¡No Te Preocupes, it's Cabo San Lucas!

¡Paraiso de Tequila!

When we disembarked our flight in Los Cabos on Feb 13, we had a lot of plans for the upcoming week. Most of them involved putting on a fun birthday for little Drew, who would be turning three during our stay. A piñata had to be purchased and cake had to be baked. But I'm a tequila lover, and naturally my desire for tequila exploration (and consumption) bubbled just below the surface. Would I find a good selection? Would the prices be good? Would I fall in to a tourist trap? Answers were soon to come. We hailed a van and set out on our way to the resort.

CABO REÁL

Where Blue Agave Breezes Whisper Through the Swaying Palms...

Immediately upon our arrival at Melia Cabo Reál, my wife and I were presented with margaritas. Mmmm, tasty and refreshing. OK, I thought, we're on the right track. We paid an up-front all-inclusive fee, which included all food and booze, so I was determined to get our money's worth. I soon discovered that the the resort had a fairly limited selection of tequila, but it was everywhere you went. There are multiple bars and restaurants there, and they all offer a few choices. I soon found what would become my "house" tequilas for the week. For 'ritas it would be Jímador Blanco or Reposado, for icy shots by the pool it would be 100 Años Repo, and for a straight-up drink with dinner it would be Herradura Repo. Melia also had Don Julio, but I am not a fan of DJ.

I actually developed a taste for the Cién Años. It's by no means the best tequila I've ever had, but it was a smooth and drinkable 100% repo that beats Patrón by a mile. On ice it was nice. While I was enjoying these agave tequilas, I was noticing the many other Americans (it was about 75% Yanks and 25% Mexicans and other nationalities like Germans, Italians and Asians) ordering 'ritas with no preference. The bars were pouring not even Cuervo Gold in those...it was, I dunno, some well-liquor like El Toro or something. Ugh! Hangover in a bottle.

After a couple days I started drinking palomas instead of margaritas. In Mexico they have a kind of Fresca that I've never seen here. (I'd like to find it here -- any suggestions?). The MexiFresca comes in yellow cans and it is NOT diet. It actually tastes like a sweet grapefruit soda, instead of whatever indistinguishable flavor one finds in American Fresca. That, with Jimador Blanco, a squeeze of lime and salt on the rim and ... mmmm... Paloma en la playa paraisa!

(Speaking of "paradise", I learned a some Spanish I didn't know: The word for "paradise" is NOT "paradiso", it is "paraiso" with no "d". Just a little aside for ya).

IN TOWN
On day-three we took the free shuttle in to Cabo San Lucas, about 10-miles south of the resort. The bus dropped us at the Peurto Paraiso mall. As we walked in the main entrance, I was be-dazzled by the amount of tequila for sale, well, everywhere. Even shops that were not liquor stores had it. There was a souvenir shop with tequila. A drugstore; tequila. Deli; tequila. T-shirt shop; tequila. And there were at least three full-blown liquor stores, one called Hacienda de Tequila. Oh boy! Jackpot!


Cabo's Famous Arco, Where Pacific and Sea of Cortez Meet

Next of course I had to check selection and prices. The first bottle I looked at was a 750 of Corralejo repo, one of my everyday tequilas around here. At my local store I pay $39.99 plus tax -- about $43 bucks. In Cabo? $11 US dollars, no tax! Eee-Leven bucks! Wowza! And this was an American tourist mall, meaning better deals could be found off the beaten track. But since we weren't going off the beaten track (with wife and 3-year-old in-tow)these prices would have to do.

On that first trip, I scored a 750 of Siete Leguas repo for $23 and one of El Tesoro blanco for about the same. The Mexicans hold the ET in high esteem, I gathered. I also grabbed an $11 bottle of Corralejo. Did I mention it was only $11 bucks? Should have bought ten of those. I saw dozens of different labels -- Aha Toro, Centennario, Herradura, Partida, Los Abuelos, 100 Años, Cabo Wabo and more more more. Then I spied one of my all-time favorites, Chinaco! It became unavailable around here in about 2007. Bought a 750 of the repo. Such a beautiful gold color I have rarely seen. One thing I liked about these stores is that that all offer free tastes of tequila. I tasted the Los Abuelos repo, which was wonderful and I had them set me aside a bottle. At $40 that was pricey, and the bottle is a little big and heavy for travelling. Eventually I opted not to buy it. (Funny how things are relative; if I had seen the Abuelos here for $40 I'd buy it and look over my shoulder like a thief who had just stolen something!)

