My Thoughts on Tequila

As of November 15, 2021

Mezcal Maniac that I am, I field a lot of requests for my thoughts on tequila. Mostly from friends in the States wanting to know which are the better ones available there.

I don’t know, but I’ll do my best.

My Tequila History

I occasionally drank tequila; mostly because my previous wife who was much younger than I liked to do shots of it as a fun ritual when we’d go out. (I was never a fan of this ritual.) Back in 2004 I was influenced by a favorite radio talkshow host, Phil Hendrie, who used to express love for Don Julio Blanco. For a couple of years I thought I was enjoying it, but didn’t know what the hell I was doing: pouring it over ice and squeezing in as much lime juice as I could.

Upon moving to Mexico in 2014 my Mexican girlfriend, (now wife Cecilia,) was a tequila drinker, but her primary interest was in getting one that was made from 100% agave. Smart. She’d order Centenario Plata. If they didn’t have it, she’d go for Jose Cuervo—but NOT that yellow trash only made from 51% agave! Jose Cuervo Tradicional is (apparently) full-on agave. I’ll address why I wrote “apparently” later. More recently she’s taken a shine to Maestro Dobel Diamante.

Then there’s Casa Dragones. While it is of legal necessity made in Jalisco, the producers identify our town, San Miguel de Allende, as it’s “spiritual home.” After Oprah Winfrey called it her favorite, it really took off. We were hearing that bottles were going for over $300 in the US. I find their most expensive coming in at $259.99 today. You might think that, with a price point like that, my mezcal maniac friends and I would obviously approach it with a jaded stance. And you’d be correct. If you like a spirit that is very soft, smooooth, and certainly unobtrusive, maybe this is your jam. Why let something like character and flavor get in the way of enjoying your wildly overpriced tequila, right? Oprah likes it!

Casa Dragones: Oprah’s Fave. Meh.

I should mention Patron, shouldn’t I? I had it a few times when I lived in the States, but try as I might I just can’t remember it. However, I notice their Platinum product is triple distilled. In my experience, distilling more than twice simply removes anything that might be interesting from it. But maybe it works. Again, it’s been years since I had it. Give it a go.

Positive Tequila Experiences

So I don’t enjoy those I’ve mentioned above too much. At some point I decided—after experiencing the variety of MUCH more intriguing mezcal out there—I just didn’t care for the flavor that the Blue Weber Agave provides. Then a couple of years ago my friends Corvus and Violette brought us one for Cecilia’s birthday, and I actually really liked it!

Herradura Directo de Alambique absolutely shocked me. Then I took a look at the bottle and found a clue as to why: it features a 55% ABV.

Herradura Directo de Alambique

Don’t misunderstand. It’s NOT that I have a thing for spirits that are super strong. I’ve found plenty of distillations that I thought needed to be lowered a bit. But in the mezcal world, there is a saying: “Si no hace perlas, no es mezcal.” Translation: “If it doesn’t make pearls, it isn’t mezcal.”

These perlas (pearls or bubbles) are what form—and only dissipate slowly—when pouring what the maestros consider an acceptably good mezcal into a vessel, and this normally only happens when it’s between 45% and 55% ABV. I won’t get into the science on this; it has to do with surface tension from the alcohol. Look it up.

A couple of my local mezcal friends and I became heartily aware of this when it came to the mezcal most commonly distilled in our home state of Guanajuato: Salmiana. Believe me when I write this: I used to hate Salmiana. It just had a dry, course, cactusy character. Bluh! And then one day I had a really good one. It still had some of the aforementioned qualities—but it was delicious!

El Nidal Aposentos Contemporáneos as well as Hacienda Vergel de Guadalupe both make a lovely Salmiana, but we noticed that, unlike most of the commercial versions that tend to feature an ABV of 38%-40%, theirs was a bit higher. Then when we tried the 50% Salmiana at Pozo Hondo, it struck me: maybe what they say about perlas is correct. Mezcal from other agaves is passable at 40% to 43%, but for me Salmianas need to be north of 45% or they’re gross.

