Ah Patron, in my opinion one of the most misunderstood producers of our beloved Tequila.

Whilst fairly young - Patron was created in just 1989 - it quickly rose for the very reason it was created, to introduce a premium Tequila that had no additives and thus every sip was guaranteed. It's worth remembering that in those days, it was pretty much the wild west when it came to Tequila. Whilst folks loved the category, there was little guarantees as to its quality - and so in hindsight it almost seems terribly obvious that if someone came along and could provide that broad-spanning assurance, it would do very well. That's Patron.

Hacienda Patron.

And so with their pioneering debut of the "Tequila 100% De Agave", Patron would quietly yet massively bring change to the category - today, the label has become the gold standard. Yet that was not all, as they say "it's substance over form", and so it would not have been enough for Patron to simply be additive free, it would also have to in equal measure guarantee that what came out from its iconic dumpy bottles was just as tasty.

Now this is where I believe Patron has in all honestly sold itself short - the brand literally has more Tahona's at their distillery than the rest of the industry combined! For Tequila lovers, the volcanic stone wheel (called a Tahona) used to crush agaves is one of the most revered traditions in Tequila-making, and yet it's as rare as it is laborious and costly to use. Yet Patron seems to have never really made it core to its branding, its heavy commitment to traditional practices. The reality is that beyond its sexy branding, and being constantly name dropped by rappers (although Patron has deliberately stayed away from celebrity endorsements), Patron is at heart quite the traditional Tequilero. 

From hand harvesting agaves that's transported by donkey, to employing the use of a volcanic rock tahona wheel to crush the agave that's cooked for days in a traditional brick oven, and then fermenting the agave in open top wooden pine vats, to finally distilling the agave in copper stills - Patron is far more traditional than it lets on.

At the Hacienda Patron distillery, more of the local community is employed than any other producer, and thus all agave harvested is chopped by hand, cooked for days in a traditional brick oven (as opposed to an industrial metallic autoclave), milled with a Tahona, fermented in old school open-top pine vats (versus the usual steel tanks), and then distilled twice in copper pot stills to produce its Tequilas. That does not at all sound like a commercial, large-scale, industrial situation. Yet Patron is a massive global brand these days - just how do they cusp both sides? The reality is simply the sheer amount of labour - instead of doing a single big industrial batch of everything, Patron opts to do small batches many times over, simply by having so many people work on it at the same time - and that's why they also have so many Tahona's. It takes some re-thinking and much of what I've just mentioned is never really touted by Patron (although it's all there publicly), and for that reason, I've always found Patron to be one of the most misunderstood successes.

Now with all that said, it's been over 30 years of backing their traditional processes and so it's come of age for Patron to seek a breakthrough elsewhere in the way they produce their Tequila's. And to that end, Patron has sought to focus on its blending abilities - this is after all a concept that's well-embraced from the whisky world to the wine world. 

The result of which is the new Patron El Alto.

Newly appointed Master Distiller David Rodriguez is clearly taking Patron into a new era.

Beyond all that is said about the Patron El Alto, the crux of its existence lies in three key elements:

1. The use of Blue Weber agave harvested from the highest elevation of the Atotonilco El Alto region in Jalisco (Patron chooses where and whom to source its agaves from, as it does not predominantly rely on its own agave fields),
2. The specific blending of Reposado, Anejo and Extra Anejo Patron Tequilas,
3. The use of 11 different types of barrels, including American and French oak, which are used to age the Tequila. 

And in that sense, the El Alto, so named after the provenance of the agaves, is a step in the direction of increasingly seeking out a Tequila expression that's giving more complexity through the composition of different flavour profiles - often called assemblage in the wine world and blending in whisky terms. To that end, I find this very exciting and interesting to see how it will shape the Tequila world into the future. After all, in other categories, the role of the Master Blender or Cellar Master is typically considered to be of the highest authority - and it appears that Patron is shifting more power to said revered role.

Let's go!

Tequila Review: Patron El Alto, 40% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Gold

Aroma: It opens delicately honeyed, wrapped around a mix of fresh and cooked vegetals of zucchini and agave. There’s also a BBQ character here, with some black pepper too. With time the light smokiness begins to emerge, backed up by an ashiness, with also a minerality of clay and chalk. Some gentle yet deep aromas of potpourri rounds out the nose. It’s got great depth, supple and seamless, with a mustiness of age.

Taste: Medium-bodied, it shows a good richness and roundedness to its body. Entirely supple and almost lightly syrupy, it has a velvety texture that is filled in with honey, a hit of ashiness, black pepper and a gentle mixture of grounded vegetals. It’s seamless and leans brighter and crystalline, with distinct layers that comes through in waves. Very interestingly at the back is something of Sherry fruits of raisins and stewed prunes, with a touch of dried plums, adding to the body this concentrated core of cooked fruit sweetness.

Finish: The freshly ground agave vegetals with the deep core of Sherry fruits carry through the finish, with a pepperiness that begins to build. A more prominent bit of clay and chalk starts to show up as well, before finally receding into wafts of bright and rich honey, coaxed in with ash. It’s a seamless and rich finish with a light pepperiness and a citrusy touch. A slight oaky and tobacco bitterness lingers, still streaked by some bright honey.

My Thoughts

I find myself caught somewhere in between how approachable and seamless it is to enjoy it, and the fact that there's all these subtle complexities that almost lead me down a rabbithole. I'm constantly torn between enjoying this in the most straightforward fashion and the desire to give it the appreciation it deserves! 

On the surface, this is honeyed, rich toned, and with all those classic characters of charred vegetals, clay driven minerality and something of BBQ sauce - it has a crystalline brightness and yet a rounded and velvety, lush body, leading to a gentle bitterness on the finish that offers up a well-balanced contrast. And yet at the same time, I can't help but notice these initially elusive characters that streak by, and as I follow the trail, I begin to find all these almost Sherry-like richness at the core of the body - raisins, stewed prunes and dried plums, offering up this concentrated raisinated sweetness of dark stone fruits. Along the aromas, there's also this purple floral potpourri scents that waft about, and this is all capped off with this earthiness of dried tobacco leaves that linger on the finish.

There's a whole lot going on here, and it's clear the layers of subtle complexity and flavours that are harmoniously weaved together, that you'd almost take them to be a single entity - the flavour complexity here and integration is really impressive and I'm beginning to see where this new era of Patron is starting to head towards, and I can definitely say my interest is piqued.

But for the time being, the Patron El Alto is really enjoyable, whether to sip or to savour, I too am torn between the two. My experience with it nevertheless tells me that if you slow down and take time to pay attention to it, you'll find so much nuance to appreciate, and perhaps you too will find yourself just as impressed by this new era dawning. Give yourself time, there's lots to see - you'd get more of it that way!