Herradura is the only tequila brand in the world to offer the opportunity for venues to purchase their own barrel of tequila from the distillery, but is often an opportunity only affordable to larger venues.
In a first of its kind activation however, Herradura has collaborated with 12 of Australia’s top tequila bars to select and purchase their own single barrel of Herradura Reposado tequila.
In addition, over the next 12 weeks, the select bars that meet pre-determined sales targets of their tequila, will receive a trip to the original Herradura Hacienda and Distillery in Mexico.
Named ‘The Australia Casa Select’, the single barrel of unique Double Barrel Reposado was selected by the venues during a live blending session with Herradura Master Taster & Global Brand Ambassador, Ruben Aceves.
“Herradura has a very special Reposado, not only is it aged in 200L barrels for 11 months (five times the industry standard), but was also the very first Reposado introduced to the world in 1974.
“To create this unique ‘Double Barrel Reposado’ we begin by selecting a single barrel of fully matured Herradura Reposado that has been aged in a toasted and charred Jack Daniel’s barrel and then aged for a second time for one month in a brand new toasted American Oak barrel”, according to the brand.
Located at Brown-Forman’s head office, Sydney on Tuesday April 14, Bar owners and managers from each of the select venues were flown in and presented with 3 hand selected single Reposado barrels from the Casa Herradura distillery, from there the group faced the challenge of choosing which one would become the “Australian Casa Select” batch.
Broadcasted all the way from the Herradura offices back in Guadalajara, Ambassador Aceves said launching the program: “Today, you will become a member of a very small group of people to have ever selected their own barrel of Herradura tequila.”
“This tequila is amazing, unique and beautiful, and your customers will love it. Herradura is very well respected among the whole industry, so I hope you feel very proud of this ultra-premium tequila.”
While Patrick McEwan, Brand Manager at Brown-Forman said: “The brands’s core Reposado tequila (as is with all others) is a combination of many single barrels married together to produce a desired flavour and level of consistency, however the three barrels used in this particular exercise varied significantly in complexity due to the location of the barrel house that they were matured in. Another key driver of the complexity of flavours is the fact that Herradura is the only tequila in the world that is completely fermented naturally. Fermentation (often over-looked in many brand inductions) is what delivers the flavour DNA in the spirit and as such is the building blocks of the citrus characteristics found in Herradura’s tequila.”
The barrel selected by the venues – #787, fully matured and finished in the middle of the selected barrel house had sweet caramel and vanilla, earthy, charred notes. Considering consumer tastes, price point and mixability, the group selected the barrel for its approachability, considering it an expression of tequila that would not only be enjoyed neat but would also mix well in a cocktail.
Nick Peters, co-owner of Mamasita in Melbourne, VIC said the fact the selected tequila would mix well in a long drink would make it accessible for more people to enjoy.
“Everybody in this room sells a lot of agave spirits and the issue has always been education. And for part of that, we have a responsibility as operators who are passionate about the industry to provide a multitude of vehicles for tequila to go in. So you can sell it neat, but also to push a cocktail is a great way to make it accessible for people as well”, Co-owner of Tio’s in Sydney, NSW, Alex Dowd said.
Casa select barrel #787 will yield 240 bottles of the world’s first multi-venue collaborative batch of tequila. All of them will be divided equally amongst the 12 venues. They will be hand signed by Casa Herradura Master Distiller Maria Teresa Lara (the only female Master Distiller in the industry) with each individual venue name, barrel and barrel house numbers.
In addition to this rare opportunity to select their very own bespoke batch of tequila, Brown-Forman is also offering each of the bars from QLD, NSW, VIC, ACT, SA, WA and NT the opportunity to visit Casa Herradura and experience the historic site first-hand. Each venue has been presented their individual targets and is now engaged in a 12 week Herradura brand incentive with 100 per cent of the program profit being reinvested into hosting the group in Mexico in July. The number one performing venue will also receive the actual oak barrel that was used in the secondary ageing process of the Double Barrel Reposado.
The highlight of the trip to Mexico will be an exclusive VIP tour of the Casa Herradura Hacienda – the last remaining in the world. Including a morning horseback ride into the agave fields, agave harvesting demonstration by the master Jimadores, behind the scenes tour of the distillery and private tasting with Master Taster & Master Distiller, Ambassador Aceves. They will also mount their very own barrel #787 barrel head in the Double Barrel Reposado selection room.
drinks bulletin will be reporting updates from each of the venues over the course of the next 12 weeks.
The 12 bars where The Australia Casa Select will be available over the following 12 weeks are:
QLD
Blackbird, Brisbane
Laruche, Brisbane
QT Hotel, Gold Coast
NSW
Tio's, Sydney
Mejico, Sydney
Molly, Canberra
VIC
Go Go Bar, Melbourne
Mamasita, Melbourne
Radio Mexico, Melbourne
SA
The Lion Hotel, Adelaide
WA
Bar Lafayette, Perth
NT
The Deck Bar, Darwin
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