Top 5 Tequilas By Bloody Gerry
Don Julio Blanco Tequila With 2 Bowls Gift Total Wine & More
- https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/tequila/blancosilver/don-julio-blanco-tequila-with-2-bowls-gift/p/92539751?s=526& igrules=true
- Mexico – Don Julio Blanco is double distilled to achieve a balanced quality. Its aroma is light with hints of citrus. The taste is light, clean and dry, with a touch of black pepper. Try it over crushed ice with a squeeze of lime or in a margarita.
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Best Aejo: Don Julio Aejo
Courtesy of Reserve Bar
Region: Jalisco | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: Caramel, Baked yam, Ginger
Don Julio, Chasse notes, takes care of its raw materials. When the producers were planting their fields, they used much more land than other producers and spaced the agave out so as not to overtax the soil and sap it of its nutrients. Thats important when the plants take so long to come to maturity, and it leads to some lively flavors in the spirit.
Hurley notes the baked yam, toasted oak, caramel and vanilla notes that two and a half years of wood aging give this añejo. But its round, sweet qualities are balanced out, says Chasse, by a gingery, peppery spice.
Good to Know: Want to nibble while you sip? Try fatty things with a crisp blanco, like guacamole and chips, a grilled steak and carnitas tacos. For aged tequilas, Hurley advises dark chocolate. And any sipping tequila goes great with spicy or salty foods, chased by a Mexican lagerjust the way the distillers like to drink it themselves.
Best Reposado: Siete Leguas Reposado
Courtesy of Drizly.com
Region: Jalisco | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: Baking spices, Vanilla, Slate, Shale
Like many bartenders, Chasse considers this reposado from Siete Leguas her favorite tequila in general, regardless of the expression. The distillery where it’s made uses a mix of grinding methods: efficient roller mill and traditional tahona, a millstone carved from volcanic rock. The result: “A nice balance between sustainability and the wonderful qualities of earthiness from the more fibrous milling of the tahona, she says.
With its mix of minerality, wood-driven vanilla notes and baking-spice panache, this versatile reposado is perfect to sip on anytime along with many different types of foods, says Chasse. “It just makes my heart happy.
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Comparing Brands And Their Pricing
So why is a Patron considered a Premium tequila by our standards, while a popular brand like 1800 comes out as a Standard offering? Lets compare some of the brands on our list and look at what might make one more expensive than another.
Patron tequila is often seen in night clubs and is considered an ultra premium brand in the marketplace. Easily identified by its uniquely designed bottle, Patron is one of the higher priced tequilas available on the shelf.
One major reason Patron is seen as a premium brand, and is more expensive, is because of their unique agave handling process. Rather than simply using agave grown on their property, Patron selects from an array of blue agave producers around the region. This ensures that only the perfect blue agave make it into their tequila.
Most would argue that Patron is worth the price as this is one of those tequilas that can be enjoyed sans salt and lime wedge.
On another note, Patron is incredibly environmentally conscious for a major tequila producer. They compost all the agave hearts after use and utilize natural gas to reduce carbon emissions.
Don Julio joins Patron as a Premium tequila on our list. It is also considered a super premium brand by the market, as well.
Jose Cuervo falls into the Standard category by price point, however, that does not mean it is significantly less quality. It has long been one of, if not the best selling tequilas world wide.
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Don Julio Blanco Tequila Total Wine & More
- https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/tequila/blancosilver/don-julio-blanco-tequila/p/92539750
- WINE ENTHUSIAST. Mexico – Don Julio Blanco is double distilled to achieve a balanced quality. Its aroma is light with hints of citrus. The taste is light, clean and dry, with a touch of black pepper. Try it over crushed ice with a squeeze of lime or in a margarita. BRAND.Brand: Don Julio
Don Julio Aejo Vs The Competition
- 1800 Añejo
- Tequila AviónAñejo
- Casamigos Añejo
- check Don Julio Añejo
Sweet and peppery characterize the initial palate of the 1800 and mid-palate transition. The 1800 Añejo shows traces of cinnamon, candied pears, butterscotch and toasted oak, plus a finish of cocoa and banana bread. On the other hand, wild honey and butterscotch are on display when the Don Julio/DJ Añejo enters your mouth.
