Magic. Just lovely tequila. If you’re of the mindset that tequila is only for limes and salt and bad college memories, I implore you to reconsider, do a little bit of homework, and invest in a lovely, additive free, well made sipping tequila. I got my start here with bourbon, then scotch and Irish (like many of us), deviated to team rum about two years ago, and in the last year, I’ve really begun to enjoy quality tequilas. Looking at brandy for 2023… ArteNOM is something akin to a Douglas Laing or Lost Lantern for tequila. The owners contract specific tequila distilleries, or NOMs to make special batches just for them. This one comes from NOM1146, which is responsible for other hitters like Fuernteseca and Tears of Llarona. This tequila does it’s primary maturation in French red wine casks for 2-3 years, and the blend is then finished in new French oak casks for a year. This is really an extra anjeo, but because the final maturation is only for a year, it legally has to be labelled an anjeo. The wine casks haven’t dampened the agave. Cooked agave is still present front and center on the nose, but it’s enveloped in this buttery Boudreaux wine that gives off notes of berries, nuts, and some earthy tobacco. Those notes follow into the taste with the addition of some lovely milk chocolate that lingers on and on into the finish. Magnificent!