Samaroli Samba Blended Rum 2011

Samba is a Brazilian cachaca bottled by Samaroli, the Italian house known for elegant, unsweetened single casks at measured strength. As a cachaca it is made from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice rather than molasses, the hard line that separates the category from most rum, and it is aged in amburana, the native Brazilian wood often called Brazilian teak.

That amburana cask is the whole story here, and it pushes the spirit well off the beaten track: eucalyptus, basil and a balsamic, almost medicinal herbal note on the nose, then a palate of spice, floral and fruity tones over young wood, finishing on dried fruit, tobacco and more florals. Amburana usually brings warm cinnamon and clove, but here it reads greener and more menthol-like over the grassy cane core. This is a genuinely divisive, analytical pour at 50%, one for adventurous drinkers chasing something unusual rather than anyone after easy sweetness.