BusinessWeek

"Is it coincidence that the most outstanding tequila reviewed is endorsed by the only authentically Mexican guy here? Carlos, you are El Hombre. Salud."

Men's Journal

A new partnership with the Mexican distillery finds the Hall of Fame rocker returning to his roots.

by Blaine McEvoy

Carlos Santana — one of the world’s greatest living guitarists — has joined the board of Casa Noble Tequila, one of the finest Tequila makers in the world. “We have come together because I love the tequila,” says Santana, who is now one of the owners of the Tequila, Mexico-based brand.

“Santana’s philosophy of quality and integrity is synonymous with Casa Noble,” says chairman and CEO Jose Hermosillo. “Through his life and music, Santana has dedicated himself to those same values, which are the key motivators behind this alignment.”

Casa Noble’s family-owned distillery produces handcrafted, organic tequilas which are three-times distilled (most tequilas are only distilled twice) for additional smoothness and clarity.

“Casa Noble and my family have the same origin — Jalisco, Mexico,” says Santana, whose father is a Huichol Indian from the region. “My family roots date back to the 1700’s in Jalisco. When I visited the distillery, I immediately felt spiritually connected to Casa Noble.”

Cigar Aficionado Magazine

Carlos Santana Part Owner in Casa Noble Tequila

Jack Bettridge

Guitar god Carlos Santana has joined Casa Noble Tequila as a part owner in the brand and a member of its board of directors. The move came as a result of the musician's professed interest in aligning himself with the spirit of Mexico, the country of his birth.

Jose Hermosillo, chairman and CEO of Casa Noble, said Santana's representatives sought out the brand as a possible candidate, and they met in January for an extensive tour of the Jalisco, Mexico, distillery, after which they agreed in principle to Santana's participation.

Hermosillo said, "We shook hands after the meeting and hugged it out, but of course the lawyers had a lot of work to do" to cement the deal, which was announced this week. The Tequila maker said that Santana was "very passionate and caring about the process and wanted to meet with the workers and spent a lot of time at the distillery" before arriving at the choice of Casa Noble as a brand to which he would affix his stamp.

The guitarist, whose style is a mix of Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms, was born in Jalisco, the Mexican state from which all spirits legally called Tequila arises. He later moved to Tijuana and later San Francisco.  Santana has said about the partnership: "We have come together because I love the Tequila. Passion, dedication and integrity is what attracted me to Casa Noble Tequila. I feel at home with my new family at Casa Noble. They strive for excellence and don't take shortcuts. Just like the music of Santana, one note or one drop...they are the same thing. You have to feel each note from your heart."

The CEO said that while in Jalisco, Santana, whose father is a Huichol Indian, traced his roots to 17th century Jalisco, when Tequila was born there.

Santana's involvement with the company, which handcrafts single-estate organic tequilas in the crystal, reposado, and añejo styles, will be low-key at first, according to Hermosillo. They will begin with industry promotions and plan to continue commercial endorsements of the product. A video featuring the musician at the distillery has already been produced.

Santana added: "Together we celebrate the gift of life and all of the blessing that come with it. Together we can all make a difference in the world."

LA Times - Tequila

While scotch trades on its heritage and vodka its hi-gloss sheen, the agave-based spirit finds common ground with both.

Set aside, for the moment, the yellow Cuervo Gold of your youth. That drink of yore is “mixto” tequila, a distilled blend of at least half agave (the plant from which the liquor’s sugars are derived) and the rest other sugars such as cane. These days, mixto is losing market share to tequila that’s labeled “100 percent de agave.”

Like the dozens of luxury tequila brands launching now, Patrón, the label that helped create the high-end tequila market, originally made its spirit at another distillery and aimed it at the American market. (For its first 12 years, Patrón used the Siete Leguas distillery.) The brand’s success and its gentle flavor profile—many fans don’t know they’re drinking tequila, only that they’re drinking Patrón—have inspired hundreds of imitators, with more launching than ever before.

As our preference for 100 percent agave tequila grows, it’s no surprise that brands are now popping up to take advantage of that trend. But what is really interesting are the niches tequila is carving out: Some are being bottled in sleek vessels complete with the same marketing and mystique that seems to be inspired by premium vodkas, while other new tequilas are promoting the artisanal, historical and romantic notions of the agave spirit, akin to scotch whisky—even if the brands were created within the last week.

