Maestro Dobbel Diamante Reposado Cristalino (40%)

While it is labelled a reposado, this is actually a blend of reposado, añejo, and extra añejo tequilas, clarified through what the producer, Cuervo, claims is an “exclusive filtration process.” To my understanding, it is the original cristalino.

So, why cristalino? What’s wrong with having a little colour in a tequila, anyway?

The obvious answers are ‘marketing’ and ‘nothing at all,’ but the broader issue is the oddly pervasive notion that spirits with colour are somehow more intimidating than are those without. It’s a tendency I’ve seen for years in the ‘a pint of Guinness is like a full meal’ beer crowd and was directly responsible for Miller trying to market a crystal clear beer back in the 1990s. (Yes, it really happened, and it was dreadful.) It seems to be less of an issue today, but there are still those who view any oak-influenced spirit as something to be avoided because…well, I don’t really know why.

For these reasons, a cristalino tequila is not really something I would bother with, there being a great many typically hued reposados, añejos, and extra añejos out there. But that this is a blend of those three styles caught my interest, and the more recent entry on the market of other such tequilas and mezcals cemented it. So here we go.

Unsurprisingly water clear in colour – which is the point  of it, after all – this has an enticing mix of aromas on the nose, beginning with cooked agave, adding sweet orange and a bit of lime, some floral vanilla, peppery notes, soft smoke, and some light oak.

On the palate, it begins with sweet agave syrup, vanilla, candied lime, and hints of black pepper. The body is where it shows its age the most, with a round character shaped by oak and vanilla, some sweet and bitter orange notes, peppery agave, but mild rather than bright, soft floral notes, and a round, peppery, faintly but complementary phenolic finish. Interestingly, the palate entry is more reposado than anything older, while the richness of the mid-palate shows añejo, plus some smokiness, and the finish completes the trifecta with a more extra añejo character.

Approaching this without an understanding of what ‘cristalino’ means, this will confound at best, and make a disappointing Margarita at worst. But understanding what you are drinking, and here I need to restate that I don’t ‘get’ the idea of clear spirits being in some way superior to or more accessible than brown spirits, this is absolutely a modern classic tequila.

88 ($69 - $75)