Kudos for Corralejo!

Going back a few years, one of my first favorite "every day" tequilas was Corralejo reposado. I loved to mix margaritas with it, and I also loved it straight. Not the blanco, not the añejo; the repo in the tall blue bottle. Of course over the last few years I have found better, more "boutique" tequilas. Corralejo is mass-produced. I get that. In Mexico it's everywhere, at $11 a bottle. But around here (in New England), it has been mis-categorized as a "top-shelf" tequila, and it's overpriced. So instead of being $20 or $25 per bottle, it's nearly $40. So I don't buy it as a rule. But you know what? Just bought my first bottle of Corralejo repo in a couple years (paid $37 -ouch!), and here's the deal: I still REALLY like it. If it was $20 I'd never run out of it. Corralejo, mi corazón.

Año de Agave: Pale Rider's 2011 Tequila Highlights

Part 1) Blancos:

I got to try quite a few new tequilas in 2011. A few of them were genuinely new offerings on the market, most were simply new to me. And of course there were some old favorites. In many cases I had so go to some pretty significant lengths to get these tequilas.

El Maestro de Tequila: Germán Gonzales with T1

Let's lay them out by expression, shall we?

BLANCOS:
The best blanco I got to try (again) this year was T1 Blanco Ultra Fino by Germán Gonzales. It's silky smooth with a great mouth feel, and bears the full essence of big agave. If it isn't the holy grail of blancos, T1 U.F. is close to it. Five Pencas!

Right behind that came Arette Blanco Suave, an oldie but one I've been wanting to try for years. Finally scored a bottle and was lucky to get one of the last of the now-discontinued "hewn" bottles with the paper label. Arette is bold rich and complex, with a great balance of earth, agave and sweetness. Not bad for a lowland tequila! I'll be sad when this one's gone, and it's gettin' frighteningly low. Four Pencas!

In November I was pleasantly surprised by a new kid on the block, Peligroso Silver tequila. As I said in my review, I was not expecting greatness, and wow, these guys got it right. It's a bang zoom of a Highland blanco. Can't wait to try the the aged expressions. 3.8 Pencas!

One of the new blancos that did not get a high grade from me in 2011 was Avión Silver, as seen on TV's Entourage.It's flavor-profile has been de-agave-ized, and generally designed for hipsters who might also like Grey Goose Vodka. What can be said is that it's hot and peppery, but other than that has not much going for it. Like the TV show it was featured on, or maybe like Hollywood itself, Avión is all surface, with no soul. At $39 it's too expensive to use in a margarita, so why bother? Two Pencas!

Speaking of mixers, one of tequila's old highland families, The Camarenas, introduced a down-priced 100% agave line bearing their own name. The blanco, for $21.00 is not a sipper (although a couple of my Patrón-loving young friends like shooting it straight), but it makes a dandy mixer, with enough Highland sweetness flavor to stand up pretty nicely in a 'rita or other cocktail. It's pretty harmless. 2.5 Pencas!

I also enjoyed many of my old favorite blancos in 2011; among them were El Tesoro, Partida, 7 Leguas, Milagro (now in many local bars) and Don Julio, which I always disliked in the past. I gave it one last chance, thanks to a free gift bottle from a friend, and this time it stuck.

Muy Muy Suave!

I was lucky to score the now-discontinued "vintage" style bottle w/ paper-label and cork. I may not see one of these again.

As we all know, I love good blancos, and am on a never-ending (it seems) quest for the ultimate blanco. I had always been curious about Arette, especially the Artesanal Blanco Suave. Had heard and read good things. Well, until now I had never gotten my hands on any. So I recently scored a bottle, sort of by accident, and zowie, it IS good. Really, really good. It's big on agave, smooth, and has nice layers of flavors. It's good chilled, and it's one of the few blancos I would really hesitate to waste in a margarita. And I use Partida blanco in margaritas. So, now when I talk about my fave blancos, Arette Suave will be in the conversation with 7 Leguas, Partida, El Tesoro, Tequila Uno and Espolón.

7 Leguas Reposado, Poppin' Fresh!

A Bottle o' Bang!

As I write this, I'm enjoying a nice highball glass of Tequila 7 Leguas Reposado on ice. This is exactly the kind of repo I like, and I'll tell you why. Most importantly, it has a big agave bang - a nice big pop of agave. I like a repo that leans more towards a blanco, using just a gentle resting to smooth the edges and mellow the bite. Everyone knows by now that I prefer blancos above all, because to my palette, nothing is better than a well-crafted and un-messed-with distillation of agave's first-pressing. Of course, I appreciate a wonderful aged añejo as much as the next guy, but I'd trade that any day to find the holy-grail of blancos.

The 7 Leguas is right up my alley with it's strong agave presence. There's a touch of woody mellowing, but the wood does not get in the way of the agave; indeed, it cradles it. This gives 7L repo a very full bodied taste with a nice smooth and lasting finish. In this case, the 8 months of aging in white oak barrels does what it should do: enhance and amplify the agave, adding a layer of depth, complexity and finish that the blanco alone cannot provide.

