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Herradura, Tres Generations and if your really in the mood Cincoro. All in Anejo. More flavor and bourbon like than the silver ones. They are aged, usually in bourbon barrels. This is what makes them more expensive and more worth it to me.
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Cuervo Gold is what tequila should taste like.
Lots of fufu stuff out there. Mehhhhh. Stay thirsty. |
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This looks like a winner.
Might start with one of the cheaper El Tesoro bottles first. Thanks for the replies! |
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Kirkland and Trader Joe's store brand anejo is actually Don Julio, and an amazing deal.
Very good stuff. |
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Quoted: Herradura, Tres Generations and if your really in the mood Cincoro. All in Anejo. More flavor and bourbon like than the silver ones. They are aged, usually in bourbon barrels. This is what makes them more expensive and more worth it to me. View Quote Drink bourbon if you want bourbon flavor |
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Quoted: This looks like a winner. Might start with one of the cheaper El Tesoro bottles first. Thanks for the replies! View Quote I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. |
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Some friends of mine who are much bigger Tequila Connoisseurs than I am, have had great things to say about Bandero Tequila. I normally don’t say much about it because my friend owns the company (her family used to own Patron) and I don’t want to seem biased, but I’m not financially attached in any way and just passing along information.
www.bandero.com Since I’m not a huge tequila guy myself (it taught me a lesson in my 20s and I use it sparingly now) I’d like to hear anyone else’s opinion on Bandero. |
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Siete Leguas
Forteleza Codigo Tequila Ocho El Tesoro any of these will give you an amazing tequila. Also keep an eye for Sol de Mexico. Their reposado is very good. But I will often have to put in a special mention for Jose Cuervo Reserva de La Familia. It's expensive, but oh my god is it amazing. It's like the Cuervo family wanted to remind everyone that, even though they have spent decades trying to kill American college students, that when they really want to they know how to make an amazing tequila. |
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Quoted: Ocho is fantastic across pretty much all of their aging range. WOAFP, was The Tequila Guy here, but he caught the banhammer. I will try to find and reprint one of his excellent posts on the subject. There's a lot of manipulation is the creation of most forms of tequila, unfortunately. He recommended a bunch that were not unacceptably manipulated in his opinion. From me, "Can you give me your top 3 bottles sub $100 that you feel represent the purest form of tequila that you would offer to a group of connoisseurs if they came to your house and your absolute favorite regardless of price?" Reply: 1.) Tequila Ocho Blanco ($45ish) 2.) Fortaleza still proof blanco ($55ish) 3.) El tesoro Blanco ($40ish) 4.) Pasote Blanco ($40ish) 5.) Mijenta Blanco ($50ish) 6.) Cascahuin tahona ($60ish) 7.) Siete leguas Blanco ($45ish) 1.) Fortaleza reposado ($65ish) 2.) Calle 23 reposado ($50ish) 3.) Mijenta reposado ($65ish) 4.) Artenom 1123 reposado ($75ish) 5.) El tesoro single barrel reposado ($60ish) 1.) Fortaleza anejo ($90ish) 2.) Tequila Ocho anejo ($70ish) Tesoro anejo and pasote anejo fall a little flat here at their new price point but aren't terrible For the XAs you get to over the $100 mark but there are plenty with seeking out. if I just wanted someone to be wowed by a tequila I would pour some of the El tesoro paradise. It's between $120-$150 depending on the market. The original extra anejo made by the original Felipe Camarena and Tomas Estes to highlight what could be done to highlight agave and the barrel influence. Or if you really want to splurge a close tie is tears of llorona around $220 now. This is a combination of port, brandy, and scotch barrels blended after 5 years all while never hiding the agave influence. Beautiful tequila for an extra aged. I completely disagree with him about Tears, FWIW. Way, way too woody for my palate, and the people we shared it with as well. But YMMV... View Quote |
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Start with a reposado. Blancos are spicy and anejos are too rich for what people are use to. Repos are a decent middle ground.
