Código 1530 Estate Harvest Still Strength Blanco Tasting Notes

Details

Agave: Blue Agave / Agave blue Weber
ABV: 45%
Tasting keywords: Light, granite, grassy, blue agave.
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Nose

Bright and rich acacia honey with some toasty yeasty notes.

Taste

At first it hits you with granite and clay and then dissolves into a honeyed, sweetness with some cedar notes. There is all that classic blue agave flavor but amped up a notch.

Amir Shafii, Codigo 1530 One of the six-year-old agaves that goes into the Código 1530 Estate Harvest Still Strength Blanco.

Production Details

Agave sources: 6 year old, estate grown blue agave.
Fermentation: Fermented in 59 gallon wine barrels previously used to produce Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Amir Shafii, Codigo 1530 The oven where the six-year-old agaves are roasted for the Código 1530 Estate Harvest Still Strength Blanco.

Background Notes

Código 1530’s aged tequilas use Napa wine barrels but this limited edition release turns that on its head by fermenting this tequila in Napa Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Then it is bottled at a 45% still proof which amplifies the agave flavor. While their other releases foreground that viticultural connection, wine barrels offer nuance to this expression. It’s a robust tequila that puts classic blue agave flavors front and center.

Código 1530’s co-CEO and co-founder Fede Vaughan told me that this expression highlights the estate control over their agaves. Since Código 1530 grows all its own agave. “Due to the freedom of creating tequila in small batches we were able to experiment by fermenting this small batch in our 59 gallon wine barrels and our own terroirs.”

It’s great to see another tequila offer a still proof bottle. Like the Fortaleza bottle and others in the field, they tend to offer much more expressive flavors.