One hundred percent agave tequila comes in five aging categories: blanco/silver (usually unaged), oro or joven (a “smoothed” tequila or a blend of blanco with older tequilas), reposado (aged two months to one year), añejo (one to three years) and extra añejo (more than three years). Tequila gains color from barrel aging, but the many brands attempting to appeal to vodka drinkers concentrate on making the end product as clear as possible.

Blanco-only brands include the Justin Timberlake–fronted 901 Tequila, Inocente, El Don Tequila Plata and Karma. (El Don Tequila Plata and Karma plan to follow with reposado and añejo in the future.) Other brands are aged tequilas that, because they are clear, take on the appearance of an unaged spirit. Maestro Dobel is a blend of reposado, añejo and extra añejo filtered to clarity. Casa Dragones blends blanco with extra añejo, filters the color out...and asks a shameless $275 per bottle.

A bevy of tequila brands are using the same techniques and vocabulary aimed at vodka drinkers—that a better tasting product comes from more distillations and exotic filtration through things like lava rock, diamonds and gold dust—in some cases as an attempt to neuter this usually flavorful spirit. Brands, including Milagro and Casa Noble, are distilled three times, while two tends to be standard. Luna Sueño claims quadruple distillation.

Even more complicated, Gran Patrón Burdeos is distilled twice, aged for a year in American and French oak barrels, redistilled and then aged again in oak barrels that were previously used for Bordeaux. Corzo begins with the same distillate as Cazadores tequila, then it is either lightly aged, distilled a third time and sold as Corzo silver or aged once more for the brand’s reposado and añejo bottlings.

The third distillation isn’t entirely flavor subtractive, though. Casa Noble compares it to a filtering step. Tania Oseguera, brand ambassador for Cazadores, says, “The third distillation process provides smoothness and purity, while the aging process in between distillations provides flavor complexity.” Also, like vodka before it, the tequila market isn’t just getting crowded; it’s getting crowded with celebrities.

Though Sammy Hagar founded Cabo Wabo roughly 15 years ago (recently sold for $80 million to Gruppo Campari, which owns Skyy Spirits), currently celebs like Timberlake and adult film star/entrepreneur Jesse Jane (Diosa Tequila) are getting into the game. Country singer Toby Keith is launching a mezcal, Wild Shot, complete with the bug at the bottom of the bottle. Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier have both launched self-branded tequilas. And Avion tequila had its own plotline on Entourage.

The technology used by La Alteña distillery—in the rusty-red-soiled highlands of the state of Jalisco—consists of a giant volcanic stone wheel called a tahona rotated by a tractor (previously, a mule) to crush the baked agave, brick/stone ovens and open-top wooden fermentation vats that look like they’re replaced every 30 years or so. While there is also newer equipment at the facility, La Alteña is essentially a working museum.

This distillery produces the El Tesoro brand (now owned by Jim Beam) and a lower-cost Tapatio brand, plus newish contract labels Excelia (aged in ex-cognac casks) and Ocho (made with single-plantation agave). The distillers from Charbay Tequila in California fly down to use the stills at La Alteña as well. Far removed from dramatic bottles and marquee owners, heritage brands promote distiller expertise, nuances in production and the quality of the raw ingredients.

Though it can be downplayed through repeat distillation and filtration, tequila is a fairly robust-flavored spirit that can express the terroir of the agave fields: citrus and pepper notes of the highland agave or the herbaceous flavors and tropical fruit notes that characterize plants grown in the lowlands. Ocho embraces it: Each bottling is labeled with the name of the estate on which the agave was grown and year of harvest.

Most aged tequila (and scotch and rum) rests in casks formerly used for bourbon. And like scotch brands, tequila labels are suddenly using every type of barrel they can get to put a new spin on what is being aged in them. Casa Noble uses new French oak barrels made by Taransaud. AsomBroso offers tequilas aged in port, French oak and Bordeaux wine barrels; the barrels Semental uses have French oak tops and bodies made with staves of American oak.

