Arette Artesanal Suave Anejo Tequila

The Artesanal Suave Añejo is the Orendain brothers' sipping añejo from El Llano — the distillery in the middle of the town of Tequila, one of the few brands still made there. Arette is made at NOM 1109, where the Orendain family began distilling in the early 1900s; the Artesanal Suave line is brothers Eduardo and Jaime Orendain's higher-level product, made differently from the classic line — more stone-oven cooking, slower fermentation, and a gentler cut — with both brothers as master distillers. The Añejo is 100% estate-grown blue Weber agave from the outskirts of Tequila, aged in American oak for the añejo term — more than a year — and bottled at 40% ABV, additive-free. Long Island Lou calls the Artesanal line rock solid and made for aficionados, ranking the añejo just behind the blanco and extra añejo — and, with the Gran Clase, points to the house's ex-bourbon barrels and stone-tank fermentation as the source of its malty sweetness. Expect a nose of cooked agave, vanilla, salted caramel, and cedar with the valley's green pepper and mineral still present, opening into a viscous, gently sweet palate of agave, dried fruit, cinnamon, and toasted oak with a long, warm, peppery finish that keeps the agave ahead of the wood. Honest note: an añejo for the tequila drinker rather than the bourbon convert — the barrel seasons, it doesn't dominate. Neat, in a copita, after dinner. Suave, aged.

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