Patrón and Harvey Nichols bottle single cask añejo

Bacardi-owned Patrón has teamed up with Harvey Nichols to create a limited edition single cask añejo Tequila, available exclusively from the luxury department store’s website.

The Tequila was matured in a single Allier oak barrel for 33 months

The new bottling is the first single cask expression from the Tequila brand to be made available in the UK.

Patrón launched its single barrel programme in 2014, allowing close friends and partners the chance to create their own Tequila.

Matthew Sykes, senior director of global marketing for Patrón, said: “We’re so excited to see the first single cask Patrón expression from our Barrel Select programme available in the UK, go into the off-trade with Harvey Nichols.

“We launched Barrel Select in 2014 allowing friends of the brand to get their own one-of-a-kind Tequila, aged in our barrel room at our home, hacienda Patrón in Jalisco, Mexico. Now, Harvey Nichols customers will be able to buy this unique añejo Tequila from Harvey Nichols online.”

Distilled in January 2017, the 100% Blue Weber agave Tequila was filled into a single Allier oak barrel. Allier is a forest located between Sancerre and Burgundy in France, where the trees grow straight up rather than out, providing a tight grain for the wood.

When coopered into barrels, the tightness of the grain is said to add finesse and spice to anything matured inside it.

The Tequila was matured in the barrel for 33 months – 20 months longer than required by law to be called an añejo and almost long enough to become an extra añejo.

‘Tequila like no other’

Nick Bell, spirit buyer at Harvey Nichols, said: “It was an incredible experience to be able to fly to Mexico with Patrón and select our own Tequila.

“We spent a day in the distillery trying all the different styles to find the one we liked the most. Once we found it, we decided in order to make it really special we would mature the liquid in a single Allier oak barrel for 33 months. By doing this, we produced a Tequila like no other and can’t wait for our customers to try it.”

Described as “almost Cognac-like in its richness, smoothness and complexity”, Patrón Harvey Nichols Barrel Select Añejo Tequila is said to have hints of vanilla, jasmine, roasted agave and ripe apricot on the nose.

The palate brings a “lingering perception of sweetness and wine combined with woodsmoke, golden raisins, roasted agave, oak logs and stone fruit drizzled with honey and spices”.

The 40% ABV Tequila is recommended sipped alongside meat or mushroom dishes, or with chili chocolate at the end of a meal.

Patrón Harvey Nichols Barrel Select Añejo Tequila is available to buy online from Harvey Nichols, priced at RRP £85 (US$105). It is limited to 366 bottles.