Tequila Saludos

Drinkers of the ‘90s have found their hip digestif--a way to sip what they used to slam in college.

--Newsweek, November 1995

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If you thought the high-end tequila trend was going away any time soon, think again. Consider El Carmen, one of the nightspots run by club hipster Sean MacPherson, where, instead of the usual vodka shots, many of the scene-makers choose from more than 100 brands of tequila and a good variety of mezcals. Just three weeks ago, a restaurant named Tequila Jack’s opened in Long Beach with 90 kinds of tequila. And the soon-to-open La Serena in Santa Monica is already sending out copies of its tequila list with more than 40 choices.

Then, of course, there’s that $1,000 bottle of tequila--1800 Coleccion Anejo--that Jose Cuervo introduced recently, soundly topping the $250 offering from Herradura.

Even chain restaurants--following in the paths of tequila-savvy restaurants like Border Grill, Sonora Cafe and El Cholo--have gone tequila-crazy. Left at Albuquerque, which is about to open a branch in Irvine this month (its sixth), boasts a bar selection of more than 150 brands of tequila.

Five or six years ago, restaurants prided themselves on their grappa collections and, before that, their libraries of single-malt Scotch. Today, many are impressing customers with significant tequila selections. Tequila has become yet another low-priced hooch gone upscale with arty bottles and “premium” distillations.

And Steve Wallace, owner of Wally’s wine and liquor store in Westwood, which carries more than 70 types of tequila, says that the craze is just beginning. “There’s a lot of tequila on the market, but real tequila, 100% Blue Agave, is the spirit of the millennium.

“The 100% Blue Agave is one of the purest natural products in distilled spirits,” he says. “It’s going to be the hottest distilled spirit. It will never outsell rum or vodka, but it will show a great increase in growth in the next few years.”

Today, many are impressing customers with significant tequila selections.

Tequila that is 100% agave was just 7.82% of the manufacturing market in Mexico at the end of 1994, but has jumped to 28% by the end of 1997, according to Bob Emmons, author of “The Book of Tequila” (Open Court Publishing, 1997).

Many factors have led to the latest tequila boom. Chief among them is that many of the largest tequila factories in Mexico have formed partnerships with U.S. conglomerates. Casa Cuervo from Jalisco is associated with Hiram Walker; its neighbor Tequila Sauza has ties to Seagram. The marketing and distribution capabilities of the U.S. partners have led to a remarkable increase in the number of high-quality or premium tequilas that can be bought in U.S. bars and restaurants.

Meanwhile, there’s been a proliferation of micro-distillers in Mexico. Last year, Del Maguey introduced single-village mezcals, touting the remoteness of the Oaxacan villages in which they’re made, the 400-year-old, organic hand-crafted process employed, and their pure, unblended flavors.

Other tequila-makers are using techniques similar to Napa Valley winemakers.

“There is now a fantastic tequila that is aged in French oak barrels,” says Mike Podmore, manager of Left at Albuquerque in Palo Alto. “The end result is a new type of tequila that is smooth and oaky and has slightly spiced characteristics.”

Restaurant professionals like Podmore often are wooed directly by tequila-makers, who entice establishments with limited-edition products. Del Maguey’s single-village products, for instance, are limited to 3,200-bottle production runs. And just 347 bottles were made of Jose Cuervo’s $1,000 tequila.

The secret, of course, is that the higher the price and the rarer the product, the more some people will want it. As long as prices stay high and bottles remain rare, we won’t see the end of the tequila boom for some time.