Tonight we’re starting out right with a glass of El Diamante del Cielo Añejo Tequila, a golden liquid with a 96-point rating from The Beverage Testing Institute. This is a huge rating so we’re going into this with the highest expectations possible, as we’re sure Cielo would request.
The presentation of the Cielo Añejo is amazing, a beautiful golden brown like a lightly toasted piece of cinnamon bread, god, I’m already hungry. After pouring, I put the tequila off to the side to kick the computer into high gear for the review and could already smell a rich sweet aroma wafting towards me from two feet away.
The nose of this tequila spoke volumes about brown sugar with intermingled toffee and chocolate notes ending with a slight smokey oak flavor. Imagine eating chocolate and toffee while boiling caramel by a fireside on a warm day at camp and you’ve matched the bouquet of this Añejo. Now, on to the other half of the presentation: the taste.
The initial attach is a warm smooth oak with creamy butters followed by a thick tropical fruit mid-palate ending with brown sugar and dark spices. The fruit transition is amazingly complex from light mango and ripe pineapple to a more creamy banana texture with a strong agave aroma buzzing through the nasal passages. The finish is extremely warm and inviting with a slight tingle and numbing of the tongue which ends quickly leaving behind chocolate spices.
The Cielo Añejo is so warm and inviting you don’t want to swallow it, you want it to move around your palate so you can experience even more flavors. The texture is like an over-oaked chardonnay, but, unlike such a chardonnay the flavors tear through the coating and allow you to experience the full textures in parallel with the creamy oak.
I’d have a hard time rating this as a 96-point Añejo because I’ve never had anything that I can recall of this exact caliber. Having never had an Añejo that was 97 or 98 points, I’ll have to agree with the rating as the bar is a bit too high. While I’ve had plenty of great 93-point or even a 94-point Tequila’s, I can say that the El Diamante del Cielo Añejo has raised the bar for smooth tequilas. I’ve seen prices only between $60.00 to $75.00 but I’d not be surprised if it sold for $150, it’s that top-shelf.
Does it pair with anything? While I can imagine their reposado and blanco‘s paired with great foods, this Añejo stands alone and should be drank the same way. Who can stand up and challenge a 96-point rated Tequlia? Whoever it is, I want to try it too!
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