Corazon de Agave Expresiones Old Rip Van Winkle Barrels Anejo Tequila 750ml

Corazon Expresiones Old Rip Van Winkle Anejo is one of the most-coveted releases in the Buffalo Trace barrel-aged tequila series from Corazon de Agave. This 2015 release rests Casa San Matias' Highland anejo tequila for 23 months in barrels that previously held Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon - the wheated Pappy Van Winkle 10-year expression. Bottled at 80 proof / 40% ABV with a 100% Blue Weber agave mash; just 5,370 bottles produced.

Expresiones del Corazon is a collaboration between Corazon Tequila and Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Buffalo Trace empties barrels from its most allocated American whiskey programs - including the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection - and ships the freshly emptied casks to Casa San Matias in Acatic, Los Altos de Jalisco. Corazon fills each barrel with its Highland Jalisco anejo or reposado tequila and rests the spirit in the residual whiskey compounds that have soaked into the wood through years of prior maturation. The filled barrels are stored in the first row of the aging facility - the level with the most controlled airflow - and tasted every two months until the desired character is reached.

Corazon Tequila is distilled at Casa San Matias, Mexico's fourth-oldest tequila distillery (NOM 1103), with more than 130 years of continuous production. The base tequila is 100% Highland Blue Weber agave, slow-cooked in traditional stone ovens, then pressed, fermented, and copper-pot-still distilled.

The Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year donor program is the lower-aged sibling of the famously allocated Pappy Van Winkle lineup, distilled to the same wheated mash bill by Buffalo Trace on contract for the Van Winkle family. Those barrels carry 10 years of wheated-bourbon character before being emptied for Corazon. The 23-month finishing window on Corazon Expresiones Old Rip Van Winkle Anejo gives the agave nearly two years in the residual Van Winkle wood - one of the longest finishing windows in the Expresiones program.

On the nose, it shows deep cooked agave layered with brown sugar, vanilla, dried fig, and Van Winkle-style honeyed-wheat sweetness. The palate brings agave wrapped in caramel, baking spice, and a soft wheated-bourbon roundness, and the finish carries a long, warming close with lingering oak and dried fruit.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 80 (40% ABV)
• Age: 23 Months in Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year bourbon casks
• Category: Anejo
• Release: 2015 - approximately 5,370 bottles produced
• Origin: Acatic, Los Altos de Jalisco, Mexico
• Distillery: Casa San Matias (NOM 1103)
• Donor Barrels: Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year (wheated bourbon, Van Winkle family)