Tequila Forum

[PaulO]

Giving this thread a bump, What's with Ultimo Agave?  It seems to have not been replaced in the places that carried it.  I know where one bottle is or was.  I thought it was some really good tequila.  

I'll maybe have to break out my list I made from reading all these posts.  

[PaulO]

I tried Espolon over the week end, and really liked it.  

I saw something on sale - Exotico.  I'm a bit wary until I read some reviews, get some recommendations.  Anyone tried it?

[bdrinker]

I haven't tried it, but just saw it at a liquor store, both the blanco and reposado. Which did you have?

[Kpiz]

4 hours ago, PaulO said:

I tried Espolon over the week end, and really liked it.  

 

I like Espolon as well - their blanco is nice and priced competitively. I've also had their reposado but don't recall it.

 

4 hours ago, PaulO said:

I saw something on sale - Exotico.  I'm a bit wary until I read some reviews, get some recommendations.  Anyone tried it?

I have not had this, unfortunately, but it's mentioned in this review of El Mayor Blanco (I believe this blog is run by Max Power, who posts here). Both are from NOM 1143, and he calls the El Mayor, which is the high-end product from that distillery, a "consummate B grade tequila". So perhaps the Exotico is worth buying as a mixer depending on how deeply discounted it is.

[PaulO]

8 hours ago, bdrinker said:

I haven't tried it, but just saw it at a liquor store, both the blanco and reposado. Which did you have?

I had the Espolon reposado.  So far, that and the Ultimo Agave are my favorites.

 

The Exotico was cheap - like $12 or $14.  I may take a chance.

[tanstaafl2]

Espolon and El Mayor are both reasonable quality mixers at decent prices for me. Espolon Reposado was long my favorite large volume margarita mixer (I rarely use blanco for anything, I need my barrel fix! And I like the extra richness it brings to a margarita.). The newer Espolon Anejo I found to be less interesting. They also recently released a limited extra anejo which I tried at a spirits show. Good but not worth the significant extra cost for me. The El Mayor repo and anejo were quite good for the price to me.

 

Haven't stepped down to the Exotica as the El Mayor was always so dependable and reasonably affordable.

 

Seems like Max Power has been off the board for quite awhile.

[bdrinker]

21 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Espolon and El Mayor are both reasonable quality mixers at decent prices for me. Espolon Reposado was long my favorite large volume margarita mixer (I rarely use blanco for anything, I need my barrel fix! And I like the extra richness it brings to a margarita.). The newer Espolon Anejo I found to be less interesting. They also recently released a limited extra anejo which I tried at a spirits show. Good but not worth the significant extra cost for me. The El Mayor repo and anejo were quite good for the price to me.

 

Haven't stepped down to the Exotica as the El Mayor was always so dependable and reasonably affordable.

 

Seems like Max Power has been off the board for quite awhile.

So would you recommend espolon repo as a sipper?

[tanstaafl2]

16 minutes ago, bdrinker said:

So would you recommend espolon repo as a sipper?

 

At that price point it is a pretty good option. But I rarely drink it as a sipper. I tend to like pretty strong agave flavors and most of all more proof which tends to be hard to find in the 80 proof world of tequila. So there tend to be other repos I would go to first. But few are as affordable as the Espolon. That said I haven't done much exploration of newer tequilas in that price range in a while as I tend to reply on Espolon and/or El Mayor as my "house" mixers.

Edited November 22, 2016 by tanstaafl2

[PaulO]

Hey Bruce, thanks for the El Mayor recommendation.

[Kpiz]

Villa Lobos Blanco was marked down to $24 so I grabbed a bottle. Has anyone had this? I haven't tried it yet but it seems to have good pedigree


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[tanstaafl2]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 2:46 PM, Kpiz said:

Villa Lobos Blanco was marked down to $24 so I grabbed a bottle. Has anyone had this? I haven't tried it yet but it seems to have good pedigree


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As you say Carlos Camarena seems to get generally good reviews for most of his brands from NOM 1139 but not sure what makes this one stand out compared to others (and I don't drink a lot of blanco anyway). I like Excellia (seems like a similar bottle style) and the El Tesoro, especially the Paradiso anejo, brands so likely this is good as well.

[Kpiz]

2 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

As you say Carlos Camarena seems to get generally good reviews for most of his brands from NOM 1139 but not sure what makes this one stand out compared to others (and I don't drink a lot of blanco anyway). I like Excellia (seems like a similar bottle style) and the El Tesoro, especially the Paradiso anejo, brands so likely this is good as well.

 

Thanks, Bruce. I'm not sure how Villa Lobos differs from their other brands either (besides packaging). It appears to be imported by PM Spirits, but they provide only general info and specs on their website.

