Boy, do we have the deal of the summer for all you Tequila fans out there, thanks to some warehouse spelunking we did this past winter!
While meeting with the Tres Agaves sales team earlier in the year, we learned they had bottled a single barrel añejo expression for another client, but due to a cancellation had yet to find a home for that cask. After we saw the price and then tasted it, we jumped all over it. With an autoclave onsite in addition to brick ovens, and a roller mill press rather than a tahona wheel, NOM 1522 Hacienda de Oro might be short on romanticism for all the agave nerds out there, but with an organic certification and clean production this single barrel of Tres Agaves is both diffuser and additive free: the starting point for any discussion about quality Tequila.
Barrel #105 was aged for 42 months and 23 days, making it an extra añejo by definition as it’s over 3 years of age. With a yield of just 192 bottles, this Tequila is brimming with butterscotch and vanilla from the oak with just the right amount of spice. The palate brings more herbaceous notes of black pepper and the finish is super clean, dry as a bone. Nothing about this new single barrel expression is going to change your life, but in the new recession/inflation era it's a pretty nice value for those who drink Tequila regularly and utilize it in a number of ways. You can sip it, pour it over the rocks, throw it into an old fashioned cocktail, or even a Cadillac Margarita, and know that you didn’t overspend in the process.
To be clear: this is an organic, single barrel, 3+ year old Tequila for $39.99—less expensive than many top blanco Tequilas, let alone reposado or añejo. We’re not splitting hairs here, comparing it to Don Julio 1942 or Fortaleza. We’re too busy drinking and enjoying it.
-David Driscoll