The biggest tequila brand in the world, Jose Cuervo, just dropped a new expression. But let’s be clear, this is not the mixto you’ve quite possibly made some mistakes with in your youth. This is the new 100 percent agave Reserva de la Familia Extra Añejo, which comes in specially designed box by a pair of Mexican artists, and its arguably peak Cuervo.
Since 1995, Jose Cuervo has collaborated with different artists each year to design the box for its Reserva de la Familia Extra Añejo expression. For the 2023 edition, the brand worked with Rolando Flores and Gabriel Cázares, members of the Tercerunquinto Collective, who designed a piece called “Structuring a Landscape.” According to the brand, each artist collaboration is personally approved by CEO and 11th generation Cuervo family member Juan Domingo Beckmann, along with a team of curators and experts. This year’s artwork is a geometric pattern that is said to be inspired by the agave fields that are the birthplace of every tequila.
Speaking of agave fields, the Blue Weber agave used for the production of this spirit was allowed to fully mature and harvested at 10 to 12 years old. The production process involves a combination of traditional and modern methods, but according to a rep for the brand while diffusers are used to produce other Cuervo tequilas that is not the case with Reserva de la Familia. For those who are unfamiliar, a diffuser is a huge piece of machinery that essentially extracts the sugar from the agave by blasting it with high-pressure water instead of cooking it. For this expression, stone ovens are used to cook the agave, and distillation takes place in copper pot and column stills. Finally, the tequila is aged in a combination of American and French oak barrels for a minimum of three years, as is required to be called extra añejo.
Each bottle is made of hand-blown glass with the top dipped in wax, and is signed, numbered and dated. But it’s the box that features the specific artwork, so that might be something to hold onto if you’re the type of tequila drinker that’s also into collecting. You can find the new 2023 Reserva de Familia Extra Anejo at select retailers now (SRP $185), or online at ReserveBar.
