Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What if I told you a tequila could spend time in an oak barrel and still legally be called a blanco? And here's what makes this really interesting. Putting a blanco into a barrel isn't necessarily about trying to make a baby reposado. If it's done right those few days or weeks, an oak can soften the rough edges, changing the texture, adding complexity, and even create new aromas and flavors without taking away the cop agave that made tequila great in the first place. I've got two blancos in front of me today that are going to help us figure out exactly what happens. We have Polanco Blanco and Terra D Ensueno, Batch nine. And both have spent time in oak. They're going to show us two very different personalities. Now, before we dive into these, I did pour these earlier because it does take a little bit of time for them to open up and I wanted to make sure they were ready to go. Now, if you want to learn about tequilas like these, you definitely can find out some great information at the Tequila Report.com the Tequila Report gives you news, insight and what's going on in the tequila world today. And it is absolutely free. It'll come to your email once a week. Go to the Tequila Report.com subscribe and and get it today. It's free. I gotta give credit where credit is due. A lot of what we're talking about today comes from the class that Grover taught as part of the Flavia's Maestros del Agave subscription with Agave Matchmaker. I really enjoyed the program because it isn't just getting bottles of tequila. They're actually using the tequila to teach us how each production decision actually affects what's going into your glass. This particular class was about barrel rested blancos and I thought it was a subject that's fascinating enough that I wanted to bring it here, taste these side by side and share what I learned. So thank you, Grover, Agave Matchmaker and Flaviar for the education. Now, when most people hear blanco, they probably think straight off the still right into the bottle. A lot of blancos essentially are, but that's not the whole story. Under tequila regulations, Blanco can actually spend a short period of time in oak and still legally be called a blanco. And that brings up the obvious question, why would you take this beautiful agave forward blanco and put it into the barrel in the first place? You guys know I love blancos, especially high proof blancos, because I want to taste, coat, agave, minerality, citrus, everything that agave gives us in that blanco in that high proof. So putting the tequila in this oak, to me, could be risky because we're saying, I want something from this barrel, but I don't want too much. You're not trying to make a repository light. You're trying to soften certain rough edges, maybe improve the texture, add a layer of complexity while keeping the agave front and center. And this is where something Grover said that really stuck with me. Don't think about the barrel simply as a container holding tequila. Think about it almost like a chemical reactor. Because there's a lot happening between the tequila, the wood, and oxygen. We can break those down into four basic things. Extraction, absorption, oxidation, and estrification. I know this is starting to sound a little bit like a chemistry lesson, but it's actually pretty easy when you put it into normal terms. Extraction means the tequila is taking things from the wood. Once the spirit goes into the barrel, the alcohol begins pulling compounds from the oak, including vanillin, oak lactones, spice compounds, and tannins. Vanillin is obvious where some of those natural vanilla aromas come from. Oak lactones give you the things like coconut, creamy oak, wood aromas. Other compounds contribute clove, cinnamon smoke, and baking spices. And then you have tannins, which give you structure, that drying or gripping sensation that you might recognize drinking a red wine. A little tannin can add complexity too much, and suddenly the wood starts to run the show. And that's exactly what you don't want to happen in a blanco. Now, here's where it gets even more interesting, because while tequila is taking things from the barrel, the the barrel is also taking things from tequila. That's absorption. Certain compounds can stick to the surfaces in the wood or char, Potentially reducing some of the sulfur compounds or harsher characteristics. So the barrel isn't just adding vanilla or oak. It's helping remove certain things, which can help explain why even a short time in a barrel can make the spirit feel more rounded, less aggressive, without necessarily covering anything up with the oak. Then we have oxidation. A wooden barrel isn't the same thing as a stainless steel tank. Wood is porous, so tiny amounts of oxygen can interact with the spirit. Over time, those reactions change the existing compounds and help the tequila become more integrated. And then there's estrification, which I think may be the coolest part, because now we're not just talking about taking something from the wood or the wood taking something from the tequila. Now we're talking about an actual chemical reaction creating new compounds. Alcohols can react to react with organic acid from esters Those esters contribute fruity and floral aromas. So something can actually show up in the finished tequila that wasn't simply sitting around inside the wood waiting to be extracted. The chemistry of the spirit itself is changing. And what's amazing is how quickly something like this can happen. During those first few days or weeks, extraction happens pretty fast. Vanilla can start appearing. Lactones begin influencing the tela, and the perception of sweetness can change. As you go a little further along, the alcohol can begin to feel more softer, the oak becomes more integrated. And now you may notice a completely different mouth feel. But then eventually, you get into this balancing act, because if you leave the tequila there too long, the barrel starts winning. Oak becomes more obvious, tannins increase, and the tequila becomes drier. And most importantly for someone like me, the agave can start disappearing. That's why it isn't simply a matter of putting the tea in the barrel for a certain number of days and point it out. The producer has to pay a lot of attention to what's happening, because that oak matters. Whether the barrel is new or used, how many times it's been filled, it all matters. Is it toast? Is it char? That matters, too. What was previously inside that barrel? What's the temperature? And obviously the amount of time matters. That's why two blancos can spend time in oak and come out completely different. Which brings us back to these glasses, because now they've had a little bit of time to sit here and open up. Let's first start with the Polanco. Great cooked agave.
[00:05:28] This tequila has always been very agave forward to me. And you do pick up just a little bit of that wood influence in the nose. Dive over to the Ensueno, which is one of my favorite tequilas of all time. Again, you get that great cooked agave, you get some vegetable notes. I'm actually getting, like, a little bit of celery and a little bit of cinnamon. So neither of these, to me, smell like they've been over influenced by a barrel. Now let's taste them. Great cooked agave. Great sweetness. There's a really nice baking spice in there, and I do pick up a little bit more maybe of the vanilla than what I normally would. Let's dive into the Ensueno cooked agave. Get that great cinnamon, a nice citrus note, a little bit of vegetableness. Really don't taste any barrel in either of these. Maybe a little bit of spice in that cinnamon note or a little bit more baking spices, which I pick up in this one as well. Could that be from the tequila or could it be from that barrel influence? Both of these have a great finish and they're also very complex. Did that barrel help make these more complex? I think yes. I think the short term in the barrel can really be interesting in the tools of the hands of a talented producer. These two bottles show you why there isn't just one way of doing it. Different barrels, different of times, different production decisions. All of those can make tequila taste completely different. And you can make your bottle of blanco really go in a different direction by adding just a little bit of time in a barrel. Again, I want to thank Grover Agave matchmaker for teaching us this class, Flaviar's Master del Agave program for putting the tasting together. Because it's exactly the kind of tequila education that I love. And the more I understand what's happening in tequila and understanding what goes in our glass really makes this a little bit more fun. So now I want to hear from you. Have you tried a barrel rested blanco? And maybe the bigger question do you think a blanco should ever touch oak or do you want it to be straight? From the Put that in the comments below. I have a feeling I know what the tequila drinkers are going to have to say about this one. I'm going to enjoy both these tequilas tonight. Cheers. Thanks for watching.
