Best Tequilas & Mezcals From August

The pale straw reposado is aged for at least 11 months in oak. 100% estate-grown Highland agaves from the distillery located near Tepatitlan, Los Altos de Jalisco are used for this tequila. The piñas are oven-baked, Champagne yeast is used in the fermentation process, and the mash is double distilled.

El Diamante is 100% blue agave triple-distilled in small pot stills after steaming and fermentation. The tall, slender bottle is distinguished by a decorative blue background.

The 12 year old Fuenteseca Añejo is produced from two types of stills and aged in two types of barrels.The spirit was distilled in June 2001. 80% of the distillate comes from alembic copper pot stills and 20% comes from copper double-column stills. 90% of the spirit went into American white oak barrels previously used to age red wine from California, and 10% went into used dark French oak barrels. These barrels were aged for twelve years at 3,800' elevation in cool-climate conditions, and the spirit is bottled at 45% ABV.

While walking the red chalky soils of the agave fields of Santiago Matatlan, Arik Torren, founder of Fidencio Mezcal discovered an unusual geological formation, a vein of white chalk running through the field. How would this difference in soil impact the flavour of the mezcal he thought and Tierra Blanca was formed. 100% espadín and differentiated from the Fidencio Classico (Espadin) by this unusual geological formation and ABV.

El Jolgorio will never expand their operations at the cost of the flora and fauna of Oaxaca. Sustainability and the preservation of Oaxacan culture is paramount at El Jolgorio. These things are especially important when discussing rare, wild agave varietals like barril, which take over a decade to properly mature. El Jolgorio only produces mezcals from wild agave making production is quite small, rendering these mezcals rare treats.

Madrecuishe (also spelled madrecuixe), along with other members of the Karwinskii family of agave are prized for their generally, more refreshing and herbal characteristics. Produced by mezcalero Pedro Hernández, this mezcal is made traditionally using a pit in the earth to cook the agave and a tahona to crush them after cooking. The madrecuishe agave takes a bit longer to mature averaging about 12 years versus the standard 7-9 years for espadín.

Tobaziche is one of the most easily identified subspecies of agave due to their unusual elongated piñas. They more closely resemble a palm tree than what is typically thought of when agave plants are discussed. Wild tobaziche agaves take roughly 12 years to mature and easily grow to over 8 feet. Master Mescalero Adrián Bautista produced this mezcal in Rio de Ejutla, Oaxaca using traditional methods.

Each year, the Sazerac Company, which owns Buffalo Trace, releases a collection of bourbon and rye known as the Antique Collection, which is highly coveted by whiskey aficionados. However, the barrels can only be used once to make the whiskey, so why not age tequila in it? This añejo was aged 22 months in barrels that once held George T. Stagg bourbon.

Espresiones del Corazón is a limited edition collection of tequila aged in once used barrels from a selection of the bourbon and rye releases from the Buffalo Trace distillery. This expression of Corazón tequila was aged 10 + months in barrels that once held Buffalo Trace bourbon.