Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro Tequila

The prices of Don Julio bottles have been really dropping. The DJ70 used to cost easily $70, and I see bottles on sale now for $40, which is about the same price as their blanco. Of course, the DJ70 is famous (or infamous) for looking exactly like a blanco when it is in fact an anejo, which has been aged in American oak for 18 months. They used some sort of super charcoal filtration technique to filter even the color that the oak imparted until the drink has become crystal clear. Dublew Tee Fuck. Why did they do that? I guess it caters to the weird segment of liquor drinkers who think the more filtered something is, the more premium and smoother it is. Just buttshot vodka then. No taste. Gets you drunk. Anyways, I digress. NOSE: It’s strange, and unpleasant. The initial notes are green and direct, like a blanco, but you can tell it’s been aged on the backend with base notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and not-quite caramel. The rich caramel notes that are the main feature of the DJ 1942 smell artificial here. The fruity and sweet notes have a chemistry lab taint. It’s acetone is what it is. Gets that nail polish off. PALATE: It tastes better, and I get what the intention of filtering out the color is now. You get subdued agave spiciness and bitterness, which when in full force as in many blancos, can be upsetting to many palates. You get a creamy smooth vanilla sweetness that is direct and easy to drink – I guess that part of the maturation does not get filtered out with the color. You lose the distraction of complexity that all that colored goodness of cask maturation brings. Perfect for “novices.” With repeated sips, this almost becomes enjoyable. Perfect for the refined drunkard. FINISH: Bitter and sweet, but not bittersweet. Two different things going on here: the sweet vanilla continues, and there is a little bit of syrupiness at the back of the throat. And then there’s that unpleasant immature astringency creating a bitter aftertaste. This could’ve used some more time in wood for subtractive maturation. Or maybe the autotuning properties of wood maturation were filtered out with the color? VERDICT: To be sure, this one is for beginners to sipping spirits and to tequilas. For those a little more advanced, it does provide some geeky contemplation because this strange dram essentially boasts removing color, rather than sneakily adding it. What is color? Just what does it all mean? Ponder, and enjoy some DJ70 with some honey habanero guacamole; this pale shit needs some spice. MARK: 66/100.

Vanilla gorilla