Deep, slightly murky brownish-garnet. Medium nose of dates, raisins, burnt sugar and oak, later opening to a touch of lilac. On the palate the mostly raspberry fruit tastes fresher than it looks or smells. Acidity is high, tannins at a medium level. Drink yesterday.
Aromatic varietal scents of fresh green apple and pear, with lively crisp pear and citrus flavours in the mouth backed up by appetizing acidity and lightly sweet fruity finish.
This beer is all about the haze, pouring a juicy fluorescent orange with a mousse- and latte-like foam. The sip starts off with papaya and guava moving to pineapple and a seedy passion fruit centre. A low but persistent orange-rind bitterness balances the sip. This hazy brew is tough to find — you can only buy it at some wine and beer stores in Illinois — but it is worth the hunt as it won gold at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival for Hazy, Juicy IPAs.
Clear brass-yellow colour proclaims maturity, but the aroma is of a perfectly ripe McIntosh wearing banana cologne. Medium bodied with a pleasant lemony acidity, it’s a tropical fruit salad in your mouth. Perfectly mature now, it will drink well to 2016, maybe longer. Outstanding with a delicate fish.
My preference in tequila is typically blanco, occasionally reposado. The issue I often have with añejo (particularly extra añejo) is that the extended wood aging starts to mask the agave character of the spirit. Espolòn manages to avoid this problem, possibly because the spirit is just “finished” in ex-bourbon barrels having spent the majority of its year-long aging in white oak. The result is an añejo that boasts loads of ripe, spicy, vegetal and agave notes with just a suggestion of caramel and Christmas cake. Very well-balanced in the mouth, the wood is perfectly integrated so as to enhance, not dominate, the herbal and earthy agave notes.
Leads off with floral perfume, yellow fruit and a whiff of spice on the nose. Ripe yellow fruit flavours showing tropical fruit, a touch of banana, fine mineral and lively acidity. A very worthy New World translation of the original Spanish variety.
Watermelon-red colour. Fragrant aromas of cherry, strawberry and a hint of pepper delight the nose. The palate tingles with fresh acidity, peppery fruit and medium-body weight. Dried herbs, ripe strawberry and white pepper linger on the vibrant finish. Pair with an ahi tuna Niçoise salad.