Crotalo Tequila_plata, reposado, anejo (episode 56) tequila review

Move over world!  There’s a brand new tequila on the block and he’s got a poisonous bite that is strikingly smooth and his name is Crotalo.  In this special “2-fer Tasting” edition of the TEQUILA WHISPERER Show, Th’ Lip tastes all ages of this feisty newcomer, and ends the episode with “The Great Sun Chips Sound-Off” contest to see if those compostable Eco-bags were REALLY as loud as consumers complained they were.

You may recall that Lippy discovered Crotalo tequila quite late in the evening of his “Sprits Of Mexico” festivities.  Exhibitors were actually taking down tables and packing up bottles(the horror!) when he stumbled upon the ONE brand that was still open for business.  And good thing, too – because the first taste of that Crotalo anejo was enough to reset his mightily soggy palate and bring him startlingly straight back to his “center”, thinking, “This Crotalo has really got something going on”.  Just how MUCH is going on with this brand?  Watch and see!

TEQUILA Details:

BRAND: CROTALO

NOM: 1509

AGAVE SOURCE: HIGHLANDS

GENERAL TASTING NOTES:

Crotalo starts with a triple-distilled plata product that is rested for 45 days in their “proprietary” oak barrels. (Try as he might, Th’ Lip was unable to wrest the secret of those ‘proprietary’ barrels out of the fine folks at Crotalo)  Normally a triple distillation will remove a lot of the interest and complexity out of a tequila, but in the case of Crotalo they seem to have gotten it just right.  The plata attack on the palate is soft and quiet in the front with a ton of spice and some heat hitting the back of the tongue and throat on the swallow.  The reposado is aged 11 months (5 in French oak, 6 in ‘proprietary’ oak) and does a wonderful trick on the palate: it fills in that frontal attack with sweet spice and a pleasing amount of wood while maintaining the heat at the back.  The repo completely holds its own as stand-alone product that commits to a flavor related to but not beholden to the plata or the anejo.  The anejo similarly stakes a bold flavor claim and introduces a vegetal ,almost mushroomy tang.  It is aged a year in French oak, then finished for 15 months in their ‘proprietary’ oak.  Nice work, Crotalo! This anejo is sitting right in Lippy’s flavor “sweet-spot’. Look for their 5-year and 7-year limited edition products to become available in coming months.

FLAVOR Profiles (out of a possible 4 points)

Music Picks From This Show:

“Loose Ends” – Bruce Springsteen

[audio:https://tequilawhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/2-06-Loose-Ends.mp3|titles=Loose Ends]

“Kitty’s Back” – Bruce Springsteen

[audio:https://tequilawhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/03-Kittys-Back.mp3|titles=Kitty’s Back]