Again following the whiskey lead, brands including Herradura and Casa Noble are now selling single-barrel tequilas (bottled before shipping) to individual bars and retail outlets. If whisky is the model, we should expect to see cask-strength and unfiltered tequilas hitting the market in upcoming years.

Like scotch distilleries that promote their historic and cost-inefficient floor malting, despite the availability of more modern methods, tequila brands also celebrate the outdated technology of the tahona, the giant stone wheel. New distilleries like Allied Domecq and the forthcoming Lily y Julio and La Esmeralda have made the tahona part of the plan. For these new and old-heritage brands, vintage production technology and tradition are the luxury for which you pay.

On store shelves and back bars, the heritage and luxury brands are often lined up next to one another—the bottles of the former squat and decorated with traditional symbols of horses and agave plants, the luxury brands in tall, clear bottles. Most crowd the $45–$100 range, with just a few extra añejos and designer labels crossing the $200 mark. The new tequilas are split definitively between style and substance, but regardless of your choice, the price is about the same.

D Magazine - Best of Big D: Food and Drink

Best Margarita
Komali

Take one silver cocktail shaker, add a dollop of fresh tamarind purée, a quick squirt of Cointreau, and a gentle spray of fresh lime juice. Cover with a generous ounce and a half of Casa Noble reposado tequila and a scoop of cubed ice. Shake it hard. Dip the rim of a stout, stemless martini glass into a mixture of chile piquin and salt. If this combination of sweet, sour, hot, cold, and citrus was served at the United Nations, it could pave the way for world peace. 

ALBERT’S FIRST TEQUILA DINNER FEATURING CASA NOBLE

I’ve been a craft beer geek for a long time, but like most people, I started out drinking cheap, macro-brewed nonsense because I didn’t know any better. I never thought beer could be delicious until someone sat me down and said, “beer can be good, and here’s why.” That’s exactly what happened at the most recent dinner at the San Diego Zoo’s Albert's Restaurant, except the beverage in question wasn’t beer but that often vilified agave-based drink—tequila. Thanks to the skilled craftsmen at Casa Noble and the talented kitchen staff at Albert’s, I’ll never see tequila the same again.

Like most of the special dinner at Albert's, the night began with an intimate reception in the Treetops Banquet Room above the restaurant, complete with all-you-can-eat hors d’oeuvres and all-you-can-drink libations. A tree pangolin (which one guest likened to an “armadillo monkey bird”), tamadua or lesser anteater, and a  South African hedgehog dropped by to entertain us while we enjoyed delicious street tacos, nachos with all the fixings, and “Albert’s Organic Margatinis” with Casa Noble Crystal tequila. After the reception, we were led downstairs to kick off the dinner.

The first step toward changing peoples’ perception is education, and that’s how the dinner began. Before the first course came out, the presiding tequila connoisseur, Enrico Caruso, took the floor and gave us a brief history lesson on the drink, how it’s made, and the complexity inherent in a well-crafted tequila. Heads exploded left and right as pre-conceived notions of tequila were shattered. We now had the knowledge to combat our ignorance, but we had yet to apply it. Then came the first tequila.

Before each course we were served our tequila in a shot glass accompanied by a virgin cocktail. We were encouraged to taste the tequila straight up before diluting our taste buds with the rich food, then dump the rest in the cocktail and enjoy it that way if we preferred. Our first taste was of Casa Noble’s Reposado, and with Enrico’s help we began discovering its nuances. The first sip was very sweet and peppery, with larger sips revealing creamy butterscotch notes. I was a believer. Next came the food.

Bursting with four plump blackened Mexican white shrimp drizzled with virgin olive oil on top of baby spinach, pureed black rice, marinated tomatoes, and fresh avocado, the first course was a BIG one. I don’t eat a lot of shrimp, so I couldn’t be the best judge, but a pescatarian at our table said she eats it like it’s going out of style, and THIS was good shrimp. I took her word for it. The simple, rich flavors matched the tequila’s bold, raw notes of pepper and butterscotch. Fantastic.

