A new world spirit steps up in class

Tequila used to be the bad boy of spirits, a rough tipple to be indulged in indiscriminately and regretted the morning after. Today, tequila has gone into rehab and emerged as a suave, cultivated customer, wearing some pretty fancy packaging and at ease in our finest watering holes. Restaurant bars and liquor store shelves are crowded with dozens of gleaming bottles of fine tequila, many bearing the coveted "100% agave" designation and prices ascending through the ozone layer.

Tequila's rise to top-shelf status raises eyebrows among those of us who remember the beginnings of the boutique tequila boom in the U.S. about 15 years ago. We were amazed at the retail prices of such brands as Chinaco and Patron then, about $24 a bottle -- for tequila? Now those same tequilas retail for more than $40, and there are plenty of other more expensive brands on the market.

In tequila's homeland of Mexico, some older consumers find it hard to reconcile the spirit's current chic with its peasant past. Fifteen years ago many upscale cocktail drinkers wouldn't have dreamed of ordering tequila, long considered a workingman's quaff. But younger Mexican drinkers are unencumbered by those old associations, and -- like Americans -- have embraced the drink's new image with enthusiasm. And it's not just image, although the designer labels and handblown glass decanters sported by many brands make quite a fashion statement. The proof is, so to speak, in the bottle. Quality tequila is a connoisseur's spirit, as rewarding to taste as a fine eau de vie or single-malt Scotch.

If your image of tequila is left over from hazily remembered "margarita nights" at your local chain cantina, it's time to saunter into an upscale bar and experience today's top tequilas, which offer tremendous flavor interest in an array of styles.

It all starts with agave

The source of all this versatility is the blue agave, a silvery-blue, spiny-leaved plant cultivated in Mexico's main tequila-producing state, Jalisco, as well as in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas. Blue agave gives tequila its distinctive flavor, which often has an herbal character, may offer flavors of fruits and spices and sometimes has an appealing seawater or salt brine aroma overlaying the other scents.