You can blame my old-at-heart tendencies, but when I hear a few new pattern, I’m usually suspicious of it. One such growth is the rise of so-called “Cristalino” tequilas, during which a tequila that has undergone barrel getting older is turned clear as a blanco by the method of charcoal filtering.
As somebody keen on darkish spirits usually, I felt considerably aghast that the attractive coloration imparted by oak ought to be hoovered as much as make for a better-looking (to some) bottle. Nonetheless, the selection to filter the colour isn’t about aesthetics alone: makers declare that it additionally re-introduces a sure brightness to the spirit, combining the fuller flavors of an añejo with a blanco’s lighter contact.
Inquisitive about this speculation, I examined it out on just a few bottles beneath. Spoiler alert, however I did discover my initially skeptical ideas about Cristalino to be softened up by the top (and it wasn’t simply the tequila speaking).
Avión Reserva Cristalino ($145)
Launched in February 2022, Avión Reserva Cristalino is distilled from agave crops that have been cultivated at a excessive altitude and aged in American oak barrels following their distillation. It’s primarily a mix of añejo and extra-añejo tequilas, which have been then double charcoal-filtered to grant it Cristalino standing.
Within the glass, it proves spicy and peppery on the nostril with clear aromas of inexperienced pepper and a contact of hay that pushes it ever so barely into agricultural territory. It begins candy on the palate with juicy bell peppers and pineapple, earlier than rolling into spice with black pepper and jalapeno. It turns grassy and vegetal in direction of the again, earlier than segueing right into a candy, spherical end with creamy marshmallow, marzipan, and even a little bit of agave syrup.
Penta Diamante Reposado Cristalino ($100)
Penta’s Diamante Reposado Cristalino occurs to be the best-selling of the label’s three tequilas and is aged for seven months in a mixture of outdated and new French oak barrels. The nostril reveals recent and juicy agave, plus a darkish, herbaceous sweetness that introduced black licorice to thoughts.
It’s clear and sharp on the palate, starting with recent agave and citrus juice flavors. That is adopted by espresso grounds on the heart because the palate grows creamy, then the acquainted tang of licorice adopted by recent vanilla beans and ginger earlier than ending with a delicate contact of darkish cacao.
Tequila Enemigo 89 Añejo Cristalino ($70)
Tequila Enemigo 89 Añejo Cristalino is aged for a full yr in a custom-built American oak barrel earlier than the juice is stripped clear of coloration through a three-part carbon-cellulose filtration system. It possesses a spicy, vegetal nostril with a loads of pepper and successful of volcanic rock ash.
Its palate is inexperienced and mellow at first with inexperienced peppers and recent agave. The center of the expertise introduces coconut and spearmint because the spirit’s texture grows more and more creamy, culminating in a trinity of vanilla, cream, and banana—or what I like to think about as banana cupcake batter. I discovered it to be essentially the most mellow of the three I attempted, however in no way poor in taste.
