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Monday, August 25, 2014

TOP TEQUILAS Continued from Men's Journal's Tequila Testers

All content courtesy of Men's Journal Magazine © and Website and this blogger has altered some sentences to fit his style of writing.

OCHO
Today I'm continuing the 18 top tequilas from the MJ staff. Today I'll blog on the next three, and it starts off with Ocho, a partnership between famed tequilero Carlos Camerena (of Tequila Tapatio, also on MJs list) and Tomas Estes, dubbed Europe's "ambassador of Tequila" by the government of Jalisco, Ocho is the rare brand that asserts the importance of terroir. The idea is that, as with wine, the unique natural characteristics of different ranchos in the same general area produce tequilas with very different flavor profiles. Thus, each bottling (or so-called vintage) features agaves sourced from a different rancho, with the precise location and year of the manufacture noted on each bottle. The reposado and anejo are aged in barrels that have already held several tequila batches, to minimize the oak's effects.
($45.00)



















GRAN PATRON PLATINUM is a very expensive bottle of tequila for the average drinker on a budget, but save up according to MJ staff testers, this tequila is briefly barreled in oak, so rather than going for sweet vanilla flavors, Patron steered its Platinum top shelfer toward freshness. It's smooth almost to the point of disappearing but somehow comes up with a long spicy finish-think of that hint of perfume left behind as a woman exits a room. The price might be a little hard to swallow, but few tequilas go down as easily.
($210.00)



















123 ORGANIC TEQUILA (Uno Dos Tres) David Ravandi began planning his vision for 123 in the nineties. So he planted, and then waited-agaves can take more than 10 years to mature, after all, so this is no small feat. The results are certified organic, which gives "a more delicate and refined flavor profile and a cleaner finish," according to Ravandi, and it doesn't use commercial yeasts in the fermentation process, either. (As you might expect, the packaging comes from all recycled materials as well.) Ravandi's attention to authentic, small-scale production results in a complexity that skews more citrus and spice than sweet. 
($50.00)



















So this is the three tequilas for today, recapping we got to know first of all Ocho Tequila, known for their reposados and anejos that are aged in barrels that already stored tequila, and they run an average retail price of $45.00. The next was Gran Patron Platinum, an expensive bottle that goes down smooth, however it is not aged in barrels for a long time but the focus is on freshness, and it goes down smooth at $210.00 it may be a special occasion bottle, or not. The last was 123 Organic Tequila from David Ravandi, a small productions tequila company, the bottles are around $50.00, and for this price the MJ testers love the clean finish of this agave drink.

Until the next tequila blog, take it easy.

Ron Sambrano
            
© 2014










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