Here’s an episode that you’ll want to refer to again and again as Lippy invites Glass Master, “Senior Rick” Mendell to the show. Senior owns “Rick’s Wine Cellar” in Corte Madera, Calif., and has many years of experience in pairing the proper Wine or Spirit to its optimal glass.
This time, Th’ Lip has asked Senior to bring his thousands of vessels to the Man-Cave in an effort to find the zenith glass for a very special tequila: “El Tesoro 70th Anniversario” 7 year anejo! What they conclude will shock and amaze you—it certainly did to your Tequila Whisperer!
TEQUILA Details:
BRAND: EL TESORO 70TH ANNIVERSARIO 7-YEAR ANEJO
NOM: 1139
AGAVE SOURCE: ARANDAS, JALISCO – HIGHLANDS
GENERAL TASTING NOTES:
For one the few (possibly the only?) times in the history of the Tequila Whisperer Show, your Lip is unable to break down the flavor profile of a featured tequila! It is simply too complex and at the same time completely integrated. El Tesoro 70th Anniversario is an outstanding and singular tequila. It’s difficult to over-praise this masterful juice. Take one sniff and you can only say, “Ahhh, El Tesoro”. As singular as El Tesoro is in all of its “basic ages”, this extra-extra anejo (new category?) is that singular taste-smell plus a whole lot more. You’ll garner all of the flavor details of ET’s regular anejo (agave, spice, floral, thick layers of sweet nut) but add a side slather of hazelnut and almond and you only start to begin to describe the rich and full flavor sensations. It’s a bona fide LIFE-CHANGER as called by Th’ Lip, and worth just about any price you will pay for it.
Finding the glassware to best present and compliment this mighty tequila was the goal that Lippy & Senior set for themselves. Using the basic Riedel “Ouverture” tequila glass as their “control” vessel, they engaged glass shape after glass shape with mixed results: The wide-mouthed beauty glasses presented too strong an alcohol cloud. And the smaller, focused cordial glasses concentrated the sweetness of the El Tesoro but left out a whole side wall of agave spice. Time after time the Ouverture came up the winner with its concentration of sweetness on the nose and its presentation of the widest variety of flavors on the palate. Just when looked as if their search would only lead them back to their starting point, your intrepid tasters stumbled (by chance) upon the ONE glass which would shatter the mighty Ouverture’s reign as king of the tequila glassware: the RIEDEL Vinum Tasting Glass! All bow to the new KING.
FLAVOR Profiles for EL TESORO 70th ANNIVERSARIO 7-year anjeo (out of a possible 4 points)
