Tequila aged in bourbon barrels is nothing new. Bourbon can only be aged in new American white oak barrels, so when these distilleries finish aging their bourbons, they sell the used barrels to distilleries across the globe. From Ireland and Scotland to Barbados and Mexico, bourbon barrels are the go-to for maturing brown spirits.
Inside these casks, notes of the former spirits linger, passing touches of flavor onto the next spirit that enters the cask. While most of the barrels used for these soon-to-be brown spirits come from mass-produced whiskeys, Corazón Tequila and Buffalo Trace wondered, what might happen if barrels used for some of the world’s most-beloved bourbons were used to age high-end tequila instead? Enter Expresiones del Corazón Collection.
Launched in 2021, the two Sazerac Company-owned brands continue to grow this project each year with ongoing success. They’ve just unveiled the latest limited-edition collection, which includes two brand new añejos aged in French Oak and ex-Weller 12-Year-Old Bourbon barrels, in addition to the award-winning Artisanal Blanco and William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg and Sazerac 18-Year-Old Rye Añejo Tequilas, which are featured again as part of this year’s Collection.
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The collection celebrates the excellence that goes into making spirits, whether that’s distillation, aging, or hard-to-define experimentation. Overall, things are pretty simple conceptually: Corazón’s premium tequila is aged in barrels that once held some of the world’s most-coveted whiskeys produced at Buffalo Trace Distillery.
The Expresiones del Corazón Collection includes:
Each tequila is sold separately in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection’s glass bottle, featuring a cork stopper and handwritten label specifying the barrel, bottle number, and date of bottling.
The Expresiones del Corazón Collection is available in limited quantities at select retailers, bars, and restaurants across the United States. The suggested retail price for the Artisanal Blanco is $60, while the William Larue Weller, Weller 12, French Oak, George T. Stagg, and Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old Añejos have a suggested retail price of $80 each.