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By Michael Hepworth
Metropolitan Report had feet on the ground in Mexico to be one of the first to taste the latest release from Tequila giant, Herradura. The tasting of the Coleccion De La Casa with a Scotch cask finish was held in the distillery’s Executive Tasting Room along with six other prominent spirit writers and the company’s Master Distiller, Teresa Lara and Master Taster, Ruben Aceve.
This spectacular Reposado has undergone a double maturation process, first resting in an American Oak cask and then a single malt Scotch cask, delivering a spectacular taste and finish. Unfortunately, despite several requests, the distiller would only reveal the general location of the two scotch distilleries from which the barrels were derived, but not their name. I do know that at least one of the distilleries is in the Highlands, with the other somewhere in Islay. In fact, one of the spirit writers in the small group was so curious that he was actually planning a trip to Scotland to try and track down the mystery locations.
Herradura has a massive distillery operation about 15 miles south of the town of Tequila in Jalisco where it employs 600 workers, and has always been an innovator, launching the first Reposado in 1974 and Extra Añejo in 1995. The Casa Coleccion’s latest version is likely to become a collector’s edition, so stashing a few is recommended.
During the course of my visit to the distillery, I had the opportunity to see the entire tequila process from start to finish. The Blue Agave plants take seven years to mature, and although there is no law preventing an early harvest, doing so would result in a bitter product. The jimadors who work in the fields are expected to harvest 120 plants in a 6 ½ hour work day, and taking into account the hard physical nature of the work, this is an exceptional feat.
The result is an extraordinary, ultra-premium tequila, that has a warm gold color and aromas of toasted malt, cooked agave and smoky wood. When it comes to taste, the obvious first is that of vanilla combined with butter and then waves of honey, caramel and soft spices. It delivers a long drawn out finish and ends up with a touch of sweetness on the palate—top notch!
www.herradura.com
Metropolitan Report had feet on the ground in Mexico to be one of the first to taste the latest release from Tequila giant, Herradura. The tasting of the Coleccion De La Casa with a Scotch cask finish was held in the distillery’s Executive Tasting Room along with six other prominent spirit writers and the company’s Master Distiller, Teresa Lara and Master Taster, Ruben Aceve.
This spectacular Reposado has undergone a double maturation process, first resting in an American Oak cask and then a single malt Scotch cask, delivering a spectacular taste and finish. Unfortunately, despite several requests, the distiller would only reveal the general location of the two scotch distilleries from which the barrels were derived, but not their name. I do know that at least one of the distilleries is in the Highlands, with the other somewhere in Islay. In fact, one of the spirit writers in the small group was so curious that he was actually planning a trip to Scotland to try and track down the mystery locations.
Herradura has a massive distillery operation about 15 miles south of the town of Tequila in Jalisco where it employs 600 workers, and has always been an innovator, launching the first Reposado in 1974 and Extra Añejo in 1995. The Casa Coleccion’s latest version is likely to become a collector’s edition, so stashing a few is recommended.
During the course of my visit to the distillery, I had the opportunity to see the entire tequila process from start to finish. The Blue Agave plants take seven years to mature, and although there is no law preventing an early harvest, doing so would result in a bitter product. The jimadors who work in the fields are expected to harvest 120 plants in a 6 ½ hour work day, and taking into account the hard physical nature of the work, this is an exceptional feat.
The result is an extraordinary, ultra-premium tequila, that has a warm gold color and aromas of toasted malt, cooked agave and smoky wood. When it comes to taste, the obvious first is that of vanilla combined with butter and then waves of honey, caramel and soft spices. It delivers a long drawn out finish and ends up with a touch of sweetness on the palate—top notch!
www.herradura.com