By
George Brozowski
There
are over 1,100 brands of Tequila. Not only is that
figure staggering but if you drank even a few of them you'd
be staggering right up to the moment you fell over. Just how
do you go about telling the good from the bad from the ugly?
Obviously tasting them will allow you to immediately form
an opinion but before even a drop passes your palate there
are ways to narrow down your selection without having to spend
a small fortune and leaving your taste buds open to the capriciousness
of plain old dumb luck.
Tequila
must come from one of 5 recognized growing regions in Mexico
all of which are near the town of Tequila and the predominant
region of Jalisco and must be distilled and bottled there
as well. If your tequila comes from New Jersey it ain't tequila!
It must be made of 100% blue agave and say so on the label
or it may contain fermentable sugars like corn syrup that
are added to the agave and should be avoided at all costs.
And speaking of costs, if it's an unbelievably cheap bargain
you're going to get exactly what you pay for and it'll more
than likely be unbelievably bad.
Try
finding a single estate tequila that contains the agave from
one farm that has been fired and fermented and distilled and
bottled all on that estate otherwise you'll end up with agave
from numerous farms of varying flavors and ages that will
be combined somewhere and distilled somewhere else and then
bottled in another location, all of which will simply add
to the confusion and the bad taste.
Once
you've done your homework and narrowed down your choices to
several potential brands go online and read the reviews. Most
reviewers are brutally honest and will let you know exactly
what they think, I sure do. Finally you need to pick a classification
of the tequila you have chosen. Blanco or silver is unaged
tequila, Reposado is aged in oak casks for 2 to 12 months,
Anejo is aged 12 months to 3 years and extra Anejo Is aged
for more than 3 years. The longer they age the more mellow,
flavorful and oaky they become. I actually prefer a really
good blanco because it gives you more of the natural unadulterated
agave taste without the complications although the complications
are quite welcome when tasty and done right.
All
that being said let's see how our current taste drive rates.
Tequila Cabeza is made from 100% blue agave
grown by the Vivanco family, 5th generation agaveros, on their
single family estate. The pinas are brick oven roasted, slowly
fermented and finally double distilled in copper pot stills
and only filtered once after the first distillation, so far
so good. This particular bottle is the blanco and has the
appearance of water in a clear bottle. The labels have an
old world feel to them and the bottle is designed with a nip
in its body to provide for easy pouring. Well, let's see if
it all adds up to a good pour and palate. The nose is perfumed
with roasted agave with no trace of alcohol. Citrus notes
follow with a touch of minerals and finally a trace of pepper.
The palate is delightfully thick and oily and full of agave
taste backed by a hint of citrus and spice and herbal notes
and is smooth with a full mouth feel. The finish leaves a
taste of the agave with subtle grassy notes, a nuance of spice
and pepper and culminates in a citrusy experience. This is
a wonderful, full flavored super premium tequila that has
all the agave flavor anyone could ever want without any down
side. It is perfect straight up in a snifter and even manages
to hold its own on the rocks although the flavors become more
subtle and mixed.
I
recommend you enjoy this tequila straight up in a snifter
so you can get the full measure of it. A 750 ml bottle will
run you somewhere between $31.99 to $35.99 with a high end
in the low $40's but it is money well spent.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
http://www.tequilanomames.com/