El Tesoro 85th Anniversary Extra Añejo Tequila (75cl, 42.5%)

A one-time 2022 release of extra añejo tequila from La Alteña Distillery in Arandas, Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico, made from 100% estate-grown highland Blue Weber agave. It is a collaboration between master distillers Carlos Camarena and Fred Noe, aged a minimum of three years in 50 hand-selected casks that previously held Booker's 30th Anniversary bourbon. Production uses brick-oven cooking, tahona crushing, fermentation with the fibres in open wooden tanks and double distillation in copper pots, and it is additive-free. The nose opens with cooked agave and ripe cherries over seasoned oak, leather and warm molasses, with vanilla, toffee and maple syrup. The palate is sweet and generous, with blackberries, almonds, banana, tobacco, coffee and caramel over dark oak and pepper, before a long, creamy finish laced with gentle spice. It is bottled at 42.5% ABV in a 750 ml bottle.