Rating: 16/23 N: This has a really smooth smell. Initially, I get minerals, but it quickly fills up with an oiliness that brings in some interesting herbaceous complexity, white pepper, olive brine, a touch of paper, and maybe the faintest mint and lime. It isn't blowing me out of the water, but I like this profile. P: Sweeter than I expected! It's interesting that it has some sweet agave I wasn't detecting on the nose. It's mixed with minerals, oil, and white pepper. Somewhat grassy as well. There's some slightly bitter brine, which may be indicative of lime rind. That's mixed with some interesting herbaceous notes that are a bit difficult to pick out. I'm actually getting very faint cinnamon in with the spices as well. There's even a faint pineapple flavor too. Both of those are very faint though. My overall impression is that this is very nicely balanced with some really good complexity, but that the complexity falls a bit short of what it could be and the standard 40% ABV keeps this less full than it would ideally be. F: That sweet agave layer lingers with some oiliness. The minerals and white pepper remain as well. Breathing through my mouth swirls a bit of herbal aromatics. Late on the finish, there's some lingering mint, which is pretty nice. - Conclusion - Side by side, the fullness, richness, and sweetness. of Fortaleza Blanco Still Strength 2019 (17/23) really impress me more than this does. Still, I have no doubt that this beats Cazadores Reposado. I think that means that this is in the 13 to 16 range. This definitely functions as a sipper, so I think a 13 is out of the question. My inclination is to put this closer to the Fortaleza than to the Cazadores. That pineapple note that this has that the Fortaleza doesn't is a particularly nice point int this's favor. If I had to pick now, I'd probably go with a 15. Coming back to this, I appreciate it a lot more. The bitterness is less pronounced and despite the complexity not being amazing it's has its own personality that is quite tasty. I'm now considering as high as a 17, though I'm skeptical of going all the way there. I think I'll give this a 16.