Espolòn Blanco Tequila

This is the famous Blanco tequila that either everyone has overlooked or everyone has realized is merely decent. My take is that this is a really interesting drink. I normally drink scotch, so any change of pace could be interesting, but I taste green tomatoes and green figs up front. That good then gives way to bitter and watery vines to some extent, but the sweetness from the fruit never fully disappears. This is an impressive deep drink and while it is not my usual choice, it is a great success. Green tomatoes and green figs are easy to detect. There is not an overwhelming amount of spice here. It tastes like a vegetable garden with some smokey tomato mixed in to give it life. As far as tequilas go, this is not a challenging one as there is umami from the smokey tomatoes topped with plenty of sweetness in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of ketchup. Bitterness, saltiness, tartness. This has flavors across the board except for the oilyness. Like Oban 14, this is terrific in the right circumstances, but is quite sweet in the wrong ones. It's cheap tough, so it is always a good mixer. Oban 14 has some more fruit, flowers, and alcohol, which pushes it up a notch in some situations, but pushes it down in others. On balance, it's a fair match up, but Oban 14 is noticeably better. Espolon's balance is good, but the flavor is fairly subdued. Sweet, vegetal,a little smokey. It has a hint of a spicy kick to it, but not too much. It's fairly rich and tasty with adequate complexity. There is an odd cereal note in here that mixes with green figs to make a refreshing expression. It has some mineral and is a bit mild, but it's smooth and not bad. There isn't a tremendous amount of complexity here, but there are a few flavors going on. Being on the sweet side is nice, especially since it doesn't taste at all like icing sugar. There's some nice smokiness that mixes in some herbal flavors too. Cabeza is a more robust expression, but this is still pretty good. There's a lot of mineral in here and it isn't terribly strong. Really, it's quite weak and bland. There's some of that tomato flavor, but there isn't a ton else going on. El Tesoro is richer and more interesting, though it does sometimes just start to taste like bitterness. This is a fine tequila that is perfectly suited for mixing - in fact, it would make an excellent mixer - but it is too forward with the minerals to be great for sipping. There's some umami and of course it is kind of sweet and there are the usual mild floral notes mixed with herbal elements and some smoke. Ultimately, it has a lot of flavors, but they have some trouble showing themselves, so it's more of a mixer than a sipper. I appreciate the lack of bitterness on the finish, but that isn't enough to make this a nice sipper. There are more minerals than I'd like but there is some nice sweetness and fruit with some interesting tomato flavor. This finish has lots of fruit and tomato, which is pretty nice. The umami does gradually come out more and that is a huge help.

The tasteless tequila for vodka drinkers. Not much flavor or depth