Jose Cuervo Has a New Premium Spirit — and I Got a Sneak Peek
Plus, I talk up Chicago on two podcasts, Michelin’s newest Chicago stars, and Michael Stipe.
There’s no shortage of tequila options on the market. In 2022, nearly 30 million 9-liter cases of tequila and mezcal were sold in the U.S. to the tune of just over $6 billion. And it feels like a new celebrity tequila gets announced every week. Seriously. Matthew McConaughey just announced his — Pantalones — in late October. I love tequila. And mezcal. So I’m not complaining (maybe a little about those celeb offerings and I’ll be talking about that sometime in the near future).
But you may find all that tequila overwhelming. When you go to the store, you have so many options. Will you get quality if you spend under $30? Yes. Do you need to spend $150 or more on a bottle? Not necessarily. But sometimes, it does pay to spend a bit more. Which brings me to what we’re talking about today. Yes, another new tequila. And yes, it is a bit more expensive. But having had a sneak peek of it last month, I can tell you it’s worth it.
In mid October, I flew down to Guadalajara, hopped aboard the Jose Cuervo Express, and got off in Tequila. Yes, there is an actual town of Tequila, Mexico, where 22 distilleries — such as Fortaleza, Herradura, Sauza, Tequileña and, of course, Cuervo — craft the agave spirit.
The luxury Tequila Express left Guadalajara around 9 a.m. During the ride, we had some light bites (including delicious tamales), tequila cocktails, and had a guided tasting of Cuervo’s top line tequilas, Reserva de La Familia (RDLF). Over the next two days, our small group of journalists who were invited down would meet with the RDLF master distiller, Alejandro “Alex” Coronado, and Sonia Espinola de la Llave, the first female master of tequila (who also helped create the Cuervo Express) to learn more about the spirits. These include the-already available platino (a blanco), reposado, and extra añejo, which is stunning liquid at a suggested retail price of $150, but can go up to $200 depending where you find it.
Ultimately, we were here to get the first glimpse and taste of the newest Reserva de la Familia offering: Añejo Cristalino Organico.
But first we spent time:
Learning about the history of Cuervo’s Reserva de la Familia. These tequilas had long been reserved solely for the pleasure of the Cuervo family, which is in its 11th generation, and their inner circle. They decided to share these ultra-premium expressions with the public in 1995.
Touring La Rojeña, the Cuervo distillery in Tequila that dates back to 1812 and claims to be the oldest tequila distillery in Latin America. People can tour the distillery while also hanging out in Mundo Cuervo, the touristy area around it that includes bars, shops, and restaurants.
Visiting the subterranean barrel caves where the extra añejo ages and where we did a barrel tasting of a seven-year-old 100-proof extra añejo Reserva de la Familia that was available only in the cellar. Uncut and unfiltered, it had a gorgeous copper color with notes of caramel, nuttiness, and dried fruit.
Eating various meals paired with cocktails featuring the different RDLF spirits.
Roaming around the town of Tequila, where we had some incredibly delicious street tacos. Otherwise, it felt pretty touristy.
The Cristalino backstory
Let’s get back to why we’re here: the Cristalino.
That story dates back to 2005 when Juan Domingo Beckmann, Cuervo’s current CEO and the 11th-generation Cuervo family member to lead the company, challenged his team to make an aged, mellow, easy to drink clear tequila. The result was the 2009 release of Maestro Dobel Diamante, the world’s first cristalino (although Don Julio also lays claim to making the first). The family started talking about making a Reserva de la Familia cristalino in 2020.
The organic agave used for RDLF grows on the mineral-rich slopes of the Tequila Volcano for nine to 10 years before being harvested. The agave piñas (the hearts) cook in masonry ovens (some dating back to the founding of La Rojeña) for about 36 hours. After cooling, the hearts get pressed to release the sugar water and juice that then goes through fermentation before a nine-hour distillation process in small copper stills.
The alcohol then ages in new oak barrels for 18 months before being finished in used Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. That’s when the filtration process starts to strip the copper-caramel color from the añejo tequila until it is crystal clear and looks almost like blanco tequila. Or, frankly, like water.
