The story of Amázzoni Gin begins with a friendship forged by fate. Together, Arturo Isola and Alexandre Mazza have achieved something that has never been done before: they’ve created a Brazilian craft gin. And what a craft gin it is! Fragrant with herbs and spices unique to Brazil, while maintaining that quintessential London dry base of juniper and citrus, this is truly a gin like no other.
Here’s how these two friends captured the essence of Brazil in the bottle our members can find in their July 2020 Gin of the Month box.
Amázzoni Gin
(Pronounced ‘Am-ATZ-oh-knee’)
Distilled in Brazil
42% ABV
Botanicals:
Juniper, Maxixe, Coriander, Laurel, Brazil Nut, Cocoa, Cipo-cravo, Pink Pepper, Lemon, Tangerine, Victoria Regia
Tasting Notes:
A classic yet complex gin, this spirit blends old and new-world botanicals, some of which have never before been distilled.
On the nose, the fresh fragrance of juniper blends with an intriguing hint of spice. At first sip, herbaceous falvours bloom on a base of juniper, with an intoxicating nuttiness lingering on the mid-palate. A brilliant burst of citrus and floral flavours make for an elegant finish.
The Spirit of Life
Distillers Alexandre Mazza and Arturo Isola
Brazil is a land of intoxicating beauty. It is vivid, alive and full of untamed magic – a place that inspires every visitor to be bold and adventurous. By far the largest country in South America, there is no end to the wonders you can find within its broad borders. From the concrete jungles of cities heaving with people to rainforests rich with flora and fauna, everywhere you look is a wealth of life and colour.
With a population of 200 million people with Portuguese, Italian, Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous roots, what brings Brazilians together is their unique culture. From the festivities of Carnival to the rhythms of samba, celebration and passion are at the heart of what it means to be Brazilian.
It was the sense of pride that the country inspired in Arturo and Alexandre that encouraged them to be bold and craft Brazil’s first-ever gin.
“Brazil has given me so much, and I wanted to give back to the country by creating and exporting a product that would proudly show her essence to the rest of the world.”
Paraíba Valley, Brazil
The Ginasticos
Arturo and Alexandre grew up thousands of miles apart, but they share one important attribute: both are Renaissance men who lived full lives before embarking on their journey with gin. While Alexandre was born and raised in Brazil, Arturo started his life across the ocean.
“I’m Italian, from Genoa, and I came to Brazil ten years ago, following in the footsteps of a Brazilian girl from Rio de Janeiro.”
Once he got to Rio, he found himself falling in love with the vibrant culture of South America, so he decided to stay and make this amazing place his home.
When mutual friends introduced Arturo and Alexandre, they knew immediately that they were kindred spirits. They shared an eye for beauty and a passion for the arts, which they would spend hours lost in conversation about – with many of the best conversations happening over drinks.
While traditionally Brazilians will socialise over ice-cold beers or caipirinha cocktails made with a sugarcane spirit called cachaça, Arturo and Alexandre wanted to indulge their sense of adventure. They had watched the gin revolution reverberate around the world and were eager to try out new craft gins for themselves.
“That’s why we decided to set up a group of gin-lovers called the Ginasticos. We met up once a week with a group of friends and tried out the different gins that we brought back from travels abroad.”
Distillers Alexandre Mazza and Arturo Isola
It didn’t take long before both men were deeply, irrevocably in love with gin. They quickly realised that a bottle of the stuff could tell the story of its place of origin through its botanicals.
“The idea of crafting our own gin was born in one of our late-night Ginasticos meetings. We regularly gathered together to sample foreign gins, and it was only a matter of time before we asked ourselves: why not make a Brazilian gin?”
A New World Spirit
Gin is traditionally considered to be a spirit of the old world – one you’d expect to see behind bars in Britain and Holland. Arturo and Alexandre had learned a lot from the flavour profiles of European gins, but they knew that they had to use local ingredients to make an authentically Brazilian gin.
That’s when Tato Giovannoni came into the picture. When creating their recipe, Alexandre and Arturo enlisted the help of this world-renowned mixologist who is famous for his bold perspective on the world of spirits. Not only was Tato running the award-winning Florería Atlántico bar in Buenos Aires, but he had also already created an Argentinian gin called Principe de Los Apostoles.
“We brought him a shortlist of 40 different botanicals from all over Brazil, and together we picked the final 11 that would go into the recipe.”
Botanicals being macerated before distillation
The recipe blends together five ingredients traditionally found in old-world gins and five from the new world. Botanicals like juniper, lemon and coriander give the gin the classic character that people in Europe have come to know and love. Meanwhile, the five botanicals native to Brazil – most of which have never been distilled in a gin before – add character and intrigue to Amázzoni Gin.
