Salinas Ipe

I bought this bottle a while ago on a trip to one of the big box stores in the area—pretty reasonable price. I didn’t think much about it, just grabbed it off the shelf because I’ve wanted to try an Ipe for a while. 

First, let me say that this cachaça is, as I described elsewhere, orange. Yes, it looks like it could be confused with a children’s cough syrup. Okay, it’s not that bright, but orange drinks, in general, don’t make me think of natural products.

It’s dark in the bottle, but in the glass, you can almost mistake it for amber. This Salinas Ipe hangs on to the glass nicely, and as with most of their products, they’ve done some excellent work.

The initial nose was difficult for me. So, I decided to put in a few drops of water to open it up. This certainly helped. I caught a bit of citrus and spice, with the heavy scent of cane underneath.

Because of what I’d read about Ipe, I expected a punch to the tongue. But that’s not what I got.

Instead, I got what I would describe as a citrus whiskey. If that doesn’t sound good to you, I can understand. Maybe I’m not explaining it accurately. I can only offer what popped into my head as I tasted it.

Maybe it was the water, don’t know, but I think this is one cachaça that one could drink over the rocks with no problem. Adding the water opened everything up to make it more accessible.

At a little over 30 reais, this Ipe is more than accessible and surprisingly tasty. I can imagine many, many uses for this fine Salinas product. Probably great in mixed drinks and can add interesting color to standard drinks. Yes, I know you can’t buy it. But if you could, I’d say you should.