Herradura and Siete Leguas are the best of casual, high end, tequilas IMHO. Milagro is a great middle of the road brand while figuring out if tequila is your thing, while not breaking the bank. And don't listen to the uniformed here who claim it's a cheap liquer, they've never been to Tequila, Mexico. Distilleries with citrus groves planted around the vats soley to add to flavor and tiny villages on site to make sure they produce a propper product. Jose Cuervo is cheap, schwill, actual tequila is not cheap or easy. Good luck on trying everything. |
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View Quote Lulz. |
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Quoted: Anvil (if it's still open; I thought they'd closed?) is well worth your time if you like well-made cocktails and don't mind paying a considerable premium to do so. Not surprised they'd pick good stuff. View Quote Only places I miss after moving out of Houston lol |
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Quoted: Still open and doing well. They opened a newer spot upstairs now called Refuge too. Only places I miss after moving out of Houston lol View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Anvil (if it's still open; I thought they'd closed?) is well worth your time if you like well-made cocktails and don't mind paying a considerable premium to do so. Not surprised they'd pick good stuff. Still open and doing well. They opened a newer spot upstairs now called Refuge too. Only places I miss after moving out of Houston lol Nice! News I can use, not that I'm ever in Montrose anymore. Thought there'd been some shakeups in the Heigel (spelling) culinary empire, e.g., Hay Merchant closing, and that Anvil was another casualty. |
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Quoted: I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. View Quote My man! Always cracks me up to see folks talk about how great it is. Adictivo is another additive bomb. I mean, if you like it go ahead, but it ain't an authentic experience. |
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Quoted: When looking at tequila, I'm starting to educate myself... View Quote Britney Spears Ft Tila Tequila - Stripper Britney Spears Ft Tila Tequila - Stripper (MUSIC VIDEO) |
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Quoted: My man! Always cracks me up to see folks talk about how great it is. Adictivo is another additive bomb. I mean, if you like it go ahead, but it ain't an authentic experience. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. My man! Always cracks me up to see folks talk about how great it is. Adictivo is another additive bomb. I mean, if you like it go ahead, but it ain't an authentic experience. My local booze emporium recommended an Adictivo as a sipper. It's pretty sweet, and not like tequila I'm used to. It didn't make me want to keep drinking it. |
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Additive free fan here. From your store, check out El Tequileno for probably best option at lowest price. Then look at El Tesoro, Tequila Ocho and Gran Dovejo. If you want a bottle to impress with, the Fuenteseca Blanco is a good one. Excellent blanco, but they are quite proud of it.
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Quoted: My local booze emporium recommended an Adictivo as a sipper. It's pretty sweet, and not like tequila I'm used to. It didn't make me want to keep drinking it. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. My man! Always cracks me up to see folks talk about how great it is. Adictivo is another additive bomb. I mean, if you like it go ahead, but it ain't an authentic experience. My local booze emporium recommended an Adictivo as a sipper. It's pretty sweet, and not like tequila I'm used to. It didn't make me want to keep drinking it. I was at Woodman's picking up some El Tesoro once. Was looking at the rest of their selection and this guy says to me "you want to know a good tequila? This (points to Adictivo). Trust me, I'm Mexican." Basically the same as if I said "You want to know a good whiskey? This, trust me, I'm an American" then point to FireBall or Jack Daniels Honey. |
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Huge list of choices and a bunch of knowledge Here.
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Love Fortaleza and Cascahuin, but good luck finding the Fortaleza, and the Cascahuin 48 & Tahona are a hell of a lot more expensive than they were 6 months ago!
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Call me crazy, but Three Amigos Blanco is a damn fine beverage at its price point and better than some costing significantly more.
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Quoted: I was at Woodman's picking up some El Tesoro once. Was looking at the rest of their selection and this guy says to me "you want to know a good tequila? This (points to Adictivo). Trust me, I'm Mexican." Basically the same as if I said "You want to know a good whiskey? This, trust me, I'm an American" then point to FireBall or Jack Daniels Honey. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. My man! Always cracks me up to see folks talk about how great it is. Adictivo is another additive bomb. I mean, if you like it go ahead, but it ain't an authentic experience. My local booze emporium recommended an Adictivo as a sipper. It's pretty sweet, and not like tequila I'm used to. It didn't make me want to keep drinking it. I was at Woodman's picking up some El Tesoro once. Was looking at the rest of their selection and this guy says to me "you want to know a good tequila? This (points to Adictivo). Trust me, I'm Mexican." Basically the same as if I said "You want to know a good whiskey? This, trust me, I'm an American" then point to FireBall or Jack Daniels Honey. “Trust me, I’m Mexican” Does that usually end well? |
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I looked at local state store tonight, nothing recommended here for the most part.
The top self had Patron, which is ok but I don't think it is worth the price. I bought a pint of Grey Goose Vodka. |
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Quoted: I looked at local state store tonight, nothing recommended here for the most part. The top self had Patron, which is ok but I don't think it is worth the price. I bought a pint of Grey Goose Vodka. View Quote Patron gets a bad wrap but honestly it’s not “that bad” and it’s additive free. One I forgot to list is G4, their blanco is pretty good. Forteleza is basically unobtanium but if you can find it, buy a couple bottles and enjoy. |
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Quoted: Patron gets a bad wrap but honestly it’s not “that bad” and it’s additive free. One I forgot to list is G4, their blanco is pretty good. Forteleza is basically unobtanium but if you can find it, buy a couple bottles and enjoy. View Quote How do people actually buy Forteleza? Luck....or is there a method of tracking shipments? Thanks |
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I tried DJ anejo and didn’t like it. It didn’t taste like tequila.
