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Meeting Jesus Padilla is more like getting together with an old friend on a lazy Sunday afternoon than meeting a seventh-generation descendant and North American marketing force of a family-owned artisanal distillery. But just one question about the "stuff in the bottle" ignites a fluid soliloquy on the history and fine points distinguishing the liquid eloquence of 100% Blue Agave Los Osuna distilled spirits from mass-market tequila — the fuel of legendary hangovers. Los Osuna Añejo is the apex of a line of fine distilled agave spirits from the nectar of select blue agave plants cultured on the family estate, distilled in 130-year-old brick ovens and aged in oak casks near the shores of Sinaloa, Mexico. A snifter of this liquid amber is nothing to be insulted by mixers or limes. Like fine Cognac or single malt Scotch, Los Osuna Añejo is to sip and savor at fireside or on a windswept beach at sunset. A siren song of scents seduces the nose and palette. The first sip is flirtatious with viscous, sweet tones of aguamiel (agave honey) which first lubricate the tongue and then deftly glide into the deep oak acquired from Kentucky bourbon casks. The second sip is a serious seduction of images drawn from the mystery of the desert where blue agave defies nature for every drop of life-giving water. The third sip is florid romance, blooming on the tongue much like the blue agave plant itself flowers just once before dying. It's song crescendos and radiates pure notes of smoldering tobacco and moss. Los Osuna Añejo oozes aristocratic gentility and raw sexiness. A true drinker's drink, it defies a category dominated by those that leverage Jalisco provenance to brandish the tequila moniker. We could go on extolling its virtues in overblown adjectives. But the drinkers and non-drinkers at our tasting joined to make just one statement: Try Los Osunas Añejo, it'll blow your mind. - Kathryn Higa |