This has a bright pink color in the glass. Apparently it isn't from wine barrel resting. Instead, they add a food coloring made from tiny cactus bugs that are found on the agave leaves and dried and crushed. Aroma of agave, floral, vegetal. Flavor of agave, black pepper, rose and vegetal. The finish didn't last long.

Over the course of my 30-year tequila journey I have tried over three thousand varieties. I’ve encountered tequilas of every kind—some extraordinary, others downright dreadful. Among the latter lies Pasion—a tequila I sampled not out of desire, but as part of the process that shaped the palate I have today. El Mante Pasion Blanco Rosas from NOM 1529 is discontinued. Quote from the brand, “This Blanco Rosas begins a new category of Tequilas, unique to the Blanco Tequila market.” This was not an early iteration of the now-familiar Rosa tequila, where color comes from aging in red wine barrels. Instead, its pink hue came from cochineal—a pigment derived from crushed insects. While FDA-approved as a food colorant, it added little more than novelty here. Luckily for all of us their unique process never caught on. Twelve years ago, I swore off this tequila, but curiosity got the better of me—how would it fare on a second try? Unfortunately, not much has changed. The nose is tolerable, with a faint hint of raw agave struggling to emerge but never quite breaking through. On the palate, a whisper of agave appears briefly before being overwhelmed by a bitter, chemical aftertaste that lingers unpleasantly past the finish. The flavor profile is as perplexing as the tequila’s bright pink hue: a synthetic, fruity note that feels entirely unnatural. The finish? Mercifully short. In the end, Pasion remains a tequila best left in the past.