¿Quién es Más Blanco?

Blanco Bottle Battle Round Dos


La Familia Don Valente

Our previous winner, and my heretofore favorite blanco, Espolón, goes up against two formidable challengers: Los Abuelos Blanco (lot 2), and Don Valente Blanco Artesanál. Wow, right? That is a tough field. Sort of like the NFC East.

The Abuelos, aka La Fortaleza is renowned by aficionados. (If you have followed the blog you know I have been trying to get my hands on this for months). It's master-distiller and brand-ambassador is Guillermo Sauza, the fifth generation of Tequila's famous Sauza family. He makes this tequila on one small prime piece of land, in a vintage distillery. The Agave juice esta molido de tahona -- extracted with the ancient stone pressing wheel. There is no doubt that this Tequila feels hand-made; from the beatiful blown-glass bottle with antique-styled label, to the small-batch numbered lots. By comparison, Patrón produces something like 100-times the number of bottles.

Apparently there's something I'm not getting here. This is one of the Holy Grails of tequila, and I dunno, maybe my pallette is not yet refined enough for el ultimo --the very finest of the fine. It seems strong on alcohol - quite hot. The nose is floral and the taste is pretty pungent. I taste citrus and nuts and earth, even oak, which I can't figure out being that it's a blanco. But all the while it seems to be missing the big agave core and spirit that I crave. And there's the undertone of a tang, almost a weird sour tang that I can't seem to shake. It's pretty smooth and the finish is smooth. It doesn't bite but it does burn, with a strong presence of alcohol. Maybe I'd like the repo or anejo better. So, despite everything, I'm thinking I won't go out of my way to get this again, and believe-you-me, I went way way out of my way to score this bottle (and so did another guy, Thanks, Krys!)

I liked the Don Valente. It has a light mouth feel and overall has a lighter, sweeter character. It has minimal alcohol presence, and virtually NO burn. The DV exhibits what I expect; a nice agave body and a nutty, sweet flavor of caramel and vanilla. A very nice sipper, if not just a bit mild-mannered. Wish I could get it around here.

On to the Champ, Espolón. I still think this one holds up to any good blanco. In fact, I love the whole Espolón line. I am heartened that the new Cabo Wabo will be made by the same distillery. This is bold with intense citrus agave and spice. It has more alcohol than the Don Valente, and has a bit of an ashy finish. This is why I like Espie on ice.

Between the Espolón and the Valente, this is going to be a close call. I will have another one-on-one taste of these.

OK, the Espolón is less sweet and more peppery - a little hotter overall. As a pure sipper, the Valente wins. It's really delightful -- sweet, smooth and buttery. There's basically nothing NOT to like about the DV. It's a happy tequila!

"Olé! Soy Alegre!"
The DV wins by half a penca!

Don Valente Blanco Artesanál: 4 Pencas
Espolón Silver: 3.5 Pencas
Los Abuelos Blanco (lot 2): 3 Pencas

El Primero de Uno

T1 Tequila Uno to Launch This Month.

A very pretty bottle in a tequila-world of pretty bottles

A new ultra-premium 100% agave brand, T1 (Tequila Uno), crafted by German Gonzales, will make it's US debut September 10th thru 12th at San Diego's Spirits of Mexico Festival. It will be available in Texas and California only for the first several months, with northeast distribution set for early 2010. I for one, or should I say "for uno", will be anxious to taste this top-shelf offering.

T1 Tequila Uno

Patron: The Perfect Poser?

Shall we Patron-ize? (BTW: What's with the Bee? Is it saying, "Drink me for the buzz?")

Patron Patron Patron....Love it? Hate it? Over-rated? Over priced? Is it real? fake? A poser? Liquid gold or Donkey Wizz?

Many -- I'd say MOST -- tequila aficionados are staunchly anti-Patron. While I have problems with Patron in-general, I'm not as vehement. I call it "tequila with training wheels". Why? Because it's designed to be smooth and ultra-drinkable for people who don't have an experienced tequila pallette. It's like the vodka/martini people who never had a shot until Grey Goose came along (when some were drinking Stoli in the '80s). For many, Patron's the first and only pure agave tequila they've had; it's the only name they know other than Jose Cuervo.

Due to very good marketing, Patron has positioned itself as the one and only ultra-premium, and has priced itself accordingly. They're using one of the oldest marketing ploys in the world - make it expensive so people think it's the best. The strategy has worked like a charm. People are paying $50 per bottle and up. Is it worth it? Well in my not-so-humble opinion, no. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad tequila. In fact I like the reposado quite a bit. Many of the so-called Patron lovers have never tried the repo. They're stuck on the silver (blanco) which is ok, but there are far superior blancos out there for a lot less money. I could name half-a-dozen right now (but I won't). In fact, I have talked to Patron-izers who actually don't know about the other types of tequila (reposado, anejo, etc.) or the difference between a mixto and a 100%. They are simply happy to pay $7-a-shot for the schtuff.

The truth is that Patron is an American company, based in Las Vegas, and owned buy a guy who has been successful in the industry of hair salon products (Paul Mitchell Systems).

As far as taste, I find Patron Silver one-dimensional. It's not rich and complex, like ultra premium tequila tends to be. The bigger problem I have with it is the price. A good, I mean really good, blanco should be $10 to $20 less. For really good reposado or anejo I might spend $50. In fact, the only blanco I would ever spend upwards of $50 for would be La Fortaleza, which pisses all over Patron and then won't call Patron in the morning...or ever again, for that matter.

Here's a great review of Patron that really hits the target: Patron The Peroxide Blonde

Red Rocker's Business Ventures in the BLACK!

New Cabo, Same Old Wabo?

Gotta hand it to Sammy Hagar; the notorious "Red Rocker" has certainly proved himself as a big-time money maker. A decent guitarist he may be, but if his guitar chops were as good as his entrepreneurial skills, he'd put Eddie Van Halen himself to shame. Hagar was the smartest member of Van Halen, to be sure. Instead of making news for how much he drinks, he makes booze for people to drink. Of course we refer to his premium tequila brand, Cabo Wabo, whose majority share was bought last year by the Italian company Campari/Skyy for a whopping $80 million. And that's dollars, not pesos. (Campari and Sammy have done a redesign of the CW bottle, making it more classy, and have actually changed the distillery to one recently bought-out by, conveniently, Campari). But Sammy, who still owns 20% of CW is not only a spirits baron, he controls his restuarnt/nightclub venture as-well. His infamous Cabo Wabo Cantina nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is now a brand of it's own, expanding to Vegas and elsewhere like a Mexicali Hard Rock Cafe.

Now I Can Afford ALL The Red Guitars in the World!!!


About Sammy Hagar
Sammy is a professional rock and roller, restaurant owner, vintage car collector, gourmet chef, and tequila connoisseur with a passion for quality in everything he does. Sammy’s accolades include the journey as singer and songwriter for Van Halen for 11 years, a highly successful solo career both before and after his run with Van Halen, and an early stint with Montrose and now a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Inductee. Throughout his accomplished career, Sammy’s combined record sales, when considering the above resume, exceed 60 Million records sold! As founder of the most rockin’ clubs in the world (the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico) and producer of one of the truly premium Tequilas in the world ( Cabo Wabo tequila), Sammy has established himself as an astute and extremely successful entrepreneur.