A few years ago, I was sitting on a beach in the Mayan Riviera. My wife and I met an American couple (Scott and Cindy) who were absolutely ‘all about’ the tequila. I didn’t understand their fascination. They explained that they have a shot of premium sipping tequila after dinner to make them relax. I thought that was strange. Who sips tequila? It’s not even marketed as such, or is it? After spending some time talking to Scott about it, I decided to try it out. How bad could a shot of premium tequila be? Actually… it was OK. Better than that, it was pretty darn good. And that’s when my obsession over premium tequila began.
Since then, I’ve been trying to buy premium tequila almost everywhere I go. We don’t have the really good stuff here in Canada. I started off with Patron (a well-branded U.S. company) and Centenario (a Mexican company) and then moved towards Esperato (a Mexican company recommended by the good people who work at the Cancun airport). Each time I bought tequila, I would experiment with different brands, different ages. I then moved over to Don Julio, 1800 and Hornitos. Each brand of tequila has its pluses and minuses. And their own stories based on the events that unfolded on one particular evening (nothing bad; always good times). Most recently, I became focused on Herradura. Indeed, the best two (2) tequilas that I’ve tried thus far (and yes, I’ve tried Patron Platinum Silver Anjeo – a $375 bottle – that I didn’t really like) are Don Julio Real (about $400 a bottle) and Herradura Seleccion Suprema (about $400 a bottle). Now, the price doesn’t matter to me, because I also really like Don Julio 70th Anniversary Anjeo (about $60 down in Mexico). And I’ve tried other one-off tequilas as well.
But I must say that I rarely (and I mean rarely) will drink a blanco, silver, or reposado tequila. To me, I’d rather use them for disinfecting my hands. They are the brands of tequila that you’ll need to mix with lime juice to make a margarita. They cause those awful hangovers and give tequila it’s “To-Kill-You” name. No, what I look for is an aged premium tequila. At least 1 year, preferably 3-6 years.
So with all that said and done, here is the Don Julio family I currently have in the office (you’ll notice prices and availability). FYI, I don’t drink the Don Julio Silver. The other lawyer at DMC LLP, Ljubica, brought it back from Las Vegas thinking it was the ‘good stuff’. It is not in my opinion, the ‘good stuff’. But it’s good to have to show people the dichotomy of what you can buy at the LCBO and what you can’t, as well as the different ages. My personal favourite from these four: the Don Julio Real, followed by the Don Julio Anjeo. The 1942 is a little too peety for my taste (kind of like a nice scotch).