Cascahuín 48: My Favorite

So maybe that’s the case with tequila too? Maybe there are some agave distillations that don’t present their full beauty until pumped up a bit higher. That would explain why I actually love Pozo Hondo’s 50% Salmiana mezcal—and why I also enjoy Cascahuín 48 tequila, which my friend James found at a local hotel bar here. You guessed it: it’s an ABV of 48% and almost makes me want to drink a tequila. (Okay. I’ll take a Madrecuixe or Tepextate mezcal over it any day. But it’s pretty damn good.)

UPDATE, 10/5/23: I still get lots of requests for tequila I’d recommend; so I continue to link them to this article. But I thought I’d better post an update because of a certain distillation I discovered last year—and that may well be the best I’ve ever tried: Tequila Ocho Plata Puntas.

At 50.5% it was all the pop I needed, but for me everything about it was perfectly lovely. I notice this is more highly reviewed than any I’d considered previously, as you’ll see below. From what I gather, Tequila Ocho is one of the very few makers still producing in the artesanal style. Yep: actual brick ovens.

So consider yourself updated. WTH: maybe I’ll take a trip to Jalisco for this. I’m sure I’ll find other great stuff. Stay tuned!

Tequila Adulteration

I won’t spend a lot of space on this. Suffice it to say that—from many internet sources—but also from my most experienced personal acquaintances, I have come to understand that many, many larger mezcal and tequila producers are not keeping their product pure. My friend Max of NETA Spirits has this to say…

”People would be shocked to know the true contents of a lot of mezcal out there. Same for tequila.”

And, hey, if you’re the sort who says, “Who cares? If I like it, I like it,” you won’t find me on a soapbox trying to persuade you otherwise. The thing is that I’ve watched plenty of people go through an evolution as it relates to these spirits. When they start drinking the good stuff…the pure stuff…the stuff that comes from little family palenques where they’ve been making it the honest way for generations, they will eventually be able to tell the difference big time.

As Max puts it, “You never know what’s actually in your drink unless you see how things are made.” And you get to do just that at the palenques; not in the liquor store.

Tequila Ratings

Since I’m a fan of tequila’s more interesting cousin, maybe I’m just not the right guy to be advising you on it. I’m guessing if I ever make it to the town of Tequila and venture out into their distilleries, I may well become more of a fan. But until then, I’ll take the ones I’ve already mentioned in this article—and let you know what the experts and the community in general think of them, as published on the Tequila Matchmaker website, which I find remarkably complete. I’ll reference their Panel rating versus Community rating like this: 65 / 69.

Centenario Plata: 68 / 73
Cuervo Tradicional: 68 / 68
Maestro Dobel Diamante: 76 / 80
Don Julio Blanco: 74 / 78
Casa Dragones Sipping: 65 / 80
Gran Patrón Platinum: 74 / 81
Herradura Directo de Alambique: 79 / 82
Cascahuín Plata 48: 90 / 87
Tequila Ocho Plata Puntas: 91/90

And looky there: the only three I’ve enjoyed do in fact have a higher rating from both the experts and the community as compared to the other popular options. And while most of the above only reveal a difference of a few points between the panel and the community, did you notice the spread with Casa Dragones? 15 points! Could it be that marketing hype and Oprah’s blessing result in consumers thinking it’s better than it really is? But I’ll again dance away from anything too nasty and just say that your mileage may vary. ;-)

Final Thoughts on Tequila

To repeat, I’m writing this because not a month goes by without some friend or acquaintance from the US asking me for my tequila picks. The honest reply is that, although tequila is technically a type of mezcal, I don’t drink it too much; so (again) I’m just not the best person to give you that. But because I do live in the land of tequila—and I’m avidly focused on it’s kin, mezcal, I may have at least some insight on it.

It is very possible that the tequila you picked out at your local booze store, which comes in a seductively stylish bottle, is not very good—or in the least isn’t worth what you paid for it. But I’ve been wrong before and am thoroughly unfamiliar with the great majority of brands available in the States. So after reading all this, if you want to pick out something good, maybe check it out on Tequila Matchmaker, the Rotten Tomatoes of the tequila world.

Or better yet? Discover mezcal!

Of course if you want a mezcal vacation, I don’t think you can beat Oaxaca. But you might also consider forgoing your next Mexican beach resort in favor of San Miguel de Allende. It’s beautiful here, centro is just lovely—and I’ll be happy to give you a mezcal tasting you’ll never forget!