Tierra de Ensueño Batch 9 Blanco | 50 Days in Weller Bourbon Barrels

[00:00:00] What does this bottle of Weller Special Reserve and this bottle of Terra D Ensueno batch nine unaged blanco have in common? At first glance, nothing. This one's straight up Kentucky bourbon. This one additive free tequila from the highlands of Jalisco. But they're connected in a way that's giving this tequila a very unique profile, and it's one of the best ones I've tasted in a long time. Today we're going to talk about why master distiller Sergio Cruz and master blender Oscar Vasquez Camarena, who I just recently got to do an interview with, rested this blanco 50 days in Weller bourbon barrels. We're going to talk about why it still drinks like a blanco. And if it's a bottle that you need to go find out about, let's dive in. So I picked this batch nine up at an actual tasting at one of the coolest shops I've been to in Chicago, called off premise. So if you're in Chicago and you're looking for great agave spirits, man, it is a place to check out. I'll drop a little pin with a map here so you can find out where it's at. It was back in April and I got the opportunity to spend a little time with Matt and Sergio Cruz, tasting this brand new batch nine. And one of the things I love about meeting these, getting a little bit of insight behind the tequila and listening to Matt and Sergio talk about this project, it's really cool and I really appreciated the time that we got to spend together. Terra D Ensueno, which means land of the dreams. This is Produced up at NAM 1580 near Jesus Maria in the highlands of Jalisco. It's a really cool distillery. It's made with just three ingredients. Blue Weber agave, water and yeast. No additives, just a production that focuses on letting the agave shine through. Everything starts with Highland mature agave, slow cooked in traditional brick ovens and then crushed with a roller mill to extract that amazing juice. Fermentation takes place in open air stainless steel tanks, and they do the Mozart method there too. So you got classical music playing the entire time. Then it is double distilled. The first distillation is in a stainless steel pot and then copper pot stills for the second distillation. It's a process designed to preserve as much cooked agave character as possible before the tequila is ever touches a barrel. Now, I know we're talking about a blanco, right? A blanco everybody thinks is unaged. Well, instead of bottling this immediately, Oscar And Sergio decided to rest it 50 days in Weller weeded bourbon barrels. That's not done to make it taste like a bourbon or to turn it into a repo. The goal is to give this blanco just enough time to pick up some subtle notes of vanilla, some oak, some baking spice, while trying to keep that cooked agave threat and center. And keep in mind, a Blanco can be rested up to 60 days. So let's see if they were able to keep this a Blanco forward tequila. I already know they did because I drank it the other night and just fell in love with it. Also, just a little teaser while I was there, I got to hear about a high proof terra, the Ensueno that's in the works. Can't say much yet, but, you know, we'll have it here. I love high proofs. We'll also have an interview coming up soon with Matt where we can talk about this bottle. So let's get a nose of this one. Great cooked agave. There's a really bright citrus note. I want to say orange, but it's also like a little lemony. There's also like a herbal note, like a grassy. I want to say grassy, but almost like a clove or maybe even a little bit of like an asparagus. There's also a little bit of floral to it. Not as much today as I got yesterday. And if you look for it, you can find that vanilla. A touch of baking spices. For me, with Terra D Ensueno, I always get, like, a little hint of cinnamon. And that cinnamon is there at the top of the glass. So let's take a sip of this one. Wow. Okay. This is actually a little better than what it was the other night when I first opened it up. It's had a little bit of time to breathe. I cooked agaves there. There was like that bright citrus. Is there those herbs that I said, that grassiness is there. I wish I could put my finger on what it. What it really is. I gotta work on that nosing kit a little bit more. There's a little black pepper, a little bit of tropical fruit. There's a soft vanilla, a light oak. There's a really nice sweetness. And in the finish, the mouth feels real rich and silky. And the finish is like baking spices, cooked agave, and cinnamon. So I really like the way this one tastes. I've tasted up against batch two yesterday and a little bit of batch one. And I have to say, in. In the sitting I had last night, Batch 9 was my favorite one so far. What impresses me the most about Tara D and Sueno and their blancos. They're always doing something special Rum cast They've done these barrel aging with Jay Bear, the Jay Bear and Maddie, the owners of the Tequila Report which you should check out. Over 62,000 subscribers and great information in your email that gives you a newsletter that brings you interviews, reviews, insider information and great stories about tequila in the industry. Most of all it's really cool because it's free. So go to the teloreport.com and sign up for that. And the reason I brought that up is because Insuino did have the world's oldest Blanco at 59 days aged in a barrel. That was a really fun project too. So Oscar and Sergio, they're doing some great things working with the guys at Terra Dion Sueno to bring us special stuff but keep everything agave forward. So if you love agave forward Tequilas, Batch nine is amazing. It is a limited release so bottles aren't going to be around forever. So if you see it on the shelf, don't wait a long time. Grab every one of them. In fact, I would say if you see any batch number of these, grab them because they've all been amazing. Let me know what you think in the comments of Terra Dion Sueno. Let me know if you're excited about that upcoming High Proof. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. If you enjoyed this review, hit the like button and the subscribe button if you haven't already and share this video with someone who appreciates great tequila. And until next time, sip wisely, sip responsibly and quite honestly, today I'm going to say drink Terra Dion Sueno. Cheers. Have a great night.