On our second trip in to town a couple days later, I only bought one more bottle. I love Espolón, especially the blanco, and I was hoping to find some. This proved to be harder than I expected. The first two places I tried didn't have it. Then I left the Americanized confines of the mall to a place across the street whose sign proclaimed the "Lowest Tequila Prices" would be found there. I perused the shelves and was about to give up when, on a bottom shelf in the back, I found TWO bottles of El Espolón blanco. One was the typical tall 750ml, and the other was, wow, this short, round 750 bottle. I had never ever seen even a picture of Espo in that bottle. According to the labels, the contents were identical, and so was the price, $300 pesos. That's about $25 USD. I pay over $40 for that here, and the only place that has it is running out. I bought it, choosing the little squat bottle just for the novelty of it. Thought it might be a little easier to pack also.

Interestingly, one tequila I hardly saw at all in Cabo was Patrón. A couple stores had it, a few didn't. None of the bars I went to offered it. One guy told me it was more expensive in Mexico than in the US. This reinforces what I already knew: Patrón is an American product.

So to total my score: I returned with one Corralejo repo, one Siete Leguas repo, one Chinaco repo, one EL Tesoro blanco and one Espolón blanco. It's a total of 3.75 liters, well under the duty-free limit for three travellers.


Then, upon my return, I found on our doorstep a just-delivered sample bottle of T1 Tequila Uno Blanco Ultra Fino. It's incredible. We're going to have a lot of fun tasting and comparing these nice tequilas. More on that later....!

As they like to say in Cabo, "¡No te preocupes!" which of course means, NO WORRIES!

Chinaco Repo Review on Tequila.net
El Tesoro Blanco Review on Tequila.net
Espolón Blanco Review on Tequila.net
7 Leguas Repo Review on Tequila.net

Show Me Yours (I'll show You Mine!)

Here's the full current collection:

Front Row L to R: Tenampa Azul Repo (lives in the freezer), Cazadores Repo, Herradura Anejo, 375s of Espolon Repo, Anejo and Blanco, Corralejo Repo, Presidente brandy
Second Row L to R: ElTesoro Anejo, Partida Repo, Milagro Repo Reserva, Casa Noble Repo,Los Abuelo Blanco, Casa Noble Blanco, Corralejo Repo Triple Distilado, 1921 Repo Reserva, Penca Azul Anejo 2007 Reserva

Cazadores, The Hunter

Actually it's Los Cazadores, The Hunters, plural. This is a tequila that needs to be talked about, because even though it's a minor player in the US Tequila market, the brand is a favorite in Mexico itself. Cazadores actually claims to be the number one 100% agave tequila in Mexico. (Keep in mind, Mexicans by-and-large drink mixtos, reportedly because 100% agave tequilas are too expensive).


La Botella Vieja

I first discovered Cazadores quite by accident back in 2003. I went to a whisky tasting that was being held at a nice hotel. It was $90 for a ticket. God only knows how I afforded that then, 'cause I could never throw $90 at a booze event these days. Anyhoo, so there I was sipping one fine scotch after the next, making the round of the room, and I came to a table that had, not whisky, but -- whaddya know -- tequila! Huh! That was a surprise. And the thing I love equally to good scotch is good tequila, so I was more than eager to sample the offering. It was Cazadores (Reposado), which I had never heard of before. It was in the original-style bottle that looked like it belonged in an old-west saloon. It had the noble buck on it, but it was much more crudely labelled than what you see now. The people at the booth told me their company had just aquired it -- first time it would be available in the States. They described going to the factory in Mexico, way up in the mountains on some scary dirt road that was more of a burro path than a road. Apparently it took all day to get to this remote place. They also told me that this was the tequila Mexicans drink! That really peaked my interest.

So I had a gulp.

"Wow" I exhaled, "That is some really good tequila!" It had a very pure and full-bodied taste of agave, along with some pepper and spice. I didn't taste anything metallic or sour. Obviously this was a classic juice hand-made from weber blue agave. I liked it...ALOT! (Of course by this time I was already feeling the warm glow of good whisky, so I was all lovey-dovey and shit).

The people told me they were going to clean up and modernize the bottle/label, and when that was done I should start seeing it in stores. First would be the reposado at around $30, then blanco and anejo would follow.

Sure enough, in just a short time I saw Caza Repo on the shelves of my local store, which has always had a great tequila aisle. And sure enough, they had improved the look of the packaging with a smooth new label that essentially reproduced the old one using much better art and graphics. I believe they literally re-illustrated the deer from scratch. One thing they didn't change was the damn Mexican measured-shot dispenser on the top. Why they need that on an export bottle I don't know, but it drives me up a wall.


Fancy New Bottle, But What's Inside?

Naturally, I bought the bottle and was not disappointed by the contents. Just as good as I had expected. Made some deadly 'ritas with it. Good stuff!