“The eleventh ingredient, water lily seeds, was a spiritual decision. Water lily seeds come from the bottom of an Indian lake of the Huni Kuin tribe, located in the north of Brazil, in the most remote part of the Amazon forest. We add one seed to every 500 litres of gin to give our recipe a symbolic link to the Amazon.”
Alexander and Arturo had mustered up the courage to pursue their quest for Brazilian botanicals, and their reward was a complex, characterful gin unlike anything made before.
When it came to naming their new spirit, they knew they wanted to pay homage to the incredible region that had given them so many beautiful botanicals.
“Amázzoni means Amazon warriors, which gave the region of the Amazon its name. As a tribute to the rainforest and all of the botanicals we are using from there, we wanted to give our gin a name from its origin.”
Where the Magic Happens
Now that Alexandre and Arturo had a recipe and name for their gin, it was time to find the perfect place to open Brazil’s first-ever gin distillery. They set their sights on Cachoeira Farm, a 300-year-old fazenda (a Portuguese term that describes a large estate or tract of land) sitting halfway between Rio and São Paulo. Nestled in the verdant river valley of Paraíba, the farm was first built in 1717 and had a rich history as a coffee plantation and cachaça distillery.
The main building used for distillation at Cachoeira Farm
Once they’d found the perfect place for their distillery, it was time to begin.
“We moved our alembic still in. Early on, we’d designed and produced the first-ever still made for gin in Brazil, and affectionately nicknamed it Estrela – which means star.”
Estrela, the first still made for gin in Brazil
A lot of passion goes into crafting the Amázzoni Gin in your July Gin of the Month box, and the founders love to share the distillation process with visitors who come from far and wide for gin masterclasses and distillery tours.
When you first arrive at the fazenda, you’ll encounter a sprawling property brimming with life. Much of the land is dedicated to growing the botanicals you’ll taste in the gin.
“My father always used to say, ‘we are what we grow in life’. Today we are very concerned with the provenance of our ingredients and ethical sourcing. Most of our botanicals are grown on the grounds of our distillery. There are a few botanicals that cannot be grown outside of the Amazon, and we source those from ethical farmers. We use juniper from Europe to give the spirit a touch of the old world.”
Inside the Amázzoni Gin distillery
Inside the distillery sit stainless steel tanks where each botanical is macerated separately before being distilled. All the stills are heated by a century-old furnace that is fuelled with reforested wood. The final product, diluted with fresh spring water, is blended using the ratios of the top-secret recipe created by Tato.
To finish the process, which is fully sustainable from beginning to end, the exquisite liquid is poured into hand-blown bottles of recycled glass.
A beautiful bottle for a beautiful gin
Once bottled, the gin is brought to the people of Brazil and the world. Three years on from when the first drop was distilled, Amázzoni Gin has won the hearts of critics and gin lovers all over the globe. It was awarded the World’s Best Craft Producer at the World Gin Awards in London in 2018 and won the Double Golden Medal at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition in 2019.
Armed with the courage to go against the grain, they made their dream of creating Brazil’s first-ever gin come true.
From a Drop, a Star is Born
On every bottle of Amázzoni Gin, the words ‘Das águas nasceu a estrela’ appear. This Portuguese phrase translates as ‘from a drop a star is born’. But what does this cryptic motto mean? Well, it has to do with an ancient Brazilian legend that inspired Arturo and Alexandre.
According to Indian folklore, there was once a Guarani Indian girl called Naià, a young dreamer who longed to marry Jaci, a great lunar warrior, and be transformed into a star. Night after night, she ran through the darkness of the forest with arms outstretched, trying to reach for the moon.
One night, she saw the moon reflected in a pool of water and threw herself in after it. Just as she began to drown, Jaci looked down from the sky and saw her struggle. He was so deeply moved by her fierce ambition to shine that he saved her and fulfilled her wish by transforming her into a star.
“We thought it was the perfect metaphor for our young project, which we aspire to make a worldwide brand.”
Amázzoni Gin
Find Amázzoni Gin’s Darker Sibling!
Amázzoni Rio Negro Gin
A couple of years after crafting their flagship gin, Arturo and Alexandre decided to explore their darker side. Their second expression, Amázzoni Rio Negro Gin, is stronger and more intense than the bottle our members received as their July 2020 Gin of the Month, with an ABV of 51%.
It has five times more juniper, lemon peel and coriander in its botanical blend, giving it a rich flavour that pays homage to the London Dry tradition of gin.
Amazon Warriors
To honour the all-female bands of Amazon warriors who inspired the name of Amázzoni Gin, 18 local women are employed to produce the gin.
“It’s a policy consistent with the great devotion that Amázzoni has for women, starting with the Amazon warriors.”
Cachoeira Farm, home of Amázzoni Gin
Find out what other wonderful tropical treats we sent to our members in their July 2020 Gin of the Month box, here!
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