guide Review - Leblon Cachaça
A spectrum of popular cocktails can be transformed with a twist of Brazilian flavor by substituting Leblon Cachaça for the typical base spirit: for the tequila in a Margarita, the vodka of a Cosmopolitan and the rum of Daiquiris, Mojitos and Rum & Cokes. However, one drink, the Caipirinha, begs for the premium taste of Leblon. As the national drink of Brazil the Caipirinha displays the country's spirit perfectly and is always the test of a good cachaça: the one made with the smooth Leblon was perfect. Other variations of the Caipirinha such as the Caipirini, Kumquat-Ginger Caipirinha and Raspberry Caipirinha are just as refreshing as the original.
Tasting notes:
Leblon traps a tequila-like nose with transparent fruity and herbal notes and undertones of vanilla. The full-bodied palate is smooth with complex layers of citrus, vanilla, pepper and the most subtle oak. For such a lively spirit, the warm, velvety finish is a lasting surprise.