The next time we encountered The Great Hunter was in Florida in 2004. We went down for a wedding, after-which we took a couple days at a nice sea-side inn on Anna Maria Island. The place had a kitchenette, complete with a blender. So like Buffett, I set out to put booze in it. The little local liquor store did NOT look promising. I figured it would be one of those classic places with a crappy tequila shelf with about six bottles of Cuervo this and Cuervo that. I was right; it had a really small, bad selection -- except for one bottle. Yes. You've guessed it! There sat a an old-west saloon bottle sporting a yellow label with a handsome but poorly-printed buck on it. Not only did they have Cazadores, but they had it in the OLD pre-redesign bottle that I had seen at the tasting. It was even dusty. Score!

Using Caza Repo, I invented a 'rita there at the hotel called The Blue Tortuga, that we drank by the pool. Good times had been hunted, sighted, and bagged!

Then came trouble.

The next bottle of The Deer I bought was not good. It was not good at all. It was sour and barely drinkable. It tasted a little bit like liquid cigarette-butts. Ooof! Bad news. Scared me! It bore little resemblance to the honey-toned juice I'd had before. I was not hunting for edgy and harsh, which was what I got.

By this time the Caza Blanco had hit the shelves. I love blancos, so I thought, this has gotta be good. BZZZZZ! WRONG! I hated it.

What had gone wrong with mi cariño Cazadores? ¿Mi novia, a donde vas? To this day I have not tried the anejo because I cannot spend that much money and be disappointed. Nice bottle though! The brand is now well-marketed and has gained popularity. They even sponser like Nascar or pro boxing or something.

Right around this time I discovered Corralejo Reposado, a good, solid, flavorful repo that is lightly rested so it has a lot of fresh agave punch. It's actually closer to a blanco than a reposado, with a very light olive-oil tint. It's not my favorite tequila, but it makes a damn good drink and it's sippable as well. It's a real basic 100% agave tequila. (It should be noted that I do not like Corralejo's blanco or anejo, OR the very expensive reposado triple-distilled). It should go for under $30, but this is Mass, so it goes here for almost $40, which is just on the edge of being not worth it. Seen it as low as $25 on some web-stores.

So, the conclusion to this tale is that, with Corralejo and others like Herradura and Espolón being readily available, I have long ago said goodbye to my dear old Deer. Maybe I'll check back in with him again someday, and reminisce over those good times we had back in 2003 and 2004. (Of course, the thing about tequila is, if you actually remember drinking tequila, well, you didn't drink enough tequila).

Cazadores Reposado Reviews on Tequila.net

The Curse of Pale Rider!

Posada knew how I feel right now...

I am truly cursed!

Talk about a grown man crying! Well, some of you already have been following my valiant attempts to get a bottle of Fortaleza Blanco from a store in California and a bottle of Don Valent Blanco from my sister. These were "birthday gifts" for my b-day on June 5th. Well, for some dark comic relief, here's how things stand as of today...

I, the Fortaleza: The first bottle that arrived was tainted due to rotten cork. Even Guillermo Sauza took an interest in the problem, but ultimately I sent the bottle back to Ramirez in LA. Once they recieved it, they sent me a replacement. This whole thing took more than a month. I finally got the replacement and guess what? Not as bad, but still a sour bottle of tequila. Cork looks dark and crappy, juice smells and tastes sour and metallic. At this point I'm not sure what to do. Maybe it's the actual shipping from west to east coast that's causing the problem.

II, the DV: It took about 5 weeks for my sister in Denton Texas to acquire a bottle, and it took the help of the local distributer there, Robert Sturdenvant. It was special-ordered through a store in Lake Dallas. Sis, a tequila lover herself, couldn't resist and opened the bottle for a taste. Next thing you know, she and a friend had consumed the whole thing! Happy birthday to me! So, she special orders ANOTHER bottle and two or three weeks later I get a Fedex saying it's been shipped. That was yesterday, Finally, I thought, I'll have some new juice by the weekend! Rejoice!

Then, tragedy! TODAY I get an email from Fedex saying the shipment will not be completed due to damaged contents. Yes! Can you believe it? The freakin' BOTTLE BROKE! Holy shit!

OK, well, I give up!

Fuck it!

Bad Cork!

El Corko Malo

Very sadly, my long-awaited bottle of Fortaleza/Los Abuelos Blanco is a bottle of agave-gone-bad. Yes! I don't drink wine, so I never knew the term "corked" before, but apparently this is a case of a tainted cork, which spoils the juice. I knew the minute I took my first sniff of the open bottle something was really wrong. The aroma was basically un-identifiable; a mixture of pure alcohol and sourness. I could not have told you it was tequila. The taste was nothing but hot alcohol and not a hint of agave. None.

Trying to resolve it with the vendor, but they had a disclaimer on their web-site that said I was ordering at my own risk, basically. So, maybe they'll help, maybe they wont.


Good-Cork, Bad-Cork