However, what sinks 1800 is an observed strong presence of smokiness in the taste. For some, strong traces of the roasting process may have settled in the final product, likely an oversight due to 1800 being part of the mass market tequila assembly line of Jose Cuervo. In contrast, the DJ consistently keeps the smoky taste to a minimum, or even at zero presence.
Don Julios añejo may be more expensive than the Avión añejo.
However, the Don Julio/DJ presents a strong case of value-for-money tilting brains, lips, noses, tongues, throats and opinions towards its entry level aged tequila.
One, the DJ añejo consistently displays no alcohol burn, with a nip in the Avión. Everything is bright, lightly spiced, rich and smooth, and you dont forget the agave presence in the Don Julio.
Second, the DJ has a consistently minimal tinge of American oak residue when the añejo hits your mouth. On the other hand, the Avión has an up-down presence of oak in the taste, which was a turn-off for some.
Casamigos añejo is neck-and-neck against Don Julios añejo in terms of pricing.
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Exclusive News And Research On The Wine Spirits And Beer Business
Don Julio Tequila is honoring the legacy of its founder, Don Julio González, by launching Ultima Reserva, a special 36-month aged luxury Extra-Añejo, which features the final agave harvest planted by González and his family in 2006. 4,000 cases will be released this year, and highly limited quantities will continue to be released each year until the end of this final agave harvest is reached. Don Julio Ultima Reserva is rested in oak barrels previously used to age Bourbon and finished in seasoned Madeira wine casks. It retails at $399 a bottle.
Germanys Schmitt Söhne, imported by Delicato in the U.S., is extending its Relax brand into Prosecco. Relax Prosecco DOC retails at $15 a 750-ml. and will roll out nationwide in October. Headquartered in Germanys Mösel Valley, Schmitt Söhne is led by fifth-generation family member Juliane Schmitt. Relax was the top-selling German wine brand in IRI channels for the 52 weeks through June 13.
Banshee Wines, part of the Foley Family Wines portfolio, is entering the sparkling segment with Ten of Cups Brut California NV. Inspired by the namesake Tarot card, the limited-production release is a Méthode Champenoise blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier and retails at $28 a 750-ml. Its hitting select markets this fall ahead of a national rollout next year. Banshee grew 23% to 55,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank.
What About The Worm
Remember the worm we talked about in the opening section? As it turns out, worms have nothing to do with tequila. The worm in the bottle trick is often used by mezcal producers as a gimmick of sorts to draw attention to their product. In fact, the law says that tequila may not contain a worm or scorpion.
If a bottle is con gusano , then it is likely a mezcal and not a very good one at that. The worm is actually the larva of a moth that infests agave plants. An infested plant is the sign of a bad agave product. Proceed with caution.
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Best Highlands: Tequila Chamucos Reposado
Courtesy of Total Wine
Region: Jalisco | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: White flowers, Stone fruit, Sea salt
Though other expressions have since been added, Tequila Chamucos was founded in 1994 as a reposado-only, so you can be sure that its producers are dedicated to the style.
Made with organic, high-mountain agave cooked in a brick oven and distilled in a stainless steel alembic still, it is triple-filtered and then aged in both American and French oak barrels. All of that renders one smooth sip. Floral on the nose, it has the bittersweet fruitiness and briny undertones to keep you coming back for more.
The Blue Agave Problem
Tequila is a member of the larger family of spirits – mezcal. Mezcal is produced from any agave plant, however, tequila has a strict ingredient requirement: it must be made from blue agave. Obviously, this limits the availability of ingredients, which in turn drives the cost.
The limited availability of blue agave combined with an increasing demand for the popular spirit has created a significant supply issue for tequila producers.This lack of supply has allowed the increase in cost of the plant, to the tune of six times what is cost just a couple of years ago. As you can imagine, this cost is passed on to the consumer down the line.
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A Bespoke Growing Process
Rather than buying land, Don Julio decided to lease it, allowing him to pick and choose exactly which plants to use on a year by year basis. His chosen agave hearts would then be taken to his distillery, La Primavera where they would be carefully cut, steamed, crushed and eventually mixed with water and yeast. Each bottles seal of authenticity details exactly which agave hearts were used while the microclimate and mineral-rich soil ensures a high standard of plants to begin with.
