Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Did you know your tequila changes flavors after you open it? That first pour may not tell you the whole story. Today we're going to put Pedro Fortiva Anejo to the test. This tequila is made by six generations of agave growers in Ixtlahuaclan, Del Rio, Jalisco. It's additive free, aged for 31 months, and used bourbon and French oak barrels. And it's known for its spicy and rich character. And one of my favorite, anejos. Okay, let's do the new bottle first. I haven't cracked this at all. It's still in its wrapper.
[00:00:35] Now I'm going to go ahead and pour the bottle that's been open for several months. All right, here we go. Get a nice cooked agave. I get some vanilla. I get a little bit of that barrel spice, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, a little bit of orange peel, and a little bit of caramel. Now, I will also say that this is a fresh pour, right? So those flavors are really kind of blasting out of the bottle, but there's also a little alcohol heat there that kind of masks some of the complexity. So a little more alcohol in this very first nose. Okay, so now the one that's been open for a while, same aromas. It's just softer, more inviting. There's absolutely no punch of alcohol. The orange peel, and there's a toffee note that really comes alive. So let's hit them on the palate. Let's do this one first. Really nice. First of all, this is a fantastic kilo. You've got this cooked agave. You get the caramel and a little bit of toffee, some barrel notes. You get a really nice peppery. And honestly, it's pretty warm on the tongue, right in the back of the tongue. Like, my mouth's a little dry on the tongue, but my cheeks are still got a lot of saliva in there. And you did pick up a little bit of an alcohol hint in there. So let's try the one that's been on the shelf for a little while. Right off the bat, it's sweeter. The cooked agave is there, but the barrel notes and the caramel and the vanilla are ramped up. That orange is a lot stronger, and that toffee is there that I picked up in the nose, but not, like, overpowering. There's a little bit of a cinnamon note, a little bit of a coffee note, but it's a lot more rounded. It's a lot more approachable. That alcohol is gone, and the burn that I was left with the new one where there was a hanging on like peppery hit on the tongue gone on this one. Still get a little bit of that pepper in the finish. And the finish is still long. It's lingering tobacco leather, agave sweetness from the opened up bottle. It's a little less sharp, it's a little more balanced. You get this little bit easier way to drink it. So what's the lesson here? Tequila doesn't age in a bottle. Once you pop that cork, oxygen does change how it drinks. That very first pour doesn't always show you tequila. Tequila at its best. Give it some time, let it rest, revisit it later, you may discover a completely new side to the spirit. I receive a lot of bottles to taste, and what I'll do is usually wait for a little while to pop that bottle after I've received it and give it a nice taste, nice nose. And then I'll put it back on the shelf and I just let it rest, let it get a little air in there and bring a little more of the flavors out and rub some of that alcohol off the top of it. And you can see in this test right here, it really does matter. That neck pour, we hear people talk about it in the bourbon world. Maybe not as much in the tequila world, but it's a real thing. Definitely tastes different. So if you crack open that fresh bottle of tequila and you're not sure that you liked it the first time, hey, let it rest. It may be better the next time you give it a try. Have you ever noticed a difference between the first pour and the last pour? Drop your experience in the comments. And if you've ever tried Pedro Fortiva, let me know what you think. Cheers. Thanks for watching.