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G4, Fortaleza, 1620, siete leguas. Clase Azul has additives and is overpriced. The Johnny Walker blue of tequila.
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Quoted: Tequila became trendy and expensive. It's cheap to make and should not be expensive. It doesn't even taste good. For the cost of "good" tequila, I can get a really nice bourbon. I don't get the hype. View Quote It takes about 8-10 years for an agave plant to reach maturity. Distilleries have a lot of time invested to go from planting to bottling. That isn’t even counting barrel aging. Also when demand for tequila spikes it takes a while to catch up. Supply and demand is playing a big part in todays pricing. |
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Quoted: Kirkland and Trader Joe's store brand anejo is actually Don Julio, and an amazing deal. Very good stuff. View Quote Attached File |
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Quoted: I'm a big fan of El Tesoro. They are all traditionally made with no additives, and the agave flavor comes through in their tequilas. Having said that, the bottle that you linked is juice thats been aged in Laphroaig scotch barrels. I have not tried that one, but I imagine that it will have a strong smoke/peaty flavor to it. Similar to Islay scotch, it may be an acquired taste. I can't recommend starting with El Tesoro blanco enough. It's available at your store, and is a quality tequila that's well made. If you want to spend $150 on a bottle, get the Cuervo reserva de la Familia extra anejo. It's really good, and might appeal to whiskey drinkers while still tasting like agave. Please save your $$ and skip the Clase Azul, unless you want to impress people who don't like how agave tastes but think that a $200 bottle of sugared up booze makes for fancy tequila. View Quote Although Cuervo CAN make some good tequila - the Reserva de Familia is not one of them. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y6zfoHHj9Uw |
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Not high end, at least price wise, but I like 1800 Reposado.
Attached File Someone tell me what’s wrong with it. I’ve had Patron and like it, but 1800 is significantly cheaper. |
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Quoted: It takes about 8-10 years for an agave plant to reach maturity. Distilleries have a lot of time invested to go from planting to bottling. That isn’t even counting barrel aging. Also when demand for tequila spikes it takes a while to catch up. Supply and demand is playing a big part in todays pricing. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Tequila became trendy and expensive. It's cheap to make and should not be expensive. It doesn't even taste good. For the cost of "good" tequila, I can get a really nice bourbon. I don't get the hype. It takes about 8-10 years for an agave plant to reach maturity. Distilleries have a lot of time invested to go from planting to bottling. That isn’t even counting barrel aging. Also when demand for tequila spikes it takes a while to catch up. Supply and demand is playing a big part in todays pricing. This. Also, available farm land gets less and less, and high demand has some producers using immature agave. Saw this coming a few years ago. Stashed some Fortaleza because I knew it was getting hard to find. Then I quit drinking because I have a problem. I have a pretty large stash of booze still. Even have 3 older style bottles of Pasote from El Pandillo. Patron will be doing a 2nd run of their Estate Blanco in a few years. I think I still have 2 or 3 bottles of their first offering. Some of this stuff has got to appreciate in value. |
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Quoted: Not high end, at least price wise, but I like 1800 Reposado. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/227730/IMG_1382_jpeg-2970532.JPG Someone tell me what’s wrong with it. I’ve had Patron and like it, but 1800 is significantly cheaper. View Quote Agaves cooked in a high pressure autoclave (better than diffuser, but not as good as slow cooking in a horno) and distilled in stainless steel (you want a copper still for best flavor). And they use additives. |
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Quoted: Huge list of choices and a bunch of knowledge Here. View Quote It's a shame WOAFP is no longer with us. He'd fucking own this thread. |
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Herradera. …Drinkable and doesn’t rip your wallet off your ass.
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Quoted: Casamigos has a ton of additives which is frowned upon... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I like Casamigos Reposado Casamigos has a ton of additives which is frowned upon... Yeah, IMO any tequila that uses additives isn't real tequila (which is the vast majority of them). They're real compared to mixto, but they're really akin to drinking flavored whiskey. You ain't getting an authentic experience. But I'm a purist. I didn't even know what I didn't know until I had my first bottle of El Tesoro. Then WOAFP showed me the way. Got me into mezcals too. Tequila Matchmaker is a great resource. You can see which distillery makes it, cooking method, fermentation method, crushing method, distilling equipment, and they have a program by which to validate that a tequila is additive-free (they get a little badge on the product page). |
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Herradura Selection Suprema is very good but like $3-400/bottle last I looked.
4 year aged in ex woodford barrels |
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1800 Cristalino Anejo
Maestro Dobel Silver Both very easy to sip neat and won't break the bank. |
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