The second course, Guajillo-spiced pulled pork with cilantro-lime polenta and corn relish, topped with salsa verde, was paired perfectly with Casa Noble Anejo. The Anejo was aged in oak barrels for a year and boasted a much sweeter profile than the Reposado. It had obvious silky notes with hints of chocolate and burnt honey, which cut nicely into the richness of the pulled pork. The smoky notes from the tequila also paired beautifully with the sweet, spicy pork, and the green sauce with habanero matched the alcohol spice of the tequila.

Next came the Empanada de Habichuela, consisting of slow-cooked black beans infused with onions, peppers, tomatoes, chorizo, and panela cheese folded into a flakey pastry crust and finished on smoked enchilada sauce. This course continued the trend of big, bold flavors, harmonizing with the Casa Noble Reposado and matching it on the high notes. At this point it was obvious that this dinner was not about subtlety. It was about punching you in the face with flavor and leaving you wanting more.

The dessert, a Semifreddo de Chocolate y Cacahuate with chili brittle, agave nectar, and assorted edible flowers, was another welcome flavor bomb. When matched with the Single Barrel Anejo sifter, it was heaven.

Semifreddo de Chocolate y Cacahuate with chili brittle, agave nectar and assorted edible flowers

Of all the dinners I’ve attended at Albert’s, this was by far the most interesting. The subject matter was fresher, the atmosphere was wilder (fitting for a zoo!), and the flavors were more intense. Congrats to the experienced craftsmen at Casa Noble and the equally competent staff at Albert’s for bringing the delicious yet again. They’re all magicians as far as I’m concerned.

Travel Retail & Duty Free Magazine - Tequila Still King of The Americas

Casa Noble´s front man Pepe Hermosillo gets quoted several times on the latest issue of Travel Retail and Duty Free magazine, about why Premium Tequila is a category in full growth mode. "At Casa Noble we have experienced a growing acceptance because of our evident commitment to protecting our environment.."

Luxist - Casa Noble: Driving More Refined Tequila Consumption

Tequila seems to have to fight for respect more than other spirits, such as whisky, rum, brandy and even vodka. Perhaps it's because Tequila seems to be more associated, in the U.S. with benders and beach parties rather than snifters and sommeliers. 

But one of the small-volume craft Tequila producers helping to raise Tequila's image beyond the margarita is Casa Noble, a brand whose history dates back to the 1700s.

Casa Noble, which produces about 150,000 litters of Tequila of different ages each year, produces from a holding of about 3,000 acres of blue agave, about one-tenth that of Tequila giant Jose Cuervo (curve also buys blue agave from other growers). And Casa Noble's blue agave fields are mostly on slopes and hillsides, which stresses the plant, and the company believes produces a more complex tasting agave plant.

Another difference in Casa Noble's process to set it apart is the three distillations to which it subjects its spirit--traditionally, Tequila is distilled twice.

If the taste of Casa Noble's Tequilas seems deeper and slightly more complex than other brands, one of the reasons, says owner Jose "Pepe" Hermosillo, is the slow cooking of the blue agave "pineapples" before the juice is extracted. Some larger scale Tequila producers cook the agave in just six to eight hours in an autoclave, which works like a pressure cooker. Hermosillo compares the 36 hours or so of slow cooking in stone ovens to slow-cooking beans overnight in an iron pot versus using a pressure cooker. "Anyone can tell you the slow-cook method imparts a deeper, slightly smoky and sweet flavor that you can't achieve in fast cooking."

The majority of all reposado (aged Tequila) is aged in second-fill American Bourbon barrels. But Hermosillo says the charcoal on the inside of Bourbon barrels is too much for the flavor profile he is going for. Casa Noble uses new French oak barrels with a very light char on the inside. The distillery's Anejo Tequila spends two years in the barrel before bottling. Casa Noble Black spends five years in oak.

Tequila that is to become Anejo (minimum 1 year aging) goes into new casks. The Reposado (2 months to 1 year aging) goes into refilled casks. (More often at other distilleries, they will use newer casks for Reposado Tequilas and older ones for Anejo so that the wood affects the spirit more in a shorter time for the Reposado.) They refill the casks for Reposado 7 to 8 times.

