See full version: The 30 Best Tequilas for Every Budget
This reposado rested for 11 months in bourbon casks, followed by an additional two months in port casks. It pours dark gold with aromas of caramel, maple syrup, and cream sherry. A savory note leads to a smoky finish, creating complex richness. Average price: $92.
Pouring pale gold and leaving streaky legs in the glass, this affordable reposado smells like brown sugar, salted caramel, and orange peel. It’s both warm and creamy, yet light on the palate, with a hint of white pepper on the finish. A good, simple sipper. Average price: $26 more
This is a whiskey lover’s tequila. It’s aged at least 22 months in barrels that once held Buffalo Trace whiskey, and it has notes of vanilla, oak, and bread, followed by a creamy finish. Its yellow-green hue reminded some of our tasters of Sauvignon Blanc, and it is similarly silky and acidic. Average price: $89.
Created by Palm Bay in partnership with Casa Don Roberto, this bottle has unusual aromas of fresh water and wet rock, a silky body, and a tingly spiciness on the palate. There is also a touch of sweetness hinting at tropical fruit. Average price: $21.
Pasote Añejo is light in color and body, with an easy-drinking quality. Vanilla cupcake aromas lead to sweet but not saccharine flavors, followed by a tingling, hot-sauce-like heat and a lingering, oaky finish. Average price: $58.
This single-estate tequila from Casa San Matias has aromas of agave and raw eggplant. Its light body is fresh and zippy with hints of lemony citrus, followed by a minty finish. Average price: $27. more
Mexican law mandates that tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and limited municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas.
For some, tequila gets a bad rep.
We’ve all been there: Downing whatever ill-advised shot of cut-rate tequila, served to you in the wee hours after a long night of sampling other libations. It can definitely lead to a skull-splitting headache the morning after.
Here are some other tips for enjoying your tequila experience: here
Developed in the mid `30s, margaritas are perhaps the most well-known tequila cocktail. But there are certainly lots of other ways to mix your tequila, including favorites like the paloma, the sangrita, the tequila sunrise, and many, many more.
Don Julio’s distillery uses Highland agaves, steam-cooked for 72 hours. The aquamiel, or honey water, is then collected from the crushed, cooked agave. After the aquamiel is fermented, it’s double-distilled in stainless steel pot-stills. And the tequila is bottled immediately with no extra aging. more
On the nose, appreciate aromas of papaya, banana, grapefruit, and cooked agave. Take your first sip, and you’ll find lots of agave flavor, some pepper, peppermint, and even a pinch of salt. This is a tequila appropriate for sipping, but also perfect to mix in your next cocktail. here
Region: Jalisco, Mexico | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: Pine, Lavender, Vanilla
Siembra Valles boasts a formidable line of classically-produced tequilas, but their high-proof offering is particularly excellent in cocktails—especially citrus-forward drinks like the paloma. This boldly-flavored tequila is produced very traditionally, with the agave cooked in brick ovens, the crushing being done via tahona, and the fermentation taking place with the bagasse (the fibrous material that's leftover after the agave is crushed), which adds richness and complexity. Finally, double-distillation in copper stills yields a delicious spirit that's bottled at a robust 46 percent ABV. Use this in your next paloma, and you'll be able to look forward to assertive notes of black pepper, citrus, licorice, and freshly-cut grass intermingling perfectly with the grapefruit and lime in your glass.
You may have heard the rumor that the spirit known as mezcal is simply a smoky version of tequila. In fact, the truth is closer to the reverse of that: the term "mezcal" refers broadly to any distillate of the agave plant produced in Mexico, so the spirit called tequila is simply one specific type of mezcal. While government regulations allow for the production of mezcal in nine different Mexican states, tequila may only be produced in five states: Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Guanajuato, and certain parts of Tamaulipas. Addionally, while mezcal may be produced from dozens of different agave varieties—resulting in numerous distinct styles and flavor profiles—tequila may only be produced from the blue Weber agave.
A recent innovation, cristalino is made by stripping the color from aged tequila. It’s essentially a way to circumvent the steep pricing of agave due to crop shortages by using what distillers already have in stock. The 1800 Cristalino is a good bottle to uncork when drinking with non-tequila fans. Blended from 16-month-old añejo aged in American and French oak, it’s rested for an additional six months in former port barrels before double filtering. As you’d expect, it’s sweet on the nose and the palate, with a luscious mouthfeel, but it finishes with some of the pepperiness that bespeaks the agave. Sip this neat or on ice. here
Region: Guanajuato, Mexico | ABV: 40% | Tasting Notes: Vanilla, Agave, Herbs
This estate-grown “crowd-pleaser” from the Tequila Valley is made using a 7- to 10-year-old agave that has matured to full ripeness and complexity. Aged in reclaimed whiskey barrels from two months to a year, as per the definition of reposado, Partida offers a caramelly and slightly floral nose, a creamy mid-palate, and big, spicy agave finish with a bit of honey and butter on the end. Though it’s lovely to sip with an ice cube in it, this tequila is also popular for cocktails, like the rich and boozy Notorious F.I.G. from StripSteak by Michael Mina in Miami, in which it’s blended with mezcal, calvados, and fig purée. more