This is the first of what promises to be a series of extremely fine, and extremely rare spirits from around the globe. To my brethren from the Southern hemisphere, you will unfortunately know the pain I feel most days when I read of finds and tastes from my friends in the US and Europe, that I’m not going to find here in Australia, daily basis or no.
To my friends up North, these might not be the boutique cottage productions you flaunt so readily in your recipes and posts but they are at least as rare, and in most cases prohibitively expensive. Hopefully a few you might not have heard of, certainly a few of these were new to me. It’s nice to finally get a score on the board.
Enough pontificating, let’s talk about the Gran Patrón Burdeos, in the gorgeous bottle above. Anyone remotely in touch with popular drinking culture will be familiar with the Patrón marque, whose rough finished bottles with the round cork stopper found a fast and faithful market with the celebrity set who’ve carried the brand around the globe. An even luckier few might have laid lips on Gran Patrón which exchanged glass for crystal, added a third distillation and added a couple of hundred bucks to the price tag.
The Burdeos has another couple of steps. First the twice distilled spirited is rested in barrels of American and French Oak for a period of at least a year. It is then distilled a third time and racked in Bordeaux barrels, Luxist seems to think they are from Chateau Margaux, which would justify the massive price jump, but I can’t find confirmation of that anywhere else. You’ll get the fine unleaded crystal bottle you see above, the bee crystal stopper and a specially designed corkscrew to get at the stuff to begin with.
The spirit itself is very fine, the sawdusty funk you expect from the 100% agave tequilas has mellowed with its marriage in oak and the Bordeaux treatment adds some sweetness, vanilla and dried fruits to the mix. It is very moorish and extremely palatable.
If you’re lucky enough to be offered a taste, you’d be a fool not to. I’ve never seen in on sale here in Australia, but the truly keen amongst you can buy a bottle here for US$699 plus the postage. You’ll get a nice black walnut box included in that price too.
If anyone was stuck on what to get me for Christmas, this would definitely tick all the boxes.
Everyday Drinking 