Casa Leyros’ Enrique Legorreta breaks down Chrome Horse Society Tequila’s agave profile and shares his go-to food pairings, from oyster crudo to tacos al pastor.
Tequila’s reputation problem has always been a problem. For decades it lived in two boxes: shot glass or margarita mixer. But according to Enrique Legorreta, Commercial Director at Casa Leyros, the producer behind Chrome Horse Society Tequila, that framing has quietly dissolved.
“with 600 different aromas from tequila,
If you compare it with other spirits like cognac or whiskeys,
this is the most complex spirit.”
enrique Legorreta
“Now tequila is looked as a very premium beverage… there are around 600 different aromas from tequila. If you compare with other spirits like cognac or whiskeys, this is the most complex spirit.”
Enrique Legorreta sat down for a full interview about Chrome Horse Society Tequila. Find it edited below and on the FlavRReport YouTube channel.
That complexity is the whole message. Legorreta is positioning premium blanco tequila the way a sommelier positions a young Chablis: as something with a defined sense of place, a flavor architecture, and — increasingly — a seat at the dinner table.
The Agave Is the Terroir
Ask Legorreta what separates a mediocre tequila from a great one, and he doesn’t talk about proof or price. He talks about agave.
“When we are trying or looking for a good tequila, we are looking for the agave experience,” he explained. “The experience of tasting it in a way of a sweetness on it that have an evolution to something herbal and something clean.”
Where that agave is grown matters. Chrome Horse blends fruit from both the tequila valley lowlands and the highlands; two regions with distinct personalities. “The agave from tequila region is more herbal notes and more spices,” Legorreta said, referring to the area’s dry soil and climate. Highland agave, by contrast, leans “more fruity and also florals.” Blended together, Chrome Horse lands on a profile Legorreta describes as clean and herbal, with citrus lift and a soft vanilla finish.
How to Pair Blanco Like a Sommelier
Legorreta builds pairings around that same clean, citrus-forward, vanilla-tinged profile: favoring harmony over contrast. “The goal is to enhance the tequila’s vibrant agave expression and elegant finish without overpowering the spirit,” he said, per materials released by the brand.
His recommended pairings:
- Fresh oysters with cucumber and lime
- Green shrimp aguachile with cilantro, cucumber, and serrano pepper
- Tuna tostadas with avocado and citrus-based sauces
- Hamachi or scallop crudo with bright citrus accents
- Grilled white fish with lemon and fresh herbs
- Fresh cheeses paired with grapefruit or orange segments
- Vanilla-based desserts complemented by grapefruit or lime
For a full tasting menu, the brand suggests a four-course progression: fresh oyster with cucumber and lime, green shrimp aguachile, grilled local catch with lemon and basil, and a vanilla panna cotta with grapefruit compote, a build that tracks light to rich while keeping citrus as the connective thread.
Legorreta’s own instinct runs the same direction. Asked what he’d pour with dinner tonight, he didn’t hesitate: oysters and scallops, ideally at a seafood spot, alongside a glass of Chrome Horse blanco.
Don’t Sleep on the Spice Pairing
The one curveball: tacos al pastor. “This tequila also has some notes of spices,” Legorreta said, “so maybe in talking about Mexican food there are some tacos… that has some smoky, some spices that also goes great with Chrome Horse blanco.” It’s a pairing built on contrast rather than harmony — smoke and char against the tequila’s clean citrus — and Legorreta calls it “memorable.”
A Family Business, Two Generations Deep
Chrome Horse Society distillery is a partnership between two families: Legorreta and Rosales — now in its second generation. “We are operating, the boys of Roberto and me, that I’m the son of Enrique,” Legorreta said, noting his father has since passed. That patience is baked into the product itself: agave takes six to eight years to mature before harvest, a production timeline with no annual reset. “It’s not like the grapes in the wine that every year there’s a harvest,” he said. “Here you need to grow it and wait.”
What’s Next for Tequila
Legorreta sees the next decade of growth happening well outside Mexico and the U.S.; in Europe and Asia, driven in part by celebrity-fueled visibility. But he’s blunt about the flip side of that boom: the category is getting crowded. “There’s a lot of investing money coming to the industry, but also there are a lot of brands, it’s quite saturated,” he said. His bet is that producers with generational distilling roots will outlast the newcomers chasing the trend.
FAQ
What makes Chrome Horse Society Tequila different from other blanco tequilas? Chrome Horse blends agave from both the tequila valley lowlands and the highlands, combining herbal, spice-forward lowland character with the fruit and floral notes of highland agave, finished with a soft vanilla note.
What foods pair best with premium blanco tequila? Fresh, citrus-forward seafood — oysters, ceviche, aguachile, crudo, and tostadas — pairs well through harmony with blanco’s clean agave and citrus profile. Smoky, spiced dishes like tacos al pastor offer a contrasting pairing.
Who produces Chrome Horse Society Tequila? Chrome Horse Society Tequila is produced by Casa Leyros, a second-generation family partnership between the Legorreta and Rosales families.
How long does it take to produce tequila from harvest to bottle? Agave takes six to eight years to mature before it can be harvested, followed by cooking, fermentation, and distillation — a significantly longer production cycle than annually harvested crops like wine grapes.
