Tequila lovers in the U.S. should think about clearing some space on their bars this month because El Tequileño is bringing their excellent — and affordable — 100% agave line to the United States.
The brand has been a staple in the Mexican market for over 50 years, but they just recently created a line aimed for export: Platino blanco, Gran Reserva reposado and Especial 50 Aniversario añejo.
El Tequileño Platino is a well-rounded sipper with herbal and floral notes and a medium mouth-coating body sure to please many blanco lovers. (In fact, it was unanimously admired in a blind tasting in my recent tequila tasting course.)
The Gran Reserva reposado (my personal favorite) is a force to be reckoned with. Aged 11 and a half months, it is nearly an añejo and carries all the rich caramel and vanilla flavors you’d expect from a well aged tequila while still retaining the agave. Both the Platino and the Gran Reserva are viscous and linger pleasantly in the mouth. And, at $25 for the blanco and $30 for the repo, you can’t beat the price.
It’s been a while since I’ve tried the Especial 50 Aniversario, but I remember it as a smoothed out version of the Gran Reserva with a deep barrel color. It’s also a pleaser and went rather quickly at several tequila events we held. It’s priced at $40 a bottle.
We always have the Platino and Gran Reserva stocked on our bar in Mexico because they are great everyday tequilas that you don’t have to save for special occasions.
El Tequileño is also an interesting brand in that they put a lot of environmentally friendly efforts into the making of their tequila. The manufacturing process creates a large amount of waste water and they’ve come up with a way to deal with it. By taking the dry agave fibers from the process, they pump all of their wastewater into the fibers, and treat the mixture as compost. As the sun evaporates the water, the rest of the material stays with the fibers and creates excellent fertilizer. They then use those nutrient-rich pellets in their agave fields – and no production waste water is ever released into the agave landscape.
Grover recently visited their distillery, camera in-hand, and gives the lowdown on their process in our video review, filmed at the Qunita Don Jose Boutique Hotel in Tlaquepaque, Mexico:
So, if you’re looking for a tasty and affordable everyday tequila, give Tequileño a try and let us know what you think. Here’s a list of the states where the line while be available: CA, TX, NV, CO, TN, IL, GA, NC, SC, FL, MD, ID, IA, MI, WI, AL, MO, PA, and HI.
-Scarlet
my friend is going bring me one of those tequilas he asked me which one i wanted the anejo or the reposado which one do u guys recommend and another tequila you guys should look for that is not availble over here is el capricho try that line its smooth and tasty it has only 34% alcohol so try their line
Tequileno is one of my very favorite tequilas. It’s done really well in blind tastings with friends as well. It really can’t be beat for the price.