Wine & Drinks
Tequila report with John Mariani: good añejos
By JOHN MARIANI
It seems common sense to believe that the better the booze the better it should be left out of a cocktail, because the other ingredients cancel out the subtleties of flavor in expensive spirits like $60 vodkas, $100 single malts, and $400 cognacs.
Cabo Uno, made by rocker Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo
Which is why, until recently, when ordering a margarita, I have always been content with using lower-priced blanco tequilas rather than pricier reposados or premium añejos. "The agave fruit's true essence is best expressed in a blanco tequila, and the orange liqueur, lime juice, and salt in a margarita will compromise the flavor of añejos." Thus spake the formidable Silvana Salcido Esparza, co-owner-chef of the Barrio Cafe in Phoenix, which stocks more than 250 tequilas. The most persuasive part of her argument was her sensationally good (not frozen!) blanco-based margarita with her freshly made guacamole with pomegranate seeds.
Don Julio 1942
But then I had an epiphany: I came by an añejo tequila — Cabo Uno — that I added to a shaker of fresh lime juice and Cointreau and poured into a chilled, salt-rimmed martini glass. It was absolutely stunning how much better the añejo made the drink taste — bolder, rounder, and with plenty of agave flavor. The idle experiment drove me to try a range of other añejos (I skipped over resposados this time). I found that some work beautifully, while others are too aggressive.
El Tesoro de Don Felipe Añejo
I should add right here that, despite Esparza's insistence that the blanco carries the essence of the agave fruit, Mexican regulations allow a spirit to be called tequila if it contains a minimum of 51 percent agave-derived sugar, which is usually what blancos are. So, unless you know your blanco, you may be getting 49 percent non-agave in there. añejos are almost always 100 percent agave.
Cabo Uno ($250) is the top-of-the-line añejo made by Cabo Wabo, which has been owned since 1996 by rock-and-roll singer Sammy Hagar. The tequila is aged in white oak barrels for 38 months, and each bottle is signed and numbered. I also liked Don Julio Real ($380, once only available in Mexico), which has an aroma of apples.
Milagro Select Barrel Añejo
Yet at a more reasonable $110 you may prefer Don Julio 1942, which has more brawn and a long, heated finish, with good vanilla-caramel notes. Less expensive still is El Tesoro de Don Felipe Añejo ($45) with distinct, very likable black pepper notes, which I found added another dimension to a margarita. Herradura's Añejo ($50) has a real elegance all on its own that elevated the margarita to another level of complexity.
José Cuervo Reserva de la Familia
On the other hand, some añejos I would not put into a margarita because they truly are better sipped by the fire while listening to Diana Krall sing "Besame Mucho." Those would include Milagro Select Barrel Añejo ($105), which is triple-distilled, and José Cuervo Reserva de la Familia ($85), which was introduced in 1995 on the company's 200th anniversary and is packed in a wooden box designed each year by a Mexican artist. It tastes more like a single malt Scotch, and a briary one at that — like those from the Isle of Islay, considered the "Queen" of Scotland's wiskey-crazed Hebrides.
It goes without saying that a frozen margarita will dilute all the advantages an añejo brings to the cocktail. Instead, shake it with ice cubes and strain into a glass. And one more thing: Owing to the weakness of the U.S. dollar, Cointreau has become very, very expensive. Trouble is, triple sec is a very poor alternative.
And if you're popping for a bottle of $100 añejo tequila, what's another few bucks for the right orange liqueur?
• Click here for John Mariani's gourmet report
Issue: April 2009
