Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/29638
TEQUILA Lucky Tres Sietes “I Tres Sietes Silver On the nose, sweet brown sugar and mouth-watering agave tones combine with peaches and cherry notes. The palate is clean and cucumber’d, with hints of tobacco, bread dough and peppered peaches. SRP $47 92 points Tres Sietes Reposado Mango, banana and papaya play rhythmi- cally with taffy on the nose. The palate is a plush, elegantly textured tropical treat with a dash of white pepper. SRP $52 92 points Tres Sietes Añejo This could be a Highlands Scotch – just a smidgen of peat and heather but then the agave slowly weaves its way in for its true identity. The gorgeous, creamy texture is rich with cherry and a sophisticated but subtle com- plexity of zest and zip. SRP $60 94 points 44 / the tasting panel / april 201 1 AS THIS NEW BRAND TAKES A GAMBLE AT THE TEQUILA GAME, ITS NAME—SPANISH FOR “THREE SEVENS”—BODES GOOD FORTUNE FOR THE ELEGANT LIQUID INSIDE THESE BOUTIQUE BOTTLES was introduced to tequila the way most of us are these days, fi rst a shot of the most famous name in tequila at a college bar and then at some point you “graduate” to the other more upscale famous brand,” says Brady Bunte, owner of a new line-up called Tres Sietes. His super pure- tasting Silver, Reposado and Añejo are just now threading their way through some of the best accounts in the West and he wants to go further than “graduating” and believes he has just the brand to do so. Tequila guru Frank Gonzalez shared this same passion of wanting to introduce the masses to the “true tequila” that really does live amongst the hills surrounding Jalisco, Mexico and is consumed by true connoisseurs. Hailing from these lands, Gonzalez was well on his way to marketing a brand—albeit a hand-sell—to buyers who understand the nature of a top sip. “Tres Sietes means Three Sevens. And we all know that means good luck.” explains Brent Fayad, Tres Sietes West Coast Regional Sales Manager (formerly of DeLeon). Although he knows it will take more than luck to get the Tres Sietes sales team operating and piercing each market, there’s a defi nite confi dence in the juice within... and the brand's upcoming campaigns that feature the upscale French-made perfume-style bottle. “It’s an elegant bottle that offers the modern tastemaker a brand to get behind and a price that allows him to confi dently pour it for friends instead of popping $125 to $250 for the only other truly classic straight lined bottles.” At Tavern in Los Angeles, bartender Juan Sanchez creates a sensational cocktail with Tres Sietes Silver using fresh lime, blood orange and Tabasco. Di≠ used for Di≠ erentiation and Purifi cation At Fábrica Tres Sietes, Frank Gonzalez has fi nally found the break to make the tequila he always wanted to perfect. Already housed in a seven-million-dollar facility, Gonzalez was literally waiting for someone like Bunte to come along. Bunte brought an infusion of passion to Gonzalez. Gonzalez and Bunte now had a recipe for success to complement his recipe for tequila. His state-of-the-art facility includes a diffuser, a two-million-dollar health-conscious technology imported from Spain that extracts the agave in its initial stage without harmful by-products from the traditional burning of wood. After the agave piñas are broken down prior to cooking, the diffuser steams the plant pieces, extracting more fl avor than an oven, with less disturbance to the fi ber and, as a consequence less methanol production. The end result: purity. —Meridith May