How to Taste Tequila: Cincoro Review

How to Taste Tequila Cincoro Review

Hola chicos! Saludos de Mexico! Esté alerta.  Stay tuned to learn how to taste tequila like a pro with Micheal Jordan’s new tequila brand, Cincoro.

Hello again and welcome back to DiVino Wine School.

In a twist on the usual, today we’re talking tequila, more specifically, Cincoro Blanco, from Michael Jordan’s new label that came out just in time to be sipped while watching Netflix’ latest sports documentary The Last Dance, featuring  MJ AND Bulls 1997-98 season. 

I’m not what you would call a sports fan, except for soccer and I think we all know what that’s about.

NOW, I’m barely a basketball fan, except that I grew up in the Midwest during the golden years of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan was a legend.

I am, however, 100% a Tequila fan. And during that 1997-1998 season I drank a lot of it.

When I heard that Jordan and four rival NBA team owners had bonded over tequila one night and decided to start their own brand, I thought that’s a cute story.  I’ll try it!

Check out the DiVino Blog for more details on how Cincoro Tequila was born.  And if you like what you see, hit that subscribe button.

Now, Like many of you, my first encounter with tequila ended in one body shot too many during a house party in college. Thankfully there wasn’t Facebook back then, but we did have cameras and you could get free doubles printed at the Walgreens, and post them on bulletin board at the music school at DePaul University.  Anyway.

I didn’t touch tequila for about 10 years after that. Even the smell of it made me sick. Talk about scent memory. Granted, I’ve love to take my skin back 20 years, but Tequila deserves better memories.

Flash forward to sommelier school and a lesson on how Tequila is actually made   – from sugar-packed hearts of a specific blue agave plant that tastes and smells very different depending on there it grows.  Agave can grow up to 15 years before it is harvested and roasted for tequila.

And just like grapes, the altitude and soil type can produce brighter, green and peppery notes versus earthier floral ones.  Tequila producers blend for balance, just like winemakers who combine grapes from different vineyards for more acidity or more body.

Later in the New York at a very fancy bar downtown, I had the chance to try some reposado and añejo tequilas that were aged in oak barrels and served in little snifters like cognac. They were rich and smooth on the palate and smelled like caramel and spices, dark chocolate and honey.  Amazing!  And nothing like the harsh, regretful tequila of my college days.

I was hooked after that and have been experimenting with Tequila on its own and in cocktails ever since.

I even did a little trip to Cancun last winter to study tequila with the experts at the La Destilería it has a beautiful terrace overlooking the lagoon and a huge selection of Tequilas available to try. There’s a still on site and they give tequila tours downstairs.

 You can read more about Tequila on the DiVino Blog.  The link is right down there in the description,  and right up here! (point up).

Cincoro produces 4 different tequilas – Blanco, Reposdao, Añejo, and Extra Añejo –  all  made from 100% weber blue agave, from both the Jalisco Highlands the lowlands surrounding the town of Tequila – which are not really that that low, and contain an inactive volcano and all that mineral-rich soil.

These are celebrity, designer tequilas in a beautiful bottle and a price tag to match. I brought the Blanco, the entry level, and unaged version, which retails for around $74 dollars.  

Check out the blog to shop for them online.  This is a great time to use those points and promos for a discount. The Extra Añejo is aged for nearly four years in Kentucky Bourbon barrels and goes for $1,700.

But let’s start with the Blanco.

Tequila Blanco is considered the purest expression of the blue agave plant, as is rarely aged in oak barrels, and never more than two months. This is where you can really smell and taste the differences between high and low altitude tequila, unless it’s blend.

Higher altitude agave produces greener, spicier, cooler, crisper notes, whereas lower-altitude agave comes out earthier, fruitier and floral.

The age of the plant also matters. The part that is used for tequila, the heart, or the core, is called the PINA. As it grows it accumulates a starch that converts into sugar when roasted.  Just like wine, riper sugar-packed grapes produce sumptuous and smoother wines. Same goes for tequila.

The tasting process for tequila is nearly identical to wine.

Blanco is usually served in a traditional or slightly elongated shot glass, whereas reposado and añejo, which have been aged for several years, in oak barrels , need time and space to open up, so a tumbler or a snifter type of glass is best.

Blanco is can be accompanied by a slice of lime and salt – also known as tequila cruda, 

OR sipped side by side with a shot of Sangrita, a juice made from citrus juice, grenadine, chile powder and sometimes tomato.  You can find sangrita recipes on the DiVino blog.

Both the lime and the sangrita can help balance out harsher flavors of young, unaged tequila. But they also bring out earthy, floral aromas you might never have noticed otherwise.