By
George Brozowski
Thank
goodness for the not so idle rich. I can assume that with
that one statement I have probably alienated half of you,
confused half of you, and pleased the remaining half. Yes,
that's right - three halves make a whole in my twisted version
of reality. Why not? If three rights make a left, then anything
is possible. But I digress. If it wasn't for the fabulously
wealthy, our palates would suffer immensely..
Lately,
I have been receiving hootch that seems to have one thing
in common no matter if it's Tequila, Rum, Gin or even Gewurztraminer.
And it's not that they are all pretty damn good; they are
all made by the same type of person, a self made millionaire
or billionaire who has decided to retire from the profession
that made him/her wealthy and follow their taste buds into
a hobby that will make them happy and us a happy beneficiary.
I
happen to have up close and personal knowledge of these guys
and gals having lived in the Napa Valley, and Sonoma and Mendocino
counties. I even spent one totally tipsy year living in a
beautiful vineyard on the Russian River. These gentlemen farmers
and distillers are all former Silicon Valley Startup Savants,
Investment Bankers, Stock Brokers and even a sprinkling of
Sharks and Swindlers. They all have one thing in common, though;
they all want to produce the finest beer, liquor and wine
in the world. And some of them are actually succeeding.
Case
in point is Ken Austin, the founder of Tequila
Avion. Here's a guy who was in senior management
at E&J Gallo and Price Waterhouse that
eventually ended up as Senior VP at Seagrams and
then founded Marquis Jet. And after all that, it turns out
all he really wanted to do was drink Tequila, a man after
my own heart. Well, Ken wasn't satisfied with the 2,000 or
so Tequilas already out there, so he decided to take matters
into his own hands. Like any good businessman, he stared out
by doing a competitive analysis and sampled the competition,
all 2,000 of them. OMG that must have been one helluva weekend!
Not finding any he really liked or could remember he set out
to make his own.
He
uses only the finest Blue Weber Agave from the highest regions
of Jalisco, Mexico and that altitude stresses the plant which
in turn gives it more depth and character. These are then
slow roasted in brick ovens under low temperatures. And all
of this work is performed by Vestal Virgins who, as every
student of ancient Rome knows, are priestesses of Vesta, the
Goddess of the Hearth, which is in fact a brick oven. OK,
OK maybe that last bit was over the top, but if it were really
true, it would make for one heck of a marketing hook. At the
end of the process, they do a proprietary "ultra slow
filtration" through activated carbon.
Well,
let's get to it then. I pour a snifter and discover that it
has a very clean nose with little or no alcohol up front like
lesser blancos/silvers. It could be that super slow filtration
at work. The nose is full of fragrant roasted agave up front.
This is the first time I have ever been able to discern "roasted"
agave in any Tequila. I'll bet this is the work of those Vestal
Virgins! That is then followed by subtle hints of vanilla
and faint citrus ending in a pineapple up note, very mellow
and very inviting.
It
lays in the mouth quietly like a Ninja assassin preparing
to strike unseen in the dark. As I swallow, the mouth feel
is warm and syrupy and sweet agave creeps forward and then
backs off again leaving restrained citrus so vague as to be
unrecognizable. The finish is pleasantly smooth, and if this
were in fact a ninja attack, the assassin would be singing
Roberta Flack's "Killing me Softly". The finish
rapidly transforms into spicy pepper that is balanced and
mighty tasty, but then again I like spicy food. Curiously,
it leaves the roof of my mouth a bit numb, which is very interesting
and entertaining. This is mighty fine Tequila and a bargain
at $45.00 Rumor has it that they also make a Reposado
and Anejo
but since they didn't send me a sample I can't tell you what
it would taste like.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
More
Avion Tequila Cocktail Recipes:
Blood
Orange Margarita
Avión
Strawberry Fizz
www.tequilaavion.com