And the super-premium nature of Don Julio tequila boils down to more than just reputation. This is a brand whose name has never gone off the table of trending spirits and for a very good reason. Combining hand-harvested blue agave with a master distiller whose previous engineering experience features everything from explosives to perfume and liquids has resulted in a distinctive drink of the utmost quality.
This quality hasnt gone amiss: Don Julio is the largest valued brand of tequila all over the world and its counted among the eight largest produced liqueurs by volume at an international level. Its sweet aromas, traditional flavours and blue agave mouthful make every one of Don Julios tequilas a genuine treat to sample.
Best Blanco: Don Fulano Blanco
Courtesy of Don Fulano
Region: Jalisco | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: Lemon peel, Lemongrass, Cooked agave
“Theres a saying: ‘Whiskey is aged in wood, and tequila is aged in the ground,'” says Hurley. Thats so true because agave takes six to eight years to mature, so you can detect the influence of the terroirthe soil, sun and shade of mountainsespecially in a blanco. He calls this one from the Altos region phenomenal.
Produced by Jaliscos famed Fonseca family using deep well water, Don Fulano Blanco offers “green cooked agave notes, a little bit of pepper and minerality, and hints of lemon peel and lemongrass, Hurley says. Along with those complex layers of flavor, Hurley likes its mouthfeel. It has a nice body all the way through, so its one of the easiest drinking tequilas out there,” he adds.
Blancos showcase the terroir and the agave, but they also show any imperfections. Look for spirits with a medium to full body, a bit of attitude, minerality and brightnessand not much ethanol burn. You can tell an impure spirit if you get that. Morgan Hurley, Marketing and Beverage Director, Mex 1 Coastal Cantina
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Its A Brand Thats Won Multiple Awards For Its Delicious Bottles
and it keeps pushing the boundaries when it comes to premium quality. Before Don Julio took to the scene, tequila was generally either considered Blanco, Reposado or Añejo. The arrival of Don Julio 70 Cristalino Tequila took to the stage as the worlds first Añejo Claro tequila, while the brands Real Tequila broke the ceiling of ageing the spirit and helped to create the Extra Añejo category. With its velvety smooth Blanco qualities and honeyed vanilla and toasted oak flavours, its a one-of-a-kind sipper thats among the best of the best.
Part of the reason as to why this premium tequila is so good can be attributed to its growing region. Intellectual property laws ensure that tequila can only be made in one place: Mexico. And Don Julio is produced in the Highlands of Jalisco, one of the countrys most fertile agave-growing regions.
Tequila Is The Cognac Of Mezcals
Wait, what? Yes, it is true. Think about it. Cognac is a form of brandy that has such restrictive requirements that it makes it a superior product that happens to cost significantly more than other brandies.
Tequila follows the same trajectory. It is a mezcal but must be made from a specific, rare plant and in a small region. There are very few budget offerings of tequila, as you can see in our chart below, because of these legal restrictions on what is considered tequila.
While tequila is often pictured as a spirit consumed in hot, sweaty desert locations or as a simple additive to the sugary margarita, it is actually quite a premium spirit. Many brands, like Patron, have focused their marketing on raising the level of perceived quality of tequila.
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How To Drink Don Julio
The only way to drink Don Julio is to savour it slowly. It might seem like muscle memory to drink tequila in shot form but for the super premium bottles, its worth experiencing the aroma and flavour notes of the bottle. Don Julio is best served neat or, at most, with a few drops of water to bring out its unique properties. Treat it the same way youd treat fine whisky or rum and take the entire process step by step.
Start by pouring the spirit into a tasting glass to let the aromas breathe. Then, nose it gently with small sips to let the individual flavours dance on your tongue.
You dont have to rule out shot glasses completely when it comes to drinking Don Julio. In Mexico, some say the traditional way to drink tequila is in a caballito a taller, slender shot glass thats served with a lime and salt. The main thing is to not rush the process, and to enjoy the spirit sip by sip to appreciate its quality.
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