Let’s give tequila newcomer Cambio some credit score for mixing issues up within the tequila world. Whereas these are each 100% Highlands blue agave, additive free tequilas, they’re uncommon in that they’re fermented at low temperatures in tanks lined with American white oak and Mexican pine, then distilled over an extended, two-week interval. Bottling, at 46% abv, is significantly larger than the usual 40%, too.
Cambio doesn’t but have an anejo expression available on the market. At this time we take a look at the 2 flagships — a blanco and a reposado.
Each are 92 proof. NOM 1605.
Cambio Tequila Blanco – Whereas that is formally a blanco, it’s aged in used French oak wine barrels, which give it the slightest trace of yellow coloration and, as we’ll see, loads of atypical taste, too. Sharp and peppery on the nostril, this tequila wears its agave coronary heart on its sleeve, pouring on notes of inexperienced pepper and spring onion, touched with rosemary and a few thyme. It’s as daring and inexperienced as any blanco I can recall tasting, its peppery qualities overwhelming the whole lot else. On the palate, some respite from this natural assault is so as, and Cambio provides it, layering in a squeeze of lemon, some vanilla cream, and a little bit of butterscotch. That French oak could also be technically “impartial,” nevertheless it imbues the tequila with loads of taste you simply don’t see in a blanco, softening up the expertise and taking it one step towards the world of reposado. Purists might bristle on the concept of oak of any form being utilized in a blanco, however even probably the most die-hard fan of silver tequila ought to no less than give this a style earlier than writing it off, because it deftly straddles the worlds of blanco and reposado in a fashion that deserves severe consideration. A- / $50 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Cambio Tequila Reposado – We’re not easing up on complexity. This reposado is aged for one month in white Burgundy and Bordeaux wine barrels, then spends 5 extra months in French oak Chardonnay casks (presumably from California wine). In some ways that is the inverse of the blanco, the nostril robust with agave, right here fairly evergreen and juniper-adjacent, however tempered by a pinch of brown sugar and a few sesame oil. The palate once more throws a wrench into the proceedings, throwing out an enormous crimson pepper character and a closely savory high quality I’d liken to A-1 steak sauce. The extra I sip on it, the extra I’m doubling down on that. Smoky and vastly evergreen on the end, these juniper notes turn into overpowering on this end — virtually evoking an aged gin. B / $59 [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
Cambio Tequila Blanco
$50
