As mentioned on the El Tesoro "Silver" page, Robert Denton & Company, Ltd. remained as the listed importer for El Tesoro de Don Felipe even well after the rights to the label had been sold to spirit industry giant, Jim Beam Brands. Many of us had been expecting to see some sort of change in the label eventually. Well, here it is and it's not just a minor change but actually what's described as a complete relaunch of the entire line. The blanco that was formally sold here in the U.S. as "Silver" will now be marketed as El Tesoro Platinum. This blanco was the first of the El Tesoro line to be reintroduced in these bottles but the rest of the line soon followed. JSH&A, a Chicago based public relations agency, was hired by Jim Beam Brands to coordinate the reintroduction and PR. It appears that part of the new angle for "Platinum" will be to generate interest in the club scene by simultaneously introducing a modified version of the popular, classic cocktail, the Cosmo. The recipe was listed at a JSH&A promotional web page for El Tesoro Platinum but I also found it printed at numerous internet news outlets from around the country. I understand that this is just the sort of thing that will make many hard core tequila connoisseurs and loyal El Tesoro fans cringe but I will say that the traditional appeal and reputation of El Tesoro doesn't seem to be completely lost on JSH&A. They have tried to shore up the long time drinkers by insisting that the same time-honored traditional processes and technics used by the Camarena family to produce El Tesoro tequila have not been compromised. Having said that, I don't think that Platinum is quite the same product the "Silver" was. To me Platinum seemed a bit more subtle. Not that this is a "bad" thing but I loved the "in your face", clear, clean, and strong agave style of the Silver. Platinum is a great tequila that I would gladly drink in any fashion but it falls sightly short of the original charm of the old product. At about $30.00 dollars per bottle this tequila should catch the attention of the other big players in the boutique tequila niche and their premium blanco entries. (i.e. Patrón and Suaza Tres Plata)

By the way, after showing the El Tesoro Platinum Cosmo recipe to my wife, she immediately scrambled to find the correct ingredients and mixed up a couple. It's a good variation of a simple and very refreshing cocktail and as I've stated before I like just about everything better with good tequila in it. Unfortunately, my wife absolutely loved the concoction and was the primary demise of my thirty dollar bottle of Platinum.

Here is the recipe as it read at the Dallas Morning News website - 08/06/2003)

El Tesoro Platinum Cosmo

Ingredients:

1and 1/2 ounces El Tesoro Platinum Tequila
3/4 ounce Cointreau
3 ounces cranberry juice
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
Garnish with a twist of lime and rock candy swizzle stick (optional)

Directions:

Combine tequila, Cointreau, cranberry and lime juice in a cocktail shaker over ice; shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lime twist and swizzle stick. Makes 1 drink.

http://eltesorotequila.com/HTML/eltesoro.htm

And the Platinum Site @: http://eltesorotequila.com/HTML/eltesoro_platinum.htm