'Twas a Tequila Night

Recently, the served up five more reasons to love it—specifically, El Espolon, Patron, Excellit, El Tesoro, and Don Julio Real, five tequilas that were offered for tasting during a presentation by world-traveling spirits aficionado and Wiltonian Gregg Glaser. The tasting and lecture happened on Thursday’s Cinco de Mayo of last week in the library’s Brubeck room.

Did you know that tequila is made from roasted and juice-pulped agave tequilian  hearts, which are not cacti but of the lily family and can grow up to 200 pounds and take eight to 12 years to mature? Or that some tequila distilleries will remove portions of the vapor to get to the most flavorful portion, like cutting the head and tail off a snake (to use Glaser’s analogy)?

“There’s a boom in tequila right now,” said Glaser, who is the publisher and editor of Modern Distillery Age Magazine.

“The margarita is the most called-for drink in bars in America,” he said. “There’s a new vodka coming out every day. Tequila isn’t far behind.” Glaser estimated that there were 1,000 brands of tequila today, and counting.

So what makes tequila, tequila?

During his 45-minute presentation, where patrons were served chips, guacamole, bread, salsa, and five award-winning tequilas, Glaser gave the audience a highly informative and entertaining look into the world of this Mexican-made spirit. 

For three days, hundreds of gigantic Agave hearts, or the Pina, are slow-cooked in cavernous ovens before they are crushed on a grated floor, where the juices are collected and readied for a distilling of at least two times. Tequila may be made only in Mexico, and over three million Agave plants are harvested each year, Glaser said.

One of the all-important ingredients of tequila is the type of yeast used during the fermentation process.

“The yeast is crucial. Every distillery jealously guards its yeast,” said Glaser. “Yeasts have been developed by tequila distilleries over many, many years.”

If the tequila is aged, it is placed either in unused casks or in oak barrels that were bought from bourbon distilleries—by American law, bourbon is aged in toasted barrels which may only be used once—these used barrels are then re-charred and cleaned with 212 degree water before being filled with tequila. That’s why aged tequila has that oaky, smoky, earthy flavors which can be found in whiskies: it’s in the wood. White, or blanco, tequila has the more vegetable-like taste of the agave plant because it is not set aside for aging. If you see aneso on a bottle, it means that tequila has been aged for no less than one year and no more than three years. Raeposado tequilas are aged from two to twelve months.

Another fun fact: sometimes that golden hue isn’t because of the oak, it’s because some distilleries add food coloring, Glaser said.

Of course, the tequila made the night. The El Espolon Blanco was smooth and smoky, an outstanding, moderately-priced tequila with some stylish Day of the Dead adorning the label. Patron Silver held its own as an ultra-smooth and mild flavor that went down like water with a touch of fire. Excellit tasted like spiced roses aged in a cask—a delicious flavor that is unfortunately hard to come by in liquor stores. The El Tesoro had such an unbelievably strong taste of vanilla and coconut that it was baffling to think the liquor a tequila. And finally there was the Don Julio Real, which smelled like a shot of vanilla and tasted like a fine cognac with a tiny bite. The audience gasped when they found the price of the Don Julio: $350 a bottle.

All the tequilas featured were category winners of San Francisco’s Spirits Competition.

For those who missed out on this event, keep an eye peeled on the Wilton Library’s website and the Patch event pages. 

“I come here when they invite me,” Glaser told Patch.

“I moved to Wilton in ’83 and moved in 2010, but I live in Silvermine, twenty seconds from the [Wilton] border,” he said. “This has been my library for 27 years.” 

All tequilas were donated to the library by their respective companies, and all were fantastic. Only at the Wilton Library can there be such a wonderful event.