Volans 3 Year Extra Añejo

Lemon and lime, lime zest, slight bitterness, mouth coating sweetness and longish finish, very drinkable and pleasant extra anejo, highly recommended.

Rating: 18/23 Extra Añejo is always an interesting category. Sometimes it displays tremendous finesse and complexity with loads of tasty character, but other times it's flat and overwhelmed by the barrel. This seems to be a subtle brand, so I'm not at all confident I know which way it will go. N: Oddly, I'm getting a faint meatiness. But there's some super mellow barrel too. And a little bit of something vegetal and herbal? Honestly, there's shockingly little happening here. The faintest touch of mint in there somewhere. Waiting several minutes, I start to get olive brine as well. P: There's a nice mature woody richness that gives way to citrus (orange, lemon, tangerine, lime). There, the light caramel sweetness of the agave comes out. There's a touch of umami that makes me think a little bit of roasted chicken breast, but there really isn't much. A little paper and olive brine come in alongside a slight increase in that agave caramel sweetness. Perhaps a hint of white pepper and black pepper. Maybe a faint hint of peanut from the wood. Also, there is a vert light note of something floral in here - perhaps very floral vanilla? F: Some lingering pepper prickle. Very mellow woody character mixes with subdued sweet caramel agave. Hints of mint and lime. Not nearly as much brine as I expected, though there is a touch. Faint spices, with white pepper being the most prominent, though still not that present. - Conclusion - This is quite nice. It isn't blowing my mind, but there's some nuance here that surpasses what's in Fortaleza Blanco Still Strength (17/23). Oddly, the Fortaleza has more caramel agave to it, so this comes across as a bit light. Still, this balances the flavors of Volans Blanco with those of Volans Reposado quite nicely and the result is quite complex and very sippable. Lismore The Legend (19/21), on the other hand, is both richer and more complex than this is. There's that light sulfur to the Lismore to be sure, but it still strikes me as definitively better than this. Fuenteseca Reserva Edad 7 Años 2010 (18/23) is richer than this, but less nuanced. I find the two of them to be fairly comparable in quality though. A last sip of Fortaleza Blanco Still Strength convinces me that this is slightly better. I'm thinking that an 18 is right for this one. This is still quite light though, so I can see giving it a lower rating. Thanks for providing me this sample to complete my Volans flight @ctbeck11 !