Casa Siete Leguas

Reviews on Tequila.net

Notes: 7 Leguas invented the Patron label, and the original Patron was made in 7L and distributed in the US from 1991 to 2002. There is no longer any association with Patron.
7 Leguas is made "de tajona" -- the ancient technique of grinding the agave with a stone wheel, driven by mules.
7 Leguas (meaning 7 leagues) was the name of Pancho Villa's horse.


The rebel Panch Villa and his steed, the famous Siete Leguas. (He never pulled the tajona)

Quick Espo Update (of post below).

Taking a closer look at the label of the Mexican Espolón, I found that it's a 38% alcohol bottle. Doh! That would explain ultra-unusual short, round bottle I found there in Cabo. I mean, even in Mexico, Espo has always been in a tall bottle. So the shorty is a 38% release, as opposed to the typical 40%. And of course, here I am comparing the new Espo -- a 40% -- to the Mexican 38%. No fucking wonder the new American release tastes hotter and harder, as I decribed. Woops! Well there you have it!

Verdict: The "NEW" Espolón is the SAME tequila as before, with new bottle, label and marketing.

Whew!

Espolón is back! Or Is It?

Dia de Los Tequilas -- The new labels feature the famous skeltons of Mexican folk-art

Any one who knows me knows that one of my all-time favorite ultra-premium Tequilas is Espolón. It has been hard to find in the US for years now. And it was always pricey...$40 and up. Much to my amazement, today at the liquor store I discovered a new-look Espolón! We're talkin' new label, new bottle, and new VERY LOW PRICE -- $20.00!

Is this some kind of marketing trickery? The press-release issued by Skyy claims there is the exact same juice in these new hippified bottles. Is there, really? If so, why is the price less than half of what it was before? In fact, I paid MORE for Espolón in Mexico back in February -- $24 to be exact. Were we paying for the fancy bottle and its embossed metal label all that time?

Campari/Skyy, the same company that bought Cabo Wabo last year also now owns Espolón. The spirit conglomerate bought the Espolón distillery, NOM 1440, and actually now make Cabo there, too. Apparently, the MSRP for both blanco and repo is $25.95. That's also odd, don't you think?

Are they going to market the Wabo as the Ultra-Preem and the Espo as the down-priced bottle? That would be wierd to me, because Espo is WAY better tequila than Wabo. Way!

So is it the same tequila? My pallette says no.** I just did an A/B comparison between the bottle I bought of blanco in Mexico and a brand new bottle of the $20 blanco. The original tasted smoother, lighter and sweeter, not that Espo is particularly sweet. It has a big, flavorful taste with plenty of agave, spice, and a hint of licorice.**I later realized I was comparing a 38% (the Mexican bottle) with a 40% (the new US bottle), so there you have it! That explains the diff.

But the new one tasted a tiny bit harder, hotter and oilier. It is not as easy on the pallette. They ARE very similar, and maybe the difference could be the normal variation of batch-to-batch. But most would agree that my REAL Mexican juice tastes better than the new.

Read the full press-release here on Tequila.net


Espo Old and New from Drew's Stash

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

Riding The Blanco!

And the winner is...

Anyone who knows me knows I love blancos (aka silver, platinum, crystal, etc...), those crystal-clear first squeezin's of the slow-roasted agave. Como relampago en una botella - It's lightnin' in a bottle. I feel a good blanco is where it all starts. If the blanco's fresh and full of agave and spice, it bodes well for the whole line-up. However, sometimes I like a blanco and don't like the rest of the offerings. Sometimes I like a reposado but don't like the blanco. For instance, I like Corralejo repo and dislike the blanco. Same with Cazadores. Same with Patron. Hated the new high-end offering by Cuervo, their blanco called "Platino". Oily stuff. $60 per bottle. You can put lipstick on a pig, right? Herradura "silver" is my default margarita juice. Even the reposados I like tend to be young, gently rested tequilas that still lean more towards white than amber. The lighter the better, both color-wise and taste-wise. Blancos tend to be fruity, citrus-y, floral, nutty and peppery. Fresh. Bright. Spunky. Punchy.

And yes, I often keep a bottle in the freezer. I like it cold and I don't care what the Tequila officionados say.

So, what, in my not-so-humble opinion, are the best blancos? Well, keep in mind there are many that I have NOT tried. Therefore I will rank the ones I have:

6) Herradura Silver - great for 'ritas and very sippable too. Has alot of alcohol burn, which is typical of blancos.
5) Corazon Blanco. Love this one in the freezer. Has a nice blue agave bite.
4) Casa Noble Blanco -- actually like this better than their reposado
3) Partida Blanco -- Silky smooth and full of agave flavor and spunk.
2) Chinaco Blanco -- EARTHY, aromatic stuff. Very rich for a blanco. Love the whole Chinaco line-up.
1) Espolon Blanco -- this one has everything! It's super flavorful, chock-full of blue agave flavor and punch, with a sweet buttery finish that's easy on the tongue. Lower than average alcohol burn.