Fuenteseca Reserva Extra Añejo Tequila 7 Años

2010 vintage. Brilliant like any other Fuenteseca with notes of cooked agave, Dulce de leche, honey, sultanas, pineapples, apricots, marshmallows, oranges, and white chocolate

Minerality, some fruit notes. Good but I have had better that’s cheaper

Rating: 18/23 Wait, just HOW long have I had this bottle without reviewing it? I thought I'd let the Glenfarclas 28 CS (1990) go for a long time at nearly 9 months, but this has been open for the better part of a year longer than that. Well, time to finally get some notes down. I do recall being disappointed by this one. I tried Fuenteseca 7 and Fuenteseca 9 in a bar one time and they blew me away. So I bought this and found it to be less complex than a lot of the whisk(e)y I have on my shelf. But I'm I'm trying it alongside tequila, so the comparison makes more sense. Onward! N: Rich and full (at least for a tequila). I get prominent wood with a surprisingly rummy influence. It's a bit like a tarry, somewhat fruity (apricot with something slightly red?) woodiness with a bit of fireworks behind it. Digging past that, I get a hint of minerals with some faint brine and maybe some olive richness. It takes a bit of work, but this is an enjoyable nose. It's funky and weird, but that's way better than being bland (at least with this profile it is). P: Very rich and full for a tequila. Caramel comes in, but it carries some molasses with it. That turns into wood with some nice spices (cinnamon and ginger mainly, but there's a balance of other baking spice here, with clove eventually making its way in). Some light fruits hop in from time to time, with slightly floral apricot being the most prominent. There's this bitterness to the wood that makes me think of creosote like a well-aged rye, but really more like fireworks in a Jamaican rum. That really builds out the complexity here and cements the fullness. The brine and rich mineral stand out a bit at points and that bitterness of kalamata olives (and nothing else about them) occasionally sneaks in. F: Full of flavor. A lot of just wood. Some faint vanilla, but very faint. The minerals bring a bit of a lightness through and a hint of brine. It's not super exciting. - Conclusion - I was pretty disappointed by this at first, but now I really like it. I think that this and El Tesoro Extra Añejo are pretty neck and neck. The El Tesoro is lighter, but it's more complex and balanced. This has some more maturity while maintaining really nice flavors. It took me a while to contemplate this, but I think that the El Tesoro is actually better. There's a bit of odd logic here, but it essentially comes down to uniqueness: if I want a bold woody spirit, whisk(e)y and rum are readily available - but where do I find what El Tesoro Extra Añejo is offering? That's a big part of why the El Tesoro is getting a higher score. It just hit me that the complexity in the El Tesoro reminds me of the complexity I found in Del Maguey Arroqueño, which I scored a 20. I have some rough scores in mind, but I may adjust them. No matter what happens though, these are some really nice tequilas. Were I shelling out money again though, I'd go for the El Tesoro. The El Tesoro is getting a 19 to 20 and this is getting an 18.

Pepper, rich vanilla wood, spice, herbal notes. It's quite tasty and rich. A very good tequila. It has a bit of a Glenfarclas character to it with the rich tannins. There are hints of coconut and something vegetal but not overwhelming. It definitely tastes like anejo tequila mixed with Glenfarclas. The complexity is terrific with nice richness. There's a fair amount of spice but it is well within a reasonable range. The flavor is delightful. It has kind of a white pepper element going on, but there are also hints of tropical fruit. There's some mint too. It's very different from the 9 but good in its own way. This is somewhere between an 18 and a 19.

HEAVY