Tasting Cristalino in the agave fields
The evening started with us loading up on two buses that left from our hotel, Solar de las Ánimas, a beautiful Colonial-style property with a wide-open rooftop bar and pool in the heart of Tequila, for a short-yet-bumpy drive out to the Cuervo agave fields — a vast landscape of wild agave set with mountains in the distance.
Not a single person walked off that bus and didn’t gasp in some form at seeing the view and the setup ahead of us. This was one of those moments in life where you knew you had something special waiting for you through the spiny leaves and makeshift gates set up amongst them. And special it was. As the sun started to set, filling the sky with swirls of pink and burning orange, we all gathered around the table waiting to open the sexy opaque black bottles before us.
This was the official unveiling of the Reserva de la Familia Añejo Cristalino Orgánico, set to hit U.S. markets this week. We would taste the lower 70-proof, which was created for the Mexican market. The U.S. will get 80 proof and I’m excited to taste the difference. But this one was, in a word: delightful.
The slightly lighter proof offered a very smooth tequila you wouldn’t dare consider doing anything with other than simply sipping it. After resting in the Pedro Ximenez sherry barrels it gave off top notes of prune and raisin on the nose. That came with some woody notes from the barrels and cooked agave (something I finally understood after being at the distillery and tasting actual cooked agave) with a bit of pipe tobacco. We drank it with a little chill on it, but the long sweet chili finish gave off a little heat. As I said: delightful.
After the tasting, we moved to another locale in the fields, this with more protection as a storm was forecast to roll in. Here, acclaimed chef Daniela Soto-Innes and her team prepared a meal to be served on a long, curved table that appeared to be cut from one massive and beautiful tree trunk. The menu, paired with cocktails made with the Cristalino, featured squash blossom and lobster aguachile, lamb belly barbacoa, steamed white fish with a smoky-spicy Mayan pepita dip called sikil pak and sweet potato tamal (a combination of bold, spicy, sweet flavors I can still taste).
All was lovely beneath the terraced roof open on four sides, until the storm swept in. The culinary team started getting pounded with sideways rain. Ever the champ, Soto-Innes got everyone’s attention and, with a bold smile, declared we’d now be having dinner family style and we would serve ourselves. It could not have been more perfect. The ambiance. The food. The company. The spirit.
You can likely start looking for RDLF Añejo Cristalino in your local stores or online in the next week for about $150.
SG LIST: Things I’m high fiving this week
Where to Go and City Cast Chicago podcasts
I was invited to speak on two podcasts that both dropped in the last week. One from the UK (Where to Go) and one from Chicago (City Cast). The former featured an episode dedicated entirely to visiting Chicago and I was its proud spokesperson. The latter tied to a local daily newsletter that came from an article I wrote in Time Out Chicago about more approachable tasting menus. It was truly a joy to speak in depth about my city with such pride.
New Chicago Michelin Stars and Bib Gourmands
The last week saw the revealing of the latest accolades bestowed upon Chicago restaurants by the Michelin Guide. However you feel about rating systems like this, it’s still so damn cool to see places that have worked hard get recognized. Smyth, headed by husband-and-wife team John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, got awarded three starts (after getting one and then two over the years). It’s now only the fourth Chicago restaurant to get that honor, joining Alinea. Both Grace and L20 had attained three stars, but closed. I had the pleasure of dining at Smyth a couple of years ago and was so impressed with John Shield’s innovation around produce and seafood. It’s wonderful to see them rise to another level.
In addition, newcomers Atelier (which I went to a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by chef Christian Hunter’s culture melding) and Indienne, where chef Sujan Sarkar elevates Indian food with beautiful precision, each received one star. If that’s not enough, five places received Bib Gourmand recognition last week: Boonie’s, Cellar Door Provisions, Pompette, Union and Yao Yao. And then Thattu was named to Eater’s list of 2023 best new restaurants in America and Chinatown’s Nine Bar landed on Punch’s very short list of best new bars. It’s been a good week in Chicago. At least for some things.
Michael Stipe on Smartless
My Monday morning ritual starts with pulling up Smartless on the Apple podcast app to see who the new guest is. Every so often I will light up and gasp when I see the name. This week definitely had that effect when I saw Michael Stipe’s name pop up. The lead singer of legendary rock band R.E.M. was so real, so honest, funny, and inspired me to listen to a bunch of old R.E.M. songs. So with that, here are two…
Delightful read.