Tricky Devil – Fortaleza Blanco
There are a lot of tequilas out there. However, excellent ones are a bit harder to find. So, I am very happy to present to you a tequila which fame precedes him. So I thought I combine the highly rated Fortaleza Blanco with another great spirit the Lantenhammer Rote Williams eau de vie. On top of that, what better way to use both drinks than in a Snap Dragon variation.
The Fortaleza Blanco Tequila comes from the Los Abuelos, S.A. de C.V. distillery with the NOM 1493. The agaves grow in the Tequila Valley and are crushed with a Tahona after cooking in brick ovens. The fermentation takes place in wooden open-air tanks before the agave mash is distilled twice on copper stills. The tequila is charcoal filtered and batches are blended together before dilution with spring water.
Vegetal agave notes
The Fortaleza gets high scores on tequila rating sites and I see why. It has a distinct cooked agave note in the aroma and the flavour. Apart from that the Fortaleza carries a slightly vegetal note some describe as olive, but tended more in the direction of green paprika for me. Apart from that, you can find a certain minerality in the taste. It reminded me of red clay and there also was a certain salinity to it. It definitely is one of the best tequilas I have tasted until now.
Tequila and juice
While the original Snap Dragon cocktail basically is a Tommy’s Margarita with muddled grapes, I instead used a Riesling grape juice. On top of that, I added a bit of the Lantenhammer Rote Williams. The eau de vie uses pears from Bolzano and Verona, which are carefully mashed and distilled on small copper stills. Apart from that, I kept the elderflower syrup of the original recipe which I thought would also pair well with the pear brandy.
2,25 cl Lantenhammer Rote Williamsbirne
3 cl Lime Juice
3 cl Van Nahmen Riesling Juice
2,25 cl Elderflower Syrup
Garnish: Dried Lime Wheel;
Song: Cold War Kids – Tricky Devil;
The “Tricky Devil” is not that tricky at all. The drink clearly reflects its ingredients, because you can taste the tequila and the pear eau de vie as equal partners. Next, the flavour changes to fruity and elderflower notes before the freshness of the lime brings all the different aromas together. All in all, the drink is a perfect fit for Margarita as well as eau de vie lovers! Both should not hesitate and mix themselves a version of this!
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The tequila was provided by Barrel Brothers and the williams eau de vie by Lantenhammer.
