¡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

The Robb Report, T1 Tequila

Here's a nice profile on T1:
Agave Artist

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

2010: Año de Agave?

¡Hola amigos y feliz año nuevo!

Your tio Drew had a very big and busy holiday season. Of course much good tequila was enjoyed.

We are looking forward to a trip to Mexico in a month. Bringing the fam to Cabo for a week. Little Drew will be turning 3 there on Feb 16th. A piñata birthday will be in order! On the beach! ¡Vámos a la playa!

Just heard from Ryan Hutchins of Tequila Uno, and he promises to get a sample my way soon. To refresh, T1 is the new ultra-premium tequila master-crafted by Germán Gonzalez, the man responsible for the highly regarded Chinaco Negro and other fine tequilas. Germán is from a renowned aristocratic family who owned the distillery Gonzaleña. His Great Grandfather was El Presidente de Mexico. This man has blue-agave running through his veins!


Dos del Uno

While I wait with baited breath for my sample, Ryan sent me a nice hi-res pic of the T1 blanco and repo in their crystal decanter-style bottles. Feast your eyes! Makes your mouth water, don't it?

Update on the Milagro Select Barrel

Menage au Milagro

Poured some Mil Repo SB in my flask 'till it was 2/3 full. Carried it around for a few hours before having a sip. After being poured and sort-of decanted like that, it was much less hot and alcohol-y. There was a mellower flavor where the agave came through, along with some nice woodiness. Pretty nice...

I Hate Don Julio Blanco With Every Fiber Of My Being!

So, there I was last night, playing a gig at a local watering hole and I looked behind the bar and my only tequila choices were: Cuervo Especial, Patron Silver, and yes, the despicable DJ Blanco. Ugh.

If you know me, you know I have tried DJ Blanco about every two years to see if I'll "like it this time" but no, I always dislike it intensely.

I'll say hate.

I hate it.

So again I go against my better judgement and order a shot of the DJ Blanco. It was even worse that I expected. Kerosene! It was so bad I wasn't going to drink it but instead I just bolted it down as quick as I could.

It's like I'm allergic to the stuff.

Horrid.

Drank Patron the rest of the night, happily.

¿Milagro, Si o No?

I am muy bonita, no?

Every freaking where I look all of a sudden, I see Milagro. Bars, restaurants, events, everywhere they're peddling Milagro. They must have some damn good marketing.
So, I've been trying it. First, I tried the blanco. Not terrible. I didn't hate it on ice. It's pretty smooth and I'd say it's as-good or better than Patrón Silver -- and a lot cheaper. The reposado and anejo, y'now, not great, not bad. The anejo I liked pretty well. It's oakey.

The whole thing is sort of, "pretty bottle -- pretty average tequila". For the money it's fine. There's nothing really NOT to like. I think it's a case of marketing to the new and growing taste for high-end tequila. It's un-adventurous, it's safe, and and it's less expensive than Patrón. So, the average Joe and Jane will know the names Cuervo, Patron, maybe Cabo Wabo, and now Milagro.

Then, astonishingly and out of the blue, a friend gifts me with a beautiful bottle of Milagro Reposado Select Barrel Resrva. Apparently the guy at the liquor store recommended it. Really nice bottle. The tequila inside is initially very strong on alcohol, probably due to the triple distilling. You have to let it decant for a while. Then you'll notice a pretty decent repo; not in my top-five, and not particularly outstanding in any way. But I like it on ice and the blown crystal bottle makes a very nice addition to the collection.

I certainly like it better than the standard repo, which was my least favorite of the basic three.

So far, the Milagro line-up isn't really poking me in the eye. I'm gonna have to hit this gift bottle a little harder. Until then, the jury is still out...

Here's the reserva review on Tequila.Net

Partida Reposado: Smooth and Elegant

Lit From Within: Partida Reposado is a Brilliant Gold Color and Beautifully Bottled

I got an unexpected check for $52.00 in the mail the other day. It was from a credit-card account that I had closed last winter. Apparently the SEC or some other such agency had gone after this bank (the now-defunct Advanta Card), saying they had done some sketchy practices with their customers. They were ordered to pay people back! Yes! So I got a check! Wow. Revenge is sweet.

And what does a tequila aficionado do when "free money" lands in his lap? Why I headed straight to the liquor store, of course. I picked up a bottle of Partida Reposado, thereby burning up the entire $52.00

This golden honey-colored nectar is really nice. It's silky smooth and full of flavor, with a rich body of sweet, wood-tinged agave. The juice is rested for six-months in Jack Daniel's American Oak Barrels. The Partida has a lovely, fruity nose, a nice mouth-feel and a really elegant flavor without being too heavy or smoky. This is more of a "modern" tequila, having more in-common with Patron than with many of the older established tequilas. It is certainly marketed to American tastes. There's really nothing not to like about Partida reposado, and it particularly appeals to me because for a repo it has a very big agave presence. In my opinion, this is what a reposado should be -- agave that's just kissed with the flavor and mellowness of the resting. With many tequilas I like the blanco better than the repo, because the repo tastes to effed-with; too flavored. In the case of Partida, they've nailed it. The repo has everything I like about the blanco, and more. (The blanco is really good too, by the way. I have yet to try the anejo -- pricey).

This is a tequila I would serve to guests, especially folks who may not be familiar with premium tequila. This one goes neat in a reidel glass or small snifter. Partida Repo's a great after-dinner drink. Like I said, muy elegante.

Partida Reposado has been described as "The Bentley of Reposados". I say, take her out for a drive, baby!

Tequila.net reviews of Partida Repo

Spirits Review - 9 out of 10 olives!

Many Happy Tequilas!

Una Mas, Por Favor!

Well, this past weekend could not have been more filled with good agave if I’d had dreamed it. First, on Friday we attended a good friend’s wedding. Dave Fiorito and his lovely bride Laura are both tequila lovers and readers of this blog.
The bar at their awesome reception at The Endicott Estate in Dedham, MA was stocked with Cazadores Anejo. Now, I said in a previous blog that I had been disappointed with the Caza Repo the last couple time’s I’d tried it, having liked it a lot before. I also mentioned that I’d never tried the anejo because I would not pay that much money to be potentially unhappy with the juice. I know David read that blog, and whaddya know, there it was at his wedding! Caza Anejo! Coincidence? I think not! I loved it and will buy it again in the future. Best of the Cazadores line-up for sure.

I had brought the couple a bottle of Espolón Reposado as a gift there to the reception. Well, when the Caza ran out, guess what the bride did? Yup! She ordered, “Drew go get that bottle from the gift-table and we’re gonna open it and enjoy it right now!” And you can’t turn down the request of the bride, now, can you? We killed off the Espie in about 15 minutes. Oh yeah! Fun wedding!

Then, the next night, my band Twang ‘em High! played our favorite place, ChiliHead BBQ in West Bridgewater. As you know they have one of the best Tequila bars here in Mass. While we played, we enjoyed shots of Casa Noble Reposado and Corralejo Reposado. I was spreading the word over the microphone, and the bar sold a lot of tequila that night – way more than usual, thanks to my between-song tequila banter.

Salud!