As a Texan, I’m generally not inclined to celebrate Mexican military victories. I still remember the Alamo. But I make an exception for Cinco de Mayo, mostly due to my love of tamales and tequila. For those who are also celebrating in these coming days and looking for a good tequila to sip on a warm afternoon or mix into a good margarita, I have a couple recommendations.
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Best Sipping Blanco Tequila: Casamigos
Usually, when I see a celebrity endorsed spirit I run for the hills. That’s normally the best indicator that it’s just a cash grab, something designed to make a quick buck off the strength of the celebrity instead of the strength of the product.
But that’s not what’s going on here. In fact, this tequila was never intended to be made available for sale.
Designed by George Clooney and his friends for the sole purpose of stocking it in their vacation houses as their “house tequila”, this spirit was built from the ground up as a delicious experience no matter how you take it. But the elongated nap this takes in American oak barrels (yes – even this blanco expression!) means that there’s plenty of flavor here even all on its own, and it’s all delicious.
I can already hear the comments coming calling me a Casamigos shill. (I wish, y’all! Actually, no, my wife wishes because that might mean I actually made money off this blog.)
Here’s the thing, though. What makes the blanco version of Casamigos delicious is the same thing that makes their anejo delicious. That fine balance and delicious saturation of the vanilla and caramel flavor components only gets better with age, much like Clooney himself.
I’ve tried a lot of aged tequilas, from El Jimador to 1800, Patron to Jose Cuervo. And this is, hands down, my favorite out of them all.
When you want something to mix into a cocktail, there are a couple factors to consider. It needs to be delicious, have enough well saturated flavor to be seen in the chaos, and (possibly most importantly) not break the bank. The good news is that’s pretty much the description of 1800.
This sub-brand of Jose Cuervo is actually made from the same stock as the more famous big brother, but where that big name brand is actually a “mixto” (not pure agave-based alcohol) this edition is 100% blue agave from start to finish. There’s also a little bit of a bonus here in that the finished product is aged in oak casks for about two weeks before being shipped, which adds some great new flavors that you don’t otherwise see.
Could you review some Cristaliano tequilas?
I’ll put some on the list — thanks for the recommendation!