We spent a few hours with Tapatio Blanco last night, and really started to get a nice feel for this tequila. We plan to do a full video-style review of it very soon, but there are a few things worth mentioning right away.
1) It’s selling pretty fast. I went down to Liquid Experience yesterday, and was told that they sold out of their first order (2 cases) in just 2 days. If I were you, I would get this tequila now, if you can.
2) At $29.99 for a 1 liter bottle, it’s VERY affordable. As a general rule, a tequila this inexpensive usually means its great for throwing in a margarita, but not for drinking it straight. Tapatio blanco breaks this rule. We drank it all night long and never got tired, bored, or fatigued.
3) You can buy it online at a few places, including D&M Liquors. I’ve been told that they have plenty of it (but who knows!)
4) My tasting notes from last night were entered into the Tequila Matchmaker app, are:
“I don’t think you can get a better tequila for the money than Tapatio blanco. With a nose full of black licorice, anise, and pepper, you will be eager to dive right in. The flavor is a minty fresh burst of agave – perfect for a true blanco lover. It is vibrant and fresh and easy to drink.”
5) If you’ve never tasted a “fresh” tequila before, try this one now. It was literally just bottled, and drinking it is almost like drinking it straight out of the still. It’s vibrant and bursting with flavor, which is something you don’t normally find unless you happen to be visiting a distillery in Mexico.
If you’ve tasted it, please share your feedback with us (we may even ready your comments in our video review.)
SALUD!
– Grover
Between this blanco and fortaleza blanco which would you recommend buying since i haven’t tried either.
Grover,
I picked up a bottle of this a couple of days ago based upon your review and shared with a friend. It was fairly easy to convince him of this tequila as he usually drinks Jose. Cheers!
Thought I’d share my opinion of Tapitio blanco from my post on blueagaveforum.com:
Tapitio – let me start off by saying that when I first purchased Tapitio blanco I did so because I enjoyed my old bottle of El Tesoro blanco so much. Same manufacturer, similar processes (not exactly the same from what I’ve heard), product should be similar. When I opened the Tapitio, I poured a healthy measure and started drinking immediately. I thought to myself, you idiot, you just wasted your money. I was not a fan of my first sip, and I’m not really sure why.
A few days later I went back to the bottle to give it another chance, poured a measure, let it sit for a few minutes, rolled the tequila around the glass for a couple seconds, then started to sip it. Since that day there has barely been a day go by that I don’t have either the Tapitio blanco or the reposado. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy it the first time, maybe it was something I had eaten that day messing with my sense of taste, or maybe that bottle needed to breath, I have no idea.
The Tapitio blanco for me seems very thin, almost water like in the glass. The nose I find rather sweet, with some mint and slight spice. On the first sip I find it again watery and light feeling, a sweet agave taste at the front of the tongue which moves on to a pleasant minty flavor which cuts the initial sweetness down, and a mixture of delicate spices as the spirit passes more toward the back of the tongue. As I pass the spirit around my mouth the flavors seem to even out nicely as the mild alcohol burn/buzz develops, the finish left in the mouth is a clean feeling with sweet/mint and perhaps nutmeg or all spice trailing away. I find after a short period my palate seems fresh and receives the flavors of fruits or meats much better.
Tapitio blanco has become the standard to which I judge other blancos now. Los Abuelos blanco is still my favorite, but Tapitio blanco is right up there and better value for money in my humble opinion.
Grover thanks for the tip on this one. Just finishing up the first bottle and am very happy with the choice. This is a great blanco for everyday drinking. I really like the old school liter bottle as well it looks like the Herradura Blanco 46 bottle.
At 3 am Im up with with my dog Rambo drinking Tapatio Blanco, hoping this bottle provides me some jet lag relief.
As I savor this fine glass of tequila I study the reviews from 3 years ago. They correctly proclaim the light peppery and citrus nose followed by clean agave on the tongue punctuated by pepper and mint, quickly finished with spicy notes down the throat.
More insightful, however, is LSR’s observation about the necessity for this bottle to breath. My first impression upon breaking the seal a few days ago indicated a tequila riddled with process. Alcohol and plastic dominated my nose ad pallet. But after a few days and given time to take a deep breath and exhale, this bottle delivered a beautiful bouquet of flavors that would make even non tequila drinkers fans.
I found it so sweet and soft with hints of cheesecake that i would even consider it a dessert tequila. Tapatio delivers a remarkable accomplishment of providing a sweet, clean and light blanco at 40% ABV. All of this for around $30.
Amazing.
Blanco, Reposado, available @ Total Wines in 1 Lt. bottles.