Welcome to Kelly's Tequila Page!

I know decent scotch whiskies, I know wine (well enough), etc. But I knew nothing of tequila. I figured there HAD to be a better quality variety than what we're used to. Sure, I knew of (and owned) Patron Silver and Herradura Gold, but they weren't that special. What really got me going was receiving a few good bottles at a birthday party. So I started looking in better Mexican restaurants. Sure enough, there IS a whole industry which makes a lot of spectacular tequilas. I've since spent some time learning about and tasting many high-end offerings from many distilleries. One thing I didn't expect was that each tequila has a "personality" all its own. Some taste like you'd think a tequila would taste, some taste like scotch, cognac, etc. Many have flavors in them such as vanilla, fruit, etc. I've even started to think that I prefer good tequila to good scotch. Who'd have thought?

Background:
One thing I didn't know was what the different types of tequilas are. Generally the blanco (white or silver) tequilas are cheaper, though there are some very good ones out there. Patron Platinum is quite good, though nowhere near worth a bottle's $210 price tag. Likewise, the añejos are typically more expensive, though there are some which I didn't particularly like. I've found a number of people who have distinctly different preferences than mine- Some prefer the "burn" of a blanco, some like the "middle-of-the-road" characteristics of the reposados, and some prefer the smoother añejos. I think I'm more of an añejo person, though I do have an appreciation for all of the types.

• Joven: Young tequila. Generally interchangable with the term "Mixto." Often labeled as "Gold," it is fortified with another type of alcohol, and has caramel to add sugar and coloring and oak, glycerin and other non-agave sugars to make it more palatable. Cuervo and Sauza "Gold" fall into this category.
• Blanco: Unaged. Distilled, put in a bottle, and sold. Usually (much) harsher than aged tequilas.
• Reposado: Aged in oak for two months up to one year. Smoother, and generally has more flavors.
• Añejo: Aged in oak for one to three years. Smoother still, with more complex flavor, body.
• Extra Añejo: Aged in oak for three to five years. These are less common, and are usually MUCH more expensive.

The distillation process is interesting. I've been told by a bartender who knows tequila (Moises, at La Pinata, Fremont) how it's done. The blue agave plant is harvested, cut up, and set to distill. What comes out from the distillation comes in three phases:

• The Head: The first part of the distillation, has the most volatile, strongest alcohol content.
• The Body: The middle part of the distillation, has the most flavors, a reasonable alcohol content. The best part of the process.
• The Tail: The final part of the distillation. It's the heaviest, "bottom of the barrel," so to speak. The grungy, dirty remnants of the distillation, and most water vapor.

So, what is the distillation process? When speaking with Carlos Camarena, the master distiller of El Tesoro tequilas, I was told that alcohol boils at 172.4^oF/79^oC. We know that water boils at 212^oF/100^oC. El Tesoro boils the agave mash JUST above alcohol's boiling point, but well below that of water. Many manufacturers boil the agave at a temperature just below that of water's boiling point to speed up the distillation process. He told me the metaphor of driving- If you're driving at 65 mph over a lot of leaves, your car creates a vacuum which pulls the (undesired) leaves along. But if you drive at 10 mph, there's no vacuum, and the leaves aren't pulled along with the car. The same goes with distillation- El Tesoro distills slower, so as to not pull water vapor along with the alcohol. If you consider it takes the agave plant eight years to grow to maturity, and 14 days to distill, it seems incomprehensible that most distillers take the shortcut of shaving a few days off the distillation time by raising the temperature.

There are a number of "boutique" tequila distilleries which produce a fraction of the volume of the large, mechanized companies. This is much like the wine industry in California. Ask anyone where wine comes from in California, and you'll hear "Napa Valley." In fact, only 4% of California wines are made in Napa. But these are generally the ones which take the most care in quality production. The same is so with tequila. The better tequilas generally cost more as their processes are more painstaking and a much lower volume is produced.

Additionally, while there may be 600 distinct flavors in tequila, there are only a handful of natural flavors that human tastebuds can discern. The flavors of earth, smoke, citrus, banana, and black pepper come from distillation of the blue agave plant. Aging the tequila in American oak adds almond, nuts, caramel, and vanilla. Using French oak also adds a dark chocolate flavor. Some manufacturers artificially add flavors. While doing so might make the tequilas more interesting, a purist might find the practice to be unethical. In fact, the governing Tequila board in Mexico prohibits the practice. I've heard that the Porfidio brand was shut down for doing just that (though it's now been restarted with a different distiller using the Porfidio name). Apparently the Tequila board is now allowing the addition of small amounts of (very concentrated) flavorings. I hear that Cazadores has lobbied the Tequila board to be allowed to add flavors. Since Cazadores can do it, they all must be allowed. Being somewhat a purist in some ways, this seems a little sad to me. Moises at La Pinata says that even the color of a tequila can indicate whether it's been "enhanced." It takes time for the oak to color the tequila. Yet, how is it that something aged only a few months to a few years can look so deeply yellow? Augmentations could be one possibility, but another is that the oak barrels could be charred beforehand. This imparts more smokiness and other flavors, and is considered more "honest" than simply adding flavorings to the tequila. I look back on all the tequilas I've tried, and note how many have such a deep color, and wonder which are "pure" tequila.

If you want to get a feel for the agave and basic distillation quality of a distiller's products, taste their blanco tequila. Unlike the reposado and añejo, the blanco's flavors aren't influenced by the oak of aging. So, which types of tequila is "best?" There isn't one. The one that tastes best to YOU is the best for you. But, if you're a gin or vodka fan, you'll likely prefer the blancos. If you're a whiskey or scotch drinker, you'll likely prefer the añejos. It's funny- Being a scotch drinker, I've felt that the more refined, smoother tequilas were "better." But that's not entirely true- One of my favorites is the El Tesoro Reposado. It's generally the one I've opened when I come home from work and pour a shot (and that was the case BEFORE my meeting Carlos Camarena of El Tesoro). Still, the ranking in my spreadsheet below follows my convention of "perceived quality" as well as taste for the rankings- Even though some of my favorites aren't in the top 10.

I've compiled a list of the tequilas I've tasted (sounds like me, huh?), and made three worksheets in one spreadsheet file. The first worksheet is the ranking according to my preference. Best at the top, worst at the bottom (your tastes will no doubt be different). The second worksheet shows the tequilas listed alphabetically. There are now so many in the list that it's hard to find a particular one in the preference ranking! The third sheet is the tequilas sorted by NOM. The NOM is the identification of the distillery in which the tequila was made. It's interesting to see how many different brands are produced at the same place, even though they are billed as different companies.

The rankings aren't quite as accurate as I'd like- I haven't sat down with fifty tequilas in front of me! I generally taste a handful at a time, and put them into the ranking as best as I recall the flavors of the others. As I taste (and accumulate) more, I go back and re-evaluate and re-rank them. Where possible, I've put in prices for a bottle of each (from the Beverages and More or Hi-Time Wine web pages), as well as a brief description of my impressions of the variety.
It's interesting to see that a tequila's price often isn't indicative of its quality and flavor. Often times the price is more a reflection of how interesting its bottle is, or how much its marketing department thinks they can get for it. Sure, there are low-cost cheap tequilas, and some of the best are expensive. But just as often there are excellent tequilas of reasonable price, and sub-standard tequilas with a high price tag.

No, Cuervo Gold isn't on the list- It doesn't count. Only true 100% Agave tequilas are listed.