Several tequila distillers are lobbying to have cristaliño added to the four existing official tequila categories. A cristaliño is an añejo or extra añejo tequila that after aging has been filtered to have color but not flavor removed, producing a spirit that is clear, but with all the flavor that the tequila has picked up while aging in the barrel. Whether that makes it a new category is still up for debate, though it’s definitely increasing in popularity.

The spirit has been aged for 18 months in second-use American Oak whiskey barrels which are re-toasted in Mexico to put some flavor back into them. The tequila is then filtered (using a proprietary technique, of course) to produce the cristaliño.