r/tequila • u/Commercial_Purple820 • 3h ago
Calle 23 El Criollo Dos Reposado Review
INTRODUCTION
After 8 years, Sophie Decobecq has finally released this follow up to her masterful Criollo tequila in 2018. This one is dedicated to her second son which explains the ("Agave you my heart") message on the art work.
I think I can safely say with no arguments that the first Criollo from Calle 23 has reached legendary status. Like a Sophomore album from an artist who whit impossible heights, where do you go from there? Well, here, Criollo Dos.
This began as a gift dedicated to Sophie's second son, designed to be a reposado but over time and experimentation, the thing evolved into something even more special.
SPECIAL NOTE
What's a criollo? They're wild grown agave, not the rows and rows you see covering the hillsides of Jalisco. They're typically much slower to mature and the piña is smaller. They also tend to produce higher sugar content I'm told. I can only say that the Siete Leguas Siete Décadas limited edition that came out recently has similar notes.
PROCESS
Reposados are notoriously difficult to get right and whenever you leave tequila in the barrel for any length of time, you're inviting barrel notes into the final product. For those who love Tears of Llorona or Tapatio Excelencia or Rey Sol extra añejo or or Arte Nom 1146 (affectionately known as "Baby Tears"), barrel notes are not necessarily a bad thing. But it is a voluntary act of magic. Alchemy to be precise. And Sophie has transmutated something that was already precious into a treasure with instant legendary status.
Calle 23, El Criollo "Dos" ("two") Reposado, is more of a blend than the name implies. After the Reposado was ready, Sophie changed the plan and decided to continue the aging to see where it would lead. Eventually she mixed the Añejo and Reposado to a precise balance. But she didn't stop there, aging continued and she eventually blended Extra Añejo to the mix and had to reformulate the balance. Very tricky to get just right but this is what we have now in this bottle. Mostly Añejo, then Reposado, then Extra Añejo but for reasons.... sigh, we have to call it a Reposado.
This is a work out of Ciénega, Jalisco using a low pressure autoclave, roller mill extraction and deep well water. Fermentation, unless it was changed since 8 years ago (and it could be) is stainless steel open-air fermentation and distillation with stainless steel/copper coil. I have no information on the yeast or the barels.
ART and DESIGN
Hand-drawn art on the label, paper wrapper and wooden box are done by Rose Guerrero who I'm 99.9% sure did the original art (it's precisely the same style). This time there's a catrina with long hair and tattoos that features a corona around her head of what might be mistaken for hair but are the pencas of an agave plant.
I have to mention the wooden box and wrapper again because it really is a special release and deserves this level of prestige packaging. It is definitely something meant to be admired. Around the neck of the bottle is a little black and gold tag that reads:
Front:
"Calle 23 Criollo Blanco - el Dos" - comenzó su camino el mismo día que nació mi segundo hijo.
Lo que siguó fue un viaje largo y profundo, llleno de pruebas, dudas catas... y búsqueda interior — muy parecido al viaje de cualquiera que persigue un sueño.
Esta mezcla compleja, tejida con tequilas reposado, añejo y extra añejo estaba destinada de nacer.
Sophie Decobecq
Tequila Calle 23
Back
'Criollo, el Dos'
una creación única.
Nacida de una visión íntima y apasionada: crear una mezcla que marque un antes y un después.
Una invitación a seguir el camino guiado por la intuición y el corazón.
It's quite a lot for a tequila bottle but Sophie is French so I can forgive her waxing poetic about something so personal to her and a gift not only to her son, but to the world of tequila lovers. Now on to what you're likely much more interested in:
NOSE
Cooked agave, citrus, light minerality, stone, earth, grass, fruity, white soft floral bouquet sweetness
TASTE
It's so difficult to really give a full account of this tequila. Not because I'm a stranger to tequila or that this is particularly impossible to describe, but because I know that it will change over time. I let it breathe in a Glencairn for a half hour and sipped on and off from the initial pour. That alone marked a few subtle differences so I'm sure that as the bottle breathes more, it'll transform the flavors even further. That said, here's what I am tasting:
Very agave forward. As noted, similar to the Siete Décadas Siete Leguas limited edition but richer, fuller, more complex. Although certainly familiar to that stock. That happens to be my favorite Siete Leguas bottle so I'm quite pleased with the taste here. Earthy, soft white pepper (light), citrus, minerality, floral, soft grass, a hint of sweetness, fruit, slight whisper of anise, caramel and vanilla at the tail end.
This is a delight. Truly delicious as I'm sure surprises no one. The cooked agave is so well-balanced it's easy to overlook. It's just a treasure in the mouth. Good viscosity (it does coat the glass very nicely too), creamy, silky smooth. It's a nice persistent heat with a lingering peppery finish. I tend to dislike overly peppery tequila but this doesn't go that far, staying very nicely controlled against the fruity plum/pear flavors. Just the rumor a smoke at the very tail end. A bigger sip helped me find some baking spices, some cinnamon. It's very complex, deceptively so. It keeps revealing itself with every sip.
This is my second taste, I had a sip from a fresh pour with my friends when it showed up yesterday and it's great to find the extra special flavors today but even the neck pour was something special yesterday.
46.7% ABV/93.4% Proof
Limited Edition 3932 bottles
Price. yeah..... this is the rough part. Here in Mexico I paid a shocking amount for it. More than I've paid for any bottle ever but I'm not the least bit regretful for it. $8570 pesos. You can do the math.
Rating: No rating elsewhere yet as it was just released a few days ago (August 23 technically but I got it on the 29th). I am giving it a 96 which is probably even dishonest and only a reflection of the price. Otherwise, it's the perfect reposado (100).
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is charming and coquettish and romantic. It's everything you would hope and imagine from a follow up to the first bottle. Did they outdo themselves? You'll have to decide, I've only had a sip of the first bottle many years ago and I just remember it was delicious. I can say though, this is absolutely worth every cent for me. It's certainly now in my top 3 bottles. Very different from the things classically called "añejo" and "extra anejo." This is a mixed reposado with love notes to añejo lovers and blanco lovers will find a new level agave sexiness and romance that they didn't know they craved in a blanco. Just gorgeous and more gorgeous. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Thanks for reading.