Don Julio Añejo Tequila

Nose - agave, prickly pear, bamboo, green spicy wood, buttery lemon, tomato, lime, apple, grass, honey, vanilla, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - bright agave, green wood, black pepper, mint, vanilla, butterscotch, toffee, floral spice, marshmallow, caramel, sweet tobacco, clove, cinnamon, wisp of smoke, mild alcohol bite, finishing fast with fading pepper and green flavors. This is my first tequila review, after focusing exclusively on whiskey. My prior experience with tequila was rail shots with salt and lime, so I never really gave myself a chance to enjoy quality ones. I find the Don Julio to be pretty good and believe that it stands up against many of the whiskies I’ve reviewed. Looking forward to experiencing more of them.

First straight tequila. Super smooth and tasty

This is rich with some nice cinnamon spice, toffee, dark chocolate, peppermint, anise, and vanilla. It has more richness but less complexity than the reposado. I like it less. There's a surprising amount of mint up front. The flavor is mellower than that of the Reposado, almost to the point of being bland. There's some more richness to the caramel and the mouthfeel is oilier, but it isn't sweeter. Fruit comes out with some varied tropical elements of pineapple and papaya mixed together. There is some nice chocolate richness hanging out in the background, but I'd like to to be stronger. Overall, my gripe with this tequila is that it is too mild, much like an American Single Malt. It's smooth and an easy sipper with relatively little spice. The mint doesn't keep kicking you either. That said, you really need to get into it to enjoy the complexities and that is just deeper than most people will want to go. I like the richness and sweet undertones, but this drink really needs to be fuller. The finish is quite nice though, emphasizing a richer version of that Don Julio flavor. This is a nice sipper, but it could really use some more presence. Ultimately, the flavors here play better together than those of the Reposado do, but I'm not convinced that this is necessarily a better package as a whole.