I’ve visited this distillery, and belief me, it is OLD old fashioned. On a tour there, our information pulled out a diagram of its course of that was hand-sketched on an 8 x 11 piece of paper. No video. No fancy tools with computerized screens. Only a drawing.
BOTTLE DETAILS
STEVE’S NOTES
SHARE WITH: Each tequila drinker, particularly those that like wealthy, cooked agave notes and excessive minerality. And, no, simply because it is aged in ex-bourbon barrels doesn’t suggest bourbon drinkers will prefer it. Extra on that assumption beneath.
WORTH THE PRICE: Unquestionably. Pay good costs for premium tequila. At all times.
BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottles. Sure, get two.
OVERALL: The place do I begin to make this overview a restricted, however largely full understanding of Cascahuin Distillery in El Arenal, Jalisco, Mexico? Let’s attempt a brief record:
- Sourcing within the tequila commerce is at the very least 10 instances extra widespread than American whiskey, and Mexicans do not suppose a factor of it. Cascahuin has created dozens of manufacturers for different labels, and it does so masterfully. Along with its ow eponymous and much-heralded line of tequilas, another greats embrace Wild Widespread (based six years in the past by NatGeo photographer Andy Bardon, an American residing in Wyoming), ArteNOM Selección de 1123, and Siembra Valles. El Negocio is a high-quality one as nicely (we reviewed its blanco right here one and its joven right here). Cascahuin’s grasp distiller, Salvador Rosales Trejo, who goes just by Chava, is revered as one of many business’s finest.
- Once I visited this OLD old fashioned distillery two years in the past, our information pulled out a diagram of its course of that was hand-sketched on an 8 x 11-inch piece of paper in a plastic sleeve. No video. No fancy tools with computerized screens. Only a drawing. When cooking agave, gaps across the steel doorways of its historical brick ovens that leak steam are plugged with agave fibers. The contents of its wild yeast propagation tank look extra like one thing you’d take away from a septic tank. However it’s the supply materials for unimaginable taste born of spontaneous fermentation began by airborne yeast. (Click on right here for some nitty-gritty particulars on this launch.)
- Old-fashioned distillers like Chava use barrels for 2 functions: the essential job of containing the liquid, and esterification (adjustments introduced on when liquid evaporates from the barrel, oxygen replaces it and thus triggers myriad scrumptious rectifications to the spirit over time). Once I was there in 2023, our tour information identified at the very least one barrel that was in its third decade of use! Many tequila makers (among the finest, I feel) aren’t searching for a lot wooden affect, so whereas they’re glad that bourbon drinkers are catching on to good tequila through barrel-aged expressions, there isn’t any intentional effort to transform them utilizing one thing that tastes vaguely like bourbon, as so many suppose. Such considering is like saying port and sherry makers are attempting to steer bourbon drinkers to love port and sherry wines through promoting used casks to bourbon makers.
Oh, yeah, I am presupposed to overview this superb Wild Widespread añejo, so lets get began. Should you by no means go to Cascahuin (pronounced kah-skah-ween), know that the nostril on this Wild Widespread añejo is that distillery’s signature perfume of slow-roasting agave. At first that sweetness is floral, natural and somewhat lemony. Later sniffs reveal ripe cantaloupe–even fried donut. That is all interwoven with with petrichor, that fantastic mineral aroma reflecting the terroir of the place the agave was grown. The barrel contributes little aside from gentle caramel to the aroma, however that is nice sufficient.
The place the barrel’s affect is extra outstanding is in notes of black pepper, baking spice and pleasurable tannin. Lemon, caramel and roasted agave kind a single wave that lays down wealthy taste from entrance to again and all through the mouth. At 94 proof, it tingles enticingly and refreshingly, very similar to a breath freshener. In the end, all of it comes again to agave roasted slowly and cooled slowly for 72 hours: candy, syrupy, juicy and complicated. There’s nothing easy about this tequila in any respect; it is a masterwork finished by a real grasp distiller. Bottles like this Wild Widespread añejo are ones I would choose to maintain all to myself, however I can not (and by no means do; I all the time share) since my spouse and buddies know the place they’re shelved.
BRAND NOTES
This category-defining Tequila Añejo (94 proof/47% ABV) showcases a luminous straw shade with thick, viscous legs that promise an distinctive expertise.
Matured over 12 months in ex-bourbon barrels, it reveals an fragrant bouquet of delicate florals, uncooked honey, recent tarragon, and refined cinnamon. The primary sip delivers a masterful concord of cooked agave, golden raisins, heat spices, candied ginger, and luscious dates that evolve fantastically because the spirit opens within the glass. That is artisanal tequila at its best—a fancy, subtle expression that can fulfill even essentially the most discerning palates.
Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter obtained a pattern of this product from the model for overview. We recognize their willingness to permit us to overview their merchandise with no strings hooked up. Thanks.
