Booming Patron to add new liqueur

By James Atkinson

Patron's portfolio of ultra-premium tequilas grew by almost 50 per cent in Australia last year and the company will soon release a new variant, Patron XO Cafe Dark Cocoa.

Patron International chief operating officer, John McDonnell (pictured) told TheShout that the fastest-growing spirit in its portfolio – distributed in Australia by Southtrade International – is Patrón XO Cafe, an ultra-premium coffee liqueur made with Patrón Silver tequila.

"It's a phenomenal spirit, unlike anything else you've ever tasted. That brand alone was up over 65 per cent in Australia last year, and it's also experiencing tremendous growth across the globe," he said.

Based on the success of Patrón XO Cafe, McDonnell revealed the distiller had recently created a line extension called Patrón XO Cafe Dark Cocoa, which will soon be available in Australia.

"Just like Patrón XO Cafe, our Dark Cocoa spirit is also a high-quality coffee liqueur made with Patrón Silver tequila, but it also combines the rich, distinctive flavor of Criollo chocolate, sourced from the Tabasco region of Mexico," he said.

"Distilled at 60 proof, Patrón XO Cafe Dark Cocoa is characterized by its deep, dark brown colour, and aroma of fresh coffee balanced with cocoa. The taste is dry, not sweet like many other coffee liqueurs; combining the rich flavours of fresh-roasted coffee, fine chocolate and light tequila."

Since its inception six years ago, Patrón has grown from nothing to sell more than 1.8 million cases annually.

McDonnell attributes the brand's success to the fact that the company has never compromised on the way it meticulously produces the spirit.

"We could have modernised the process, and built bigger fermenters and pot stills, but that would have affected our quality and taste, and we simply would never do that," he said.

"Even as we've grown, we still create our tequila bottle by bottle, using the same small batch recipe and process that our master distiller perfected 20 years ago."