The beverage decree in force since 2025 sets an alcohol range for each spirit and created a definition for alembic cachaça
Every spirit sold in Brazil has to fit within an alcohol range set by law. The ranges are in Decree No. 12,709 of October 31, 2025, which regulates Law No. 8,918 of 1994 and replaced the 2009 beverage decree. Strength is measured as percentage of alcohol by volume at 20 °C, and the ceiling for any ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage is 54%.
The best-known case is cachaça. Under Article 54, cachaça is the typical and exclusive name for sugarcane spirit produced in Brazil, at 38% to 48%. Sugarcane spirit (aguardente de cana), defined in Article 53, may range from 38% to 54%. In other words: a 50% sugarcane spirit exists, but it cannot be sold under the name cachaça.
The 2025 decree also brought a new definition, alembic cachaça: one obtained by distilling the fermented must of raw sugarcane juice, exclusively and entirely in a copper alembic, in line with a supplementary rule from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. The distillate that becomes cachaça leaves the alembic or column at more than 54% and less than 70%, under Article 85, and is then reduced to the drink's range. The Bebidário catalog includes cachaças such as Salinas Tradicional and Weber Haus Amburana; Ypióca Prata, at 38%, carries the name aguardente de cana on its label.
For spirits of foreign tradition, the ranges are different. Whisky (uísque, whisky or whiskey) runs from 38% to 54%, under Article 57, and the names bourbon and Tennessee whiskey are reserved for whisky made in the United States under that country's law. Vodka runs from 36% to 54% (Article 66). Rum and gin start at 35% and also stop at 54% (Articles 56 and 68); in gin, the juniper flavor must predominate. Cognac-style brandy (conhaque) sits between 36% and 54% (Article 62).
There are lesser-known categories on the list, such as tiquira, a cassava spirit, at 36% to 54%, and Japanese shochu, which may range from 0.5% to 45%. Tequila has no range of its own: the decree defines it as a regional drink produced only in Mexico, under that country's legislation.
Liqueur (Article 72) has one of the widest ranges: from 15% to 54%, as long as it has more than 30 grams of sugar per liter. That is the category for labels such as Licor 43. Below 0.5%, no drink is considered alcoholic, under Article 11. The decree gave drinks whose names changed 730 days from publication to adjust their registrations.
Sources: Decree No. 12,709/2025 (Planalto, October 31, 2025).