It's important to remember that one year of aging in the Jalisco region of Mexico where all legitimate Tequila comes, is like five years of aging in Scotland because of the much warmer climate in Mexico. Indeed, most distillers say more than nine years of aging, unless it is done in hyper-controlled temperatures, sends the Tequila over the edge with too much wood in the flavor profile and mouth feel.

Casa Noble is also certified organic, the second brand in Mexico to receive the certification. That means it employs no fertilizers or chemicals in the cultivation of its blue agave, or in its distilling process. The distillery also has a treatment plant on site to render the waste liquids and solids as either useful compost or ph balanced liquid that won't foul the soil.

Fermentation of the agave liquid before distillation takes place with yeast as well naturally occurring yeast from the many fruit trees surrounding the cassia Noble hacienda and still house. Mango, lime, lemon and orange trees surround the quaint compound of buildings. This process is far preferable to the method of aiding fermentation in the 19th and early twentieth century: un-bathed workers swimming around the vats of liquid imparting their sweat and even urine to the mix.

Hermosillo believes that the U.S. market, the biggest for Tequila, is changing, and moving toward craft brands like Casa Noble. "As crafted Tequila like ours has entered the scene, more people are open to drinking Tequila on its own, in a nice glass, and experience the flavors and character...not just as a shooter or in a margarita."

Casa Noble was the first silver Tequila to get a double gold medal at the World Spirit Competition and was selected Best Tequila in Mexico by the Mexican Tequila Academy.

Here is the breakdown of Casa Noble Tequila expressions:

 • Crystal (Silver) Tequila--$40: Tastes of minerals, white and red pepper, cinnamon, ripe mango, floral agave. Rounded and balanced flavor and finish. This is the un-aged 100% blue agave spirit.

 • Reposado Tequila--$50: Aged for one year in French oak, the already excellent "bianco" takes on notes of vanilla,white chocolate and marzipan from the barrels.

 • Anejo Tequila--$60: Aged for two years in French oak, the taste and finish here has added spice to the flavor profile of the Reposado.

 • Single-Barrel Tequila $70-$100: Casa Noble ages its single-barrel Anejo five years, ($100) and two years for the single barrel Reposado ($70). The Anejo is especially complex with notes of dried fruit, butterscotch, vanilla, dark chocolate, brown spices, and smoky wood.

LUXIST.COM

Paint It Forward!

UMCA Sports (www.umcasports.com), in its latest stride in giving back to sport and inner city populations, has created Paint It Forward! Art That Saves Lives, an evergreen cause marketing activation that promotes sports artwork exhibitions and auctions during professional sports biggest events throughout the year.

Proceeds from the auctions were donated to charity partners that provide youth development and gang reduction solutions for at risk youth & young adults.

Paint It Forward created synergy between the artistic community, celebrity entertainment, and NBA sports fans during All Star Weekend through an exclusive auction and special sport art exhibition featuring paintings/drawings of NBA All Stars and/or Hall of Fame basketball legends.

The exhibition and auction took place during a private VIP evening celebration at The California African American Museum.

TaylorMade Golf Pro´s in Puerto Vallarta

The 2010 TaylorMade Golf International PRO AM was celebrated proudly with Casa Noble in hand as the “best of the best” gathered to tee off in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The TaylorMade Invitational is an event reserved specifically for the top eighty TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Staff Professionals accompanied by amateur partners and guests who team up to compete with friends and colleagues nationwide.

The tournament proved to be suspenseful and dramatic up to the final moment. Kyle Flinton from Oklahoma City, OK, was awarded top honors and top shelf tequila for his outstanding efforts. 

944 Magazine - January 2011 - Bienvenidos a Tequila!

Skinny Margarita

A Casa Noble margarita made with fresh lime and agave nectar.

Per serving: 198.8 calories, 0g fat, 18.6 carbs, .1g protein

Yield: Serves 1

Ingredients

• 2 oz Casa Noble Crystal
• 1 oz fresh lime juice (or the juice of 1 whole lime)
• ¾ oz La Sierra agave nectar (or other organic agave nectar)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.
2. Shake, strain and serve up or on the rocks.
3. Garnish with a lime wheel

Read more: Skinny Margarita Recipe | Casa Noble Tequila Margarita Recipe http://www.dietsinreview.com/recipes/skinny-margarita/#ixzz19q2qErxX