FA S H I O N
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young (blanco) tequila. In its place
is instilled a plush cloak of oak,
vanilla, banana, orange peel and
woody flavors all transported by a
mouthfeel of substantial body emanating from the phenols leached
from the wood. The vanillin of the
French oak and the banana notes
are most foreword, but this is a
subtle, refined, complex beast. In
all honesty, hitherto Patron has not
been a favorite tequila of mine.
This expression changed all that. I
would redo the labelling. It is classy
and traditional to the point of being frumpy. But even as he edges
into elder statesman status Fearing
L E I S U R E
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D I N I N G
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still has edge in an Anthony Bourdain kind of way (maybe it’s the
verve with which he plays I used to
love her, but it’s all over now).
When Fearing visited Patron’s
Hacienda in Jalisco with his restaurant’s General Manager, Michael
Gluckman, production manager
Antonio Rodriguez confronted
them with a rack five barrels high
in the barrel room. Fearing and
Patron Master Distiller Francisco
Alcaraz sniffed and sipped their
way through dozens of samples of
year-old spirit, ultimately creating
the final blend from two specific
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C U LT U R E
barrels. Fearing went home with
a ‘reference sample’ and the remainder was bottled and labelled
for shipment to the Dallas RitzCarlton.
Patron kicked off the Fearing’s
launch with a visit by their lead
mixologist, Andres Ismael Moran
Gutierrez, whose bar, 400 Conejos
(400 Rabbits), is in Guadalajara. He
crafted a couple of superior cocktails that are now available at the
Rattlesnake Bar.
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