Director of Codigo 1530, Justin Tan, Introduces Their Pink Tequila To Singapore
by Kerlyn Tan
@ 13 Oct 2017
We had a chat with Justin Tan, Director of Codigo 1530 Asia and asked him a few questions:
CWA: We understand that the Codigo 1530 range includes Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, Origen and the all new – Rosa. Could you share with us the tasting notes as to what can expected from these tequilas?
Justin: Blanco has an earthy, mineral character that balances the citrus sweetness beautifully while Reposado has bright, sweet agave notes with the added complexity of vanilla, toasted caramel and subtle cocoa powder. Anejo is refined, elegant and expressive with hints of fruit, mingled with oak, touches of vanilla and a bit of spice and origen carries aromas of spice, vanilla, caramel and sweet oak that lend to a robust palate teeming with flavors of dried fig and cinnamon. Our latest tequila, Rosa, is one that leads with bright agave character and finishes with the soft floral notes of Cabernet.
CWA : Is there a preferred way of presenting the tequilas by Codigo?
Justin : Origen is the most straightforward one – drink it neat and only neat! All our tequilas – Añejo, Blanco, Reposado and even Rosa, can be drunk on its own too. Añejo could also be added to a cocktail such as Manhatten or Old Fashioned; Blanco can be mixed with soda or ice or added in a cocktail like Paloma, Classic Margarita or Codigo Collins. Reposado can also be mixed with soda or ice or in a cocktail like Reposado Paloma or Margarita. As for Rosa, add a slice of orange else make it a cocktail of Rosa Martini, Rosa 75 or Mary Claire!
CWA : The pink tequila, Rosa, is the first all-natural pink tequila in the world. Who came up with such a cool idea of naturally adding a pink hue with a use of oak barrels originally used for cabernet sauvignon for Rosa? How did the idea come about?
Justin : Rosa was invented by one of the brothers of the Distillery. Saul is very creative and constantly experiments for new products. Interestingly, he is also a painter. While experimenting, he discovered that if he only slightly toasts the fine French Oak Barrels from Napa Valley and age the Blanco for 21-30 days, the Blanco takes on the floral characteristics of the Cabernet wine that was there before as well as the pink hue. This is how the Rosa came about.
CWA : Aside from the bar managers at Lulu’s Lounge and Club Street Social, are there other mixologists who you believe would bring innovative ideas to using these tequilas?
Justin : Check out Kamil Foltan from the Indigenous Bartender who has some tricks up his sleeve! He created the Codigo Collins with Grilled Pineapple and it’s now featured on our website. There is also Jonathan Emmanuel from Potato Head Folk who is in the process of curating cocktails for an upcoming Day of the Dead party on 2nd November…. and there is also Farhan Samad from Audace who is curating a tequila pairing menu for an upcoming event. Well, stuff you have to stay tuned to!
More about Codigo 1530 can be found at
https://codigo1530.com/
