Characterization of cachaca and rum aroma

摘要

Cachaca, the most popular alcoholic beverage in Brazil, is a sugar cane spirit similar to rum. Its production is around 2 billion liters per year, of which < 1% is exported. Although rum is similar to cachaca its flavor difference is easily recognizable. Using gas chromatography-olfactometry (GCO) to separate and characterize the odorants present in cachaca and rum, these two sugar cane products were compared and standards identified to use in a descriptive sensory analysis (DSA). In the DSA cachaca was more intense in the grassy, spicy, sulfury, and vinegar descriptors, whereas apple and caramel were the same in both rum and cachaca. The GCO data for the apple-smelling compounds P-damascenone along with ethyl butyrate, isobutyrate, and 2-methylbutyrate were at the same potency in both cachaca and rum, whereas the spicy-smelling eugenol, 4-ethylguaiacol, and 2,4-nonadienal were much more potent in cachaca.