| Abstract
| - Cachaça, the most popular alcoholic beverage in Brazil, is a sugar cane spirit similar to rum. Itsproduction is around 2 billion liters per year, of which <1% is exported. Although rum is similar tocachaça its flavor difference is easily recognizable. Using gas chromatography−olfactometry (GCO)to separate and characterize the odorants present in cachaça and rum, these two sugar cane productswere compared and standards identified to use in a descriptive sensory analysis (DSA). In the DSAcachaça was more intense in the grassy, spicy, sulfury, and vinegar descriptors, whereas apple andcaramel were the same in both rum and cachaça. The GCO data for the apple-smelling compoundsβ-damascenone along with ethyl butyrate, isobutyrate, and 2-methylbutyrate were at the same potencyin both cachaça and rum, whereas the spicy-smelling eugenol, 4-ethylguaiacol, and 2,4-nonadienalwere much more potent in cachaça. Keywords: Brazilian sugar cane spirit; rum; aroma; descriptive analysis; gas chromatography−olfactometry
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