Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/807384
april 2017 / the tasting panel / 93 Created with Care with 6° Degrees Tequila 6° Degrees Tequila is many things, but a quick product is not one of them. According to Joseph Cimino, founder and CEO of 6° Degrees Tequila: "Most people don't understand how long our product takes to come to fruition. It's made from 100 percent blue Weber agave, which takes seven to eight years to ripen for harvest, then another two years to get to your glass. In reality, over 3,000 days will pass from when we plant until it reaches your lips." With a timeline like that, it's no surprise that care and thought are put into 6° Degrees' production. The agave piñas are harvested (sometimes weigh- ing 60 to 200 pounds per plant!), cut, fired in the oven and then steamed in a pressure cooker. Cimino notes, "It's important to go through both the oven and the pressure cooker. If the piña only goes through the pressure cooker, it will come out harsh and bland; if it only goes through the oven, it will be too smoky." After cooking for 72 hours, the piñas are put through a filter, and the juice that comes out is rested in a bath for six to ten days. It is only after all of those steps that the triple-distillation process begins. 6° Degrees has three expressions: Blanco ($34.99), aged two months in stainless steel tanks; Reposado ($39.99), aged in used American oak barrels for eight months; and Añejo ($45.99), aged for 18 months in Jack Daniel's oak barrels. The various expressions offer something for everyone, Cimino posits: "My wife never liked to drink tequila, but now we'll sit in our backyard and enjoy 6° Degrees together, I with the Blanco and her with the Añejo. I wanted to create a spirit that would cross the divide between men and women. Tequila is seen as a male-preferred spirit, and I looked for a flavor that would appeal to the palate of a woman. And not only can we drink it neat or in a Margarita, but its flavors open a whole new world to mixologists, who can mix it with anything from fresh juice to herbs." Cimino strives to support the revitalized image of tequila as a high-end spirit, something to treat with reverence. "It was only a few years ago that tequila was associated with college students taking shots and getting a bad hangover. It wasn't until higher-end tequila came along that people started to wake up and see tequila as a premium spirit," he enthuses. "The early 2000s were all about rum, then Scotch and whisk(e)y, then bourbon—now tequila is having its moment. It's not something you chug, but a spirit you can put in a beautiful glass and sip and savor like fine Scotch." —Jesse Hom-Dawson