Don Julio Real Extra Anejo |
Casa Noble Reposado - hard to find but mighty, mighty good. |
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Cabo Wabo Anejo Tequila is a good choice for chillaxin. |
Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia, great small production sipping tequila. Very smooth and carmel-ly. |
Tom6897,mind if I use your quote, "chillaxin"? What a neat play on words!!!!! |
Scorpion Mezcal Gran Reserva Añejo 7 Year Old!(OK- So, Mezcal is Tequila's bastard cousin)
Hallucinogenic(by the time you eat the scorpion). Besides: Worms are for wimps! |
I do like the Don Julio Real Extra Anejo however I think I prefere the Don Julio 1942. |
Wife and i are not big drinkers...but, we too wanted to find a nice Tequila. Because i do research on any purchase we make, we set up a plan. We boarded a cruise out of long beach and went to ensenada (3 day,of which we recall two). We booked land tours of different tequila distillers (sp?). One was a new 'factory' type of stillery, the other was on a back alley, old house with barrels of elixir ferminting into tequila. The wonderous part of this was to discover what Tequila is the the history and the deep relationship that the ancestory of Mexico holds to the Agave Cactus. There is so much legend and history that has tied product to the people. Bottom line, true agave cactus, roasted for a week or more, than is pressed and the fluid allowed to sit in barrels, have the dead critters and other things that land in the ferminting barrels scrapped from the top of the exlir. Distill the product... now that was fantastic tequila...we think...just a couple of prayers of thanks, some gestures (which include the correct inhale and exhale), and we were standing in line a the old counter buying the anejo...we are running out, the bottle has lasted us 4 years, but each shot (no sipping here!) is treasured memory and reminder of the people and their relationship to the cactus, earth and sky. Dona Engracia, 35% by volume, real clay 'bottle', real cork on top, real tequila, that tastes different from what we have here...a shot reveals an aftertaste of pepper, no hint of the alcohol, and reminds us of the sight and sounds of the agave roasting in the fire pit. Salute! |
Whoops! wife reminded me that this was our trip to Puerto Vallarta! Not Ensenads...apparently, we went to the wineries in ensenada...i do recall the wines were just ... not great, but one of the wineries was also growing and crushing olives, and we brought back some wonderful olive oil. Dona Engracia Tequila has a web site if you are curious about the process, it is fully described. Much better than my poor summary. Cheers! |
I love it; chillaxin- I must use this term (and of course give Tom6897 the credit)! It sounds like a great trip to Puerto Vallara Lcouplin. I will definitely try some of everyone's recs |
Short list -
Corralejo reposado for margaritas (or Patron silver)
Agavero (tequila mixed with domiana flower tea) for easy sipping
La Fogata, Casa Noble, Milagro or Corralejo Anejo for guests.
Rey Sol or Don Julio Real when its just you......
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A few years ago I picked up "The Great Margarita Book" by Al Lucero. Al is the owner of Maria's New Mexican Kitchen restaurant in Santa Fe, NM. The book has Margarita recipes for most of the well-known and not-so-well-known brands and types of Tequila.
While I can't say we tried them all, we did try many of them. I hate to be boring, but Patron was our favorite. By far. It's pretty much the only Tequila we buy now. We like the Reposado the best (orange ribbon). It provides a good middle ground of flavor between the Silver and Anejo.
Here in the NY and CT we have a store called Stew Leonard's (I think they have 4 locations). Their liquor prices are very good and some of their stores carry the large 1.75 liter bottles of Patron. Unfortunately, their store closest to me does not.
The other day I was talking to the manager of the store and asked if they could get the 1.75 liter bottles of Patron. He said they could order them and he quoted me the prices. I forget the exact numbers, but it was something like $65 for the Silver, $75 for the Reposado and $85 for the Anejo!
If you are familiar with Patron prices, those are a steal! Remember, we are talking 1.75 liters, more than twice as much as the .75 liter bottles. The manager said these were the lowest prices he was allowed to charge by law. I ordered a Silver AND Reposado and we picked them up this week. We are all set for the upcoming football games. Go J-E-T-S!!!
Gerry
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Oro Azul Resposado. Double distilled and 100% blue agave, Oro Azul Reposado is rested for over six months. It has a deep old gold color with pickling spice and sweet, creamy nougat aromas. A round entry leads to a dryish medium-bodied palate with creamy caramel, faint brown spices and ripe tropical citrus fruits. Finishes in a very lengthy, fruity manner, with nutty toffee and spice notes. Well-knit, balanced and delicious. As with any delicious tequila, be careful and hide your car keys.
I found this stuff on a business trip to East Bay area of California, brought it home and loved it more than any Cabo or Don Julio. Then a few weeks later I noticed my local liquor store carried it!!!! Sad story though. It was my last night in California and I was traveling with a collegue. We found this great upscale Mexican restaurant that has a tequila bar with over 100 brands. We spent some time sampling and he never gave me any indication of being a light weight and I thought he was doing fine. Once we walked out the door to walk back to the car, I noticed he wasn't walking straight. He fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel so I had to wake him up once we got back to the hotel. As soon as I woke him up, he projectile vomited all over the dash board of my rental car. Lesson learned? Don't mix tequilas I would say. I'm not sure why I was perfectly fine and he was staggering. He's got at least 30 pounds on me. |
Eagles, Tequila Sunrise. This is a audio site after all!
Thanx, Russ |
Tres Genericiones from Sauza - awesome. And truly over the top is El Tesoro, the only 100% Blue Agave Tequila distilled to 80 proof, which means no water added...period. |
Yep, pops knows his Tequila...El Tesoro is the way to go! However, I do miss their old bottles. |
I don't understand the appeal of tequila, tastes like chemicals to me. I think I'd give up libations if only tequila was available. To each his own, to those of you that enjoy it, enjoy! |
then you have never had really good tequila.
If you try some of them that are a bit carmeley, with a hint of sweetness and a very distinct fragrence and taste
good stuff
Once again, my favorite, for sipping, Reserva de la Familia from Qurevo.
For making drinks, Margaritas, Sauza Hornitos is by far my favorite. |
Macdad - great call on Hornitos! |
For the price I don't think you can beat the Sauza Tequilas.
Funny that nobody mentions Quervo (that harsh horse piss of a tequila) :-) |
PTM,
In general I agree with you as most of their tequilas do really suck, and I prefer Suaza's offerings to pretty much everyone's, but the best tequila I have tasted, for sipping not mixing, as I have said, is Quervo's Reserva de la Familia. It's absolutely sublime. |
Don Julio Anejo - nothing else like it. We had tried numerous tekillya and always return to DJ. |
