Meet Volume IV of our Exploración Series - an Añejo aged for 14 months in Rivesaltes (“RIVERSALT”) casks from the south of France.
Rivesaltes is a fortified wine made down near the Spanish border - part of the same broad tradition of fortified wines as Port. The idea is similar: ferment the wine, add grape spirit to stop fermentation, and preserve some of the fruit’s natural sweetness and richness.
With Volume III, we saw what a fortified wine cask could do to tequila when we finished it in Tawny Port barrels: dark fruit, richness, spice, and a whole new layer of depth.
So naturally, we got curious.
What would that same idea look like through a fortified white wine?
We went searching and found these Rivesaltes Blanc casks.
Fourteen months later, this is the answer.
This barrel pulls the tequila somewhere we haven’t been before. The first thing you notice is how bright it is.
Stone fruit. Pear. Dried apricot. Citrus. Honeysuckle. A little green tea.
Then it starts to deepen.
Baked apple. Orange marmalade. A tawny-like nuttiness. The oak reveals itself only by rounding the edges without ever burying the agave.
Fourteen months in barrel sounds like it should make a tequila darker and heavier.
Somehow, this went the other direction.
It became more aromatic and layered and alive.
There’s enough richness, baked fruit and nuttiness to stand up to dessert, but enough citrus, florals and freshness to feel completely at home next to something bright and fresh.
That’s what makes these experiments interesting to us. Somehow, two traditions that developed thousands of miles apart can sometimes meet and create a flavor that neither could make on its own.
Five barrels produced. 1,380 bottles*.
*Note: because of an issue during labeling, you may see bottle numbers slightly above 1,380 in the wild - up to roughly 1,450. There are still only 1,380 bottles of Volume IV.
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Distillery : Cascahuín
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NOM : 1123
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Agave Region : Los Valles
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Cooking : Brick Oven (72 Hours)
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Extraction : Milling
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Fermentation : Stainless
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Distillation : Pot Still (2X)
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Resting: Riversaltes Blanc (14 months)
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Master Distiller : Salvador Rosales Trejo
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