Mystery tequila? Mystery tequila

Tequila adventurers, clear some space in your bar, on your shelf, or wherever you keep the good stuff: this fall, Tequila Herradura will release the third in their Colección de la Casa series. We don't know what it's going to be yet, but, based on the pedigree of past incarnations, this is going to be a must-sip addition to a portfolio with a tradition of bending the rules.
 
Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council, like the Trunchbull in Matilda, is pretty strict. Tequila, like champagne, has specific requirements set in place to regulate its quality. For instance, it must at a minimum consist of 51% blue agave (the good stuff tends to be 100%) and hail from either Jalisco or a limited number of designated regions in other states.

The goal of the Colección is to prove it’s possible to stay within the letter of the law and still produce a limitless variety of expressions (not an unexpected move from the distillery that invented the reposado class, in 1974). The tiniest adjustments to any factor can accomplish this: the agave’s age at harvesting, the water source, choice of yeast, the distillation vessel (and the number of times distilled), and the duration of and vessel(s) chosen for aging.

To date, that last factor has charted the path for each release in the Coleccion. The inaugural batch involved two months in hand-selected vintage port casks from the Douro Valley in Portugal; the 2,000 produced cases offered hints of port (duh), plum, and pepper with undertones of dark chocolate. In 2013, Master Distiller Maria Teresa Lara opted for three additional months in French oak casks sourced from the Cognac region, imparting a naturally spicy profile with a chocolaty and sweet finish.

No one knows what flavors this year’s limited edition will bring, but it’ll definitely be different, and in the tequila world that’s no small thing. Hopefully you won’t have to wait an additional two months for an occasion special enough to break the stuff out.