 

I haven't been drinking much tequila recently, but for some reason I've always tended to prefer blancos for sipping and reposados or anejos for margaritas.

[tanstaafl2]

21 minutes ago, Kpiz said:

 

Thanks, Bruce. I'm not sure how Villa Lobos differs from their other brands either (besides packaging). It appears to be imported by PM Spirits, but they provide only general info and specs on their website.

 

I haven't been drinking much tequila recently, but for some reason I've always tended to prefer blancos for sipping and reposados or anejos for margaritas.

 

Yeah, I saw that PM spirits was the importer. Makes me wonder if this an attempt to create a small "craft" brand out of an otherwise relatively large producer. But the price point doesn't seem to say "craft" so not quite sure what the deal is. You will just have to let us know if it is any good!

 

I tend to like at least a reposado in my margarita as well. Just seems to add some richness and body. But for whatever reason was never much of a blanco drinker, neat or otherwise.

[PaulO]

After reading some positive notes on the Tequila Tourist site, I picked up Olmeca Altos.  A grocery store had it on sale.  I got both blanco and reposado.  I opened the repo, and think it's pretty good.

[Kpiz]

12 hours ago, PaulO said:

After reading some positive notes on the Tequila Tourist site, I picked up Olmeca Altos.  A grocery store had it on sale.  I got both blanco and reposado.  I opened the repo, and think it's pretty good.

 

Good purchase. If you enjoy the reposado, I think you'll like the blanco as well- it's straightforward but has good agave flavor. 

[Max Power]

On 12/14/2016 at 10:29 PM, PaulO said:

After reading some positive notes on the Tequila Tourist site, I picked up Olmeca Altos.  A grocery store had it on sale.  I got both blanco and reposado.  I opened the repo, and think it's pretty good.

 

It's been a while since I last stopped in here.  Glad to see some tequila discussion still happening.  Thanks for reading.  I'll definitely try to keep up more often.  

[Max Power]

On 12/15/2016 at 10:36 AM, Kpiz said:

 

Good purchase. If you enjoy the reposado, I think you'll like the blanco as well- it's straightforward but has good agave flavor. 

 

I agree with this as well.  A little bit of tahona essence without too much earth.  A really nice price for what you get.

[PaulO]

4 hours ago, Max Power said:

 

It's been a while since I last stopped in here.  Glad to see some tequila discussion still happening.  Thanks for reading.  I'll definitely try to keep up more often.  

It's nice you checked in Max.  The Tequila Tourist site is a great resource.  So far here is my short list of Tequila brands that I really like: Ultimo Agave, Espolon, and Olmeca Altos.

Salud

[PaulO]

I tried the Olmeca Altos Plata.  Nothing wrong with it, but I like the reposado much more.  I should say, I'm coming to this from drinking mostly bonded bourbon.  As far as Tequilas, so far I prefer the reposados.

[Kpiz]

I tried the Olmeca Altos Plata.  Nothing wrong with it, but I like the reposado much more.  I should say, I'm coming to this from drinking mostly bonded bourbon.  As far as Tequilas, so far I prefer the reposados.

Do you prefer reposados to anejos as well, or are you just commenting on reposado vs blanco? I tend toward blancos, which is probably why I like the OA blanco quite a bit. On the bright side, the blancos you may not want to drink neat will mix very well into margaritas, palomas, etc!


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[PaulO]

I have not tried anejos yet, but plan to.

I think in general, I prefer reposados to blancos.

I like the OA Plata, but the Reposado has a little bit more going on for me.

[Max Power]

22 hours ago, PaulO said:

I have not tried anejos yet, but plan to.

I think in general, I prefer reposados to blancos.

I like the OA Plata, but the Reposado has a little bit more going on for me.

 

Whiskey drinkers tend to prefer barrel aged tequilas more first.  I worked my way backwards into really enjoying and appreciating blancos as well.  Definitely get into some anejos.  Don Pilar Anejo is a bottle that has been almost universally adored by bourbon drinkers.  Salud!

[PaulO]

I'll put Don Pilar on my list to try.

[bdrinker]

At a recent Christmas gathering, our host had a bottle of Antiguo repo by Herradura. Hadn't seen or heard of it before. Pretty good sipper, sweet agave, oily, medium bodied with a long sweet finish.

[bullitt]

The world of tequila will be a less informative place in 2017 with the close of two popular and informative tequila and all things agave web sites. These sites were where I learned about and grew to appreciate tequila and all agave expressions. There is a truly vast world of agave spirits to explore and enjoy. Most people will only ever barely begin to scratch the surface of agave spirits. Especially when there's stuff like bourbon out there vying for our attention.