u/agave_journey

Master Distiller Alberto Herrera of Tierra Noble Tequila just dropped a new brand called Casamata tequila.

A few key differentiators from Tierra Noble is that they used a significant amount of valley agaves ~90% as opposed to TN that is a 75% Highlands and 25% valley. They also split the fermentation where half is normal fermentation and the other half is taken to a malolactic fermentation. And finally after distillation, the tequila is rested in glass demijohns for 45 days. I think Siembra does glass resting for one of their expressions but it is very rare in tequila. This is something you see more with mezcal or other agave spirits.

Taste:

I get sweet cooked agave, minerality, grassy, herbal, very faint white pepper and a pronounced sweet citrus rind note towards the end. It has a creamy texture too. Fresh comes to mind.

Oh fun fact, the name comes from Casa Mata which were military fortifications in Mexico some 200 years ago. These fortifications were of course filled with munitions, weapons and apparently also demijohns of tequila and mezcal.

The glass bottle is beautiful and I can't do it justice with my cellphone.

Budget high proof blanco tequilas blind

My criteria any brand under or at $35

Over 40% ABV

Had my wife pour these for me.

Here is how I ended up ranking them.

1. Dulce Vida 50% ABV

2. Catón 45% ABV

3. Zumbador 54% ABV

4. Puro Potro 42% ABV

This is the third time Dulce Vida blanco and high proof Blanco has done really well for me in a blind. It hits the spot for me it seems. The citrus and long finish stood out for me. I do find the brand to be a bit inconsistent unfortunately.

Catón came in second with the butter minerality, floral and sweet fruit note standing out. The grapefruit bitter sweet finish is what I didn't like in the blind. Catón is from the same people as Cambio and to my understanding they really want it to be more for bars and restaurants.

Zumbador, well it just stood out with intense over ripe sweet cooked agave. It has a ton of layers but it's a punch to the mouth. It's a bit too intense for me to sip on a regular basis. Normally I prefer high proof but in this case I think I prefer the regular blanco. In a cocktail this would slap!

Puro Potro is a well rounded one with good agave, black pepper and minerality but it had more ethanol than I expected. Both on the nose and taste which really was a bit distracting. It's also the lowest ABV but I hear they are working on a higher proof version.

All of these tequilas are meant to be mixed so it's a bit unfair to judge them as sippers but if budget is tight and you want higher proof, these would be good ones.

I also wanted to throw in ElVelo blanco but I ran out a while back and haven't replaced it.

Any others you think fit the bill for budget friendly and higher proof blancos?

Salud 🥃

I'm a sucker for brands that step out of the norm.

Tierra Noble got on my radar a couple of years ago and while not something I seek, I was very impressed by how they accomplish a cristalino by doing a third distillation instead of carbon filtration.

Tinajas 100 is their first high proof and what makes it unique is that they are using ceramic clay pots from Italy that are usually used to ferment wine. This is not the same kind of clay pots you find commonly in Mexico. Because of how they are made they are far less porous and then impregnated with wax to completely seal them.

They used champagne yeast, closed fermentation and a second fermentation to reach a Malolactic state.

🥃