Whilst inches of snow are covering the Low Countries, our flight from Belo Horizonte (where it’s a warming 38 degrees) lands in Porto Alegre, where the mercury indicates a fine 27 degrees. Our destination: the Union Distillery Malt Whisky do Brasil in Veranopolis. Christmas under a bright sun and clear blue sky: the life of a Whisky Passion reporter can be hard.
“Veranopolis, Terra de Longevidade” it says on the monument, as we enter the city in the south of Brazil. Might this have to do with the fact that here lies the only distillery on Brazilian soil that produces single malt whisky?
When the car stops at the doors of the distillery, Union distillery manager Luciano Borsato welcomes us with that typical Brazilian warmth. Borsato…the name sounds rather Italian to us. And that’s no surprise: the south of Brazil is home to many people from German and Italian descendant, who settled here in the early 20th century. And those Italians did not only brought their language and names to South America, but also their passion for good wine.
World whisky
That’s how the União Monthanesa de Industrias started in 1948 with the production of wine. In 1972, whisky was added to the portfolio, and two years later the name changed in to the present Union Distillery. Those first years were merely a period of experimenting and searching, until in 1986 a contract was closed with the Bowmore Distillery, for technical support.
Borsato has good reasons to be proud of his whisky, that is only made with the best raw materials: clear water from the mountains of Rio Grande do Sul, peat from Scotland, and malted barley, partially from…Belgium. If there’s one whisky that deserves the label ‘world whisky’, it’s surely this one!
As we start a tour around the distillery, I’m glad my better half can be my interpreter. “We no speak Americo” wasn’t only a summerhit on the radio. First stop is the mashroom, where workers are busy with big wooden stirrers. Manual labor, not often to be seen anymore in Scotland.
The stillroom is rather impressive: a dozen stills aligned, all with classic wormtubs for condensation. A spirit safe is non-existing: the severe excises seem to be a European privilege (well, that is..). The new make comes straight from a tap, that has to be switched manual to separate middle cut from foreshots and feints.
Today, the stills are made in Brazil, says Borsato; but they soon will e replaced by stills from the well-known company Forsyth from Rothes. “A Scottish representative visited the distillery not so long ago” Borsato laughs. “Never seen a man capable of tasting that much whisky in one day”.
He new stills are part of the whole moving plan for the distillery. After more than 60 years, Union Distillery will leave Veranopolis, to settle in nearby Bento Gonçalves, the epicenter of Brazilian wine industry. “We’re closer to Porto Alegere’s harbor, it’s a booming touristic area, and we have all the space necessary there, explains salesmanager Volnei Trintinaglia. The distillery will be housed on the domain of winemaker Cordelier, who already uses our whisky to make the blends Barrilete, Old Master and O Monge. The blends don’t really impress us, but Cordeliers spumante can compete without any problem with the better French champagnes.
While going to the warehouses, we pass a shed that gives shelter to a dozen very small cupper stills. That small…are they also for making whisky? “On another location, we also produce top quality cachaça” Volnei says. The cachaça you know in Europe, often is an industrial product, but we distill it as it should be, in small stills. Then it goes for maturation in oak casks. Our cachaça isn’t only intended to mix in cocktails such as caipirinha and mojito, but is also intended to drink neat, just like a good whisky.
Sweet !
In the warehouses, the ex-bourbon casks are piled high. Only ex-bourbon casks at the moment, no finishing is done. But some two year old, peaty whisky is ageing as well. The whisky that’s not sold to blenders, is bottled as single malt after about 5 years of maturation. Strange: some of the whisky is bottled at a strength of 38 abv. Haven’t we always learned that whisky should be at least 40%? “Not in Brazil” Luciano says. “Here whisky should be at least 36%, and there’s even a maximum of 54%”.
It strikes us that the casks are stacked up very close to one another. Must be a hell of a job to get those casks out to bottle, no? But the Brazilian man with the Italian name explains: “We just leave the casks as they are. If we want to bottle, we just pump over the cask into another one.” To us, it seems like a strange way to work, but it surely saves a lot of space !
After the tour, Luciano and Volnei take us back to the tasting room: a very pleasant and beautiful room that can make some Scottish distilleries jealous. Before starting with the whiskies, we try an impressive series of cachaça. Even Marcela, Brazilian herself, must admit: these are in no way comparable with the cachaça we know back home. Even the white, un-aged cachaça, is highly drinkable without mixing. But especially the older ones, matured in oak and balsomo casks are very impressive indeed.
But we’re here, of course, to learn a bit more about their whisky. Are the Brazilians capable of making a fine dram? We start with the official single malt expression of the distillery: the Union Club. Nice and soft, not to complex, this whisky goes down very well. Is it because we’re in sugar cane country, that the whisky gives a bit of a sweet touch? Anyway..especially considering it’s young age, this whisky surely passes its first exam!
Next in line is something else: new make at cask strength. If the warm sun outside wasn’t enough, this dram surely makes us sweat. Punchy and pepper is an understatement! We finish with a two year old spirit of what one day will be their peaty whisky. Don’t expect peat as in Octomore or Laphroaig, but the peat is very present and balances very nicely with the sweet tones of the Brazilian spirit!
Before saying goodbye to the friendly crew of Union Distillery, we do some necessary shopping. For the time being, the whisky and cachaça is not yet available in Europe, but apparently that might change in the near future. And a Whisky Passion reporter of course never leaves home with an extra empty suitcase !
