Rating: 18/23 I have a sample of this side by side with the dregs of my bottle of the blanco and several other tequilas. I didn't love this when I had a bottle of it before, but that was early in my tequila journey and this is definitely a challenging tequila. I'm looking forward to giving it another shot. N: There's some sweetness and mellowness from the wood taming the blanco's olive brine. I do still get some olive brine though, along with faint lime and a tad of tropical fruit. It's a more complex and balanced nose. P: The complexity hits me immediately. I get brine, minerals, spice, light caramel. A bit of mint, a dash of lime, some faint vanilla, a little stewed agave. That barrel maturity comes in and gives this a little earthiness while balancing everything and adding to the depth. Some fruit comes through in the form of some orange (likely aged in a bourbon barrel) and maybe a hint of something else a little sweet and tropical, like green pineapple. It's less oily than the blanco by a large margin. F: The complexity dwindles. There are vague herbal, vegetal, earthy, spicy, and briny elements here, but they get muddled together. - Conclusion - The blanco is very good, but between the two I have to choose tis because of its complexity, depth, and balance. This is a really remarkable example of how a brief period in a barrel can dramatically improve a tequila. I cannot imagine going below a 17 here. I'm thinking that it's really more of an 18 or 19, though I can imagine a 20. I find this and Fuenteseca 7 to be pretty close in quality - although completely different in style. It's a tough call, but if I had to choose one of the two, I might lean toward the Fuenteseca. This is more balanced and might be more sophisticated, but the Fuenteseca is has more richness and oomph, and I find it to just generally be tastier. It's a really tough call though. I might change my mind at any moment, but for now this is getting an 18. Thank you for the sample @ctbeck11 !