ContemplativeFox
Tequila Ocho Reposado El Bajío 2018
Tequila Reposado — Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico
Reviewed
July 3, 2021 (edited July 4, 2021)
Rating: 15/23
N: Clean and minty. Then some sweet stewed agave caramel and restrained brine come out. A little bit of spice from the wood. Refined, but not super interesting.
P: Fuller than I'd expected with a spicier, pepperier punch. Then there's mint and undercooked caramel from the agave. It reminds me vaguely of some sort of tequila twist on a mint julep. The profile is very clean and approachable with a nice execution, but it isn't very complex. There's a little bit of that starchiness to the mouthfeel. Some agave vegetal flavor does make it through, but not much.
F: Clean with sweet stewed agave, a constant breeze of mint, and some other bits kind of going in and out that are a bit faint to identify.
- Conclusion -
This is good. It's far from blowing my mind, but I'm happy sipping it. In a side-by-side reposado competition, I'd take Pasote because it's substantially more complex with what I'd consider to be a more balanced profile. This is good, but it just isn't wowing me.
Turning to Cabeza, I find more oomph and complexity there. There's a reasonable argument that it's less balanced and well-executed, but I prefer it. This just doesn't seem up to that level. Prospero Blanco strikes me as inferior to this, but not by a lot.
I'm looking at a 14 to 15 here. I think a 13 is pretty unlikely and so is a 16. I'm landing on a 15, but just barely.
Thank you @ctbeck11 for sharing a sample of this.
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Agree on all points. This is solid, but not outstanding. Tequila Ocho uses extremely tired casks for their aging, to impart the least barrel influence possible on their various bottlings. I appreciate that they actively choose to highlight the base spirit (and the agave source), while still offering a complete series of blancos through extra añejos.