15 Lies About Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo Tequila

You're standing at the shelf. Three bottles, three important words: blanco, reposado, añejo. But there is a LOT of misunderstanding about them.

Here are 15 elements that people - even bartenders and retailers - often get wrong.

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The classification rules come from NOM-006-SCFI-2012, the standard the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) enforces on every bottle of tequila made.

Blanco, silver, plata, and even platinum all name the same category: un-aged or barely-aged tequila.

The word changes for marketing, not for the liquid. A brand picks "silver" because it looks clean on a label, or "plata" because it reads authentic.

There's no legal difference between them. When one bottle says blanco and the next says silver, it is the same category of tequila.

By regulation, a tequila blanco can rest in wood for up to 60 days and still be labeled blanco (or plata, or silver).

Some producers, such as Tierra de Ensueño, use a short oak rest to soften the spirit without adding color.

That's why two blancos can differ in ways that have nothing to do with the agave: one went straight to the bottle, the other spent as many as eight weeks in wood.

Tequila blanco rarely touches oak, but that doesn't mean it goes straight to the shelf. Many producers rest blanco in inert vessels, typically stainless steel or glass, for days or weeks before bottling.

Inert means the vessel adds no flavor or color of its own. The spirit still oxidizes slowly during that rest, which softens harsh notes and changes the texture. The flavors meld together too, the same way chili is better two days after you make it.

A joven is its own classification, the same way reposado is a classification. By the regulations, joven is any tequila blanco with an aged tequila blended in: a measure of reposado, añejo, or extra añejo added to a blanco base.

Historically, most jovens were cheap “gold” tequilas - the stuff you remember from that one really rough night in your 20s.

But now, many brands are making high-quality jovens, that provide unique flavor combinations, like this new release from Acre Largo.

"Blanco" describes the aging characteristics of the tequila, not its ingredients. A blanco can be 100% agave tequila, or it can be simply “tequila” - colloquially called “mixto.” These blends are made from at least 51% agave sugars with the rest coming from other sugar sources, usually cane.

Most tequila that is not 100% agave is less expensive and built for the bottom shelf, or incorporation into canned cocktails. But there are a few good “mixtos” on the market. El Tequileño blanco, for example, is a respected mixto tequila.

To tell the difference, look for the phrase "100% agave” on the label. If it doesn’t say 100% it’s simply tequila. Same rules for reposado and añejo.

Reposado has to age in wood. But tequila reposado does not have to rest in wooden barrels.

Brands can rest it in oak vessels of nearly any size, including massive tanks called pipones that hold thousands of liters.

The size of the container greatly impacts what percentage of the liquid contacts the oak. A reposado in a small used barrel picks up more color and wood character than the same tequila in a giant pipón.

Speaking of El Tequileño, their acclaimed Reposado Rare is aged six years (which would make it extra añejo by age) but because it’s rested in very large pipones, it must be called reposado.

Both halves of this are wrong. Reposado can't be aged in just any wood: the rules require oak, which rules out maple, cherry, pine, and the rest.

And it doesn't have to be an ex-bourbon barrel. Bourbon barrels in tequila aging dominate because they're cheap and plentiful, not because a rule demands them.

The minimum is right; the maximum is invented. Reposado must age at least 2 months in oak.

People often believe reposado ends at "12 months" because 12 months is where añejo begins. But tequila classification is set by minimums, not windows, so a reposado can legally sit in oak for an indefinite period.

For example, La Pulga has a series of reposado tequilas that are aged for 16 months, which by aging time would by classified as añejo. But they call them “reposado” because it’s a better stylistic match (and because reposado sells better).

For blended tequilas, they must be classified as the youngest tequila in the batch. A reposado that has a dose of extra añejo added to round out the flavor and color, still has to be labeled as reposado, because that’s the youngest kid in the family.

Not true. First, some producers can add artificial caramel coloring to deepen the intensity without adding time in wood. This is allowed by the tequila production regulations.

Two reasons for using artificial coloring are to achieve batch-to-batch color consistency, and to make the tequila look older, thus more expensive.

But the main determinant is the wood itself: a heavily charred barrel adds far more color than a lightly toasted one over the same period.

So a dark reposado might be older, or it might be young tequila from a heavily charred barrel, or a young tequila with caramel coloring added. Color alone tells you very little.

A cristalino is clear, so it gets mistaken for blanco. But, it’s actually the opposite.

A cristalino usually starts as a reposado, (sometimes an añejo), fully aged and colored. It then gets charcoal-filtered to strip the color back out.

The filtering removes more than color; it also pulls out some of the flavor and body. What's left is a clear liquid that has spent just as much time in oak as a normal reposado or añejo, but looks and tastes quite different.

This is why you’ll never see only “cristalino” on a label. It’s always “reposado cristalino” or “añejo cristalino” because “cristalino” is a style, not an official classification.

“Rosa” tequila, aged in wine barrels, is similar: it’s a style (usually of blanco or reposado), not a classification.

Reposado can age in oak of nearly any size, including enormous pipones. Añejo cannot.

Añejo must age in oak vessels no larger than 600 liters, and extra añejo carries the same cap.

The limit exists because of surface area. A year in a tank the size of a mid-sized car only slightly impacts the liquid, so regulators limit the vessel size to guarantee significant wood contact before a tequila can carry the añejo name.

Nothing in the rules requires new oak for añejo, or for any other classification. In fact, new barrels are the exception, not the norm.

The industry runs on used barrels, most of them ex-bourbon, because they're affordable and they add oak character without overpowering the agave.

New oak works fast and aggressively, flooding the spirit with tannin and vanilla. Most tequila brands want oak to support the agave, not bury it, so they reach for barrels that have already given up their sharpest notes.

See our article on oak and aging to find brands like Insólito that always use new barrels.

Longer aging does not automatically mean better tequila. Oak gives color and flavor and aroma, but can start to dominate over after a while.

Left in wood too long, añejo picks up so much tannin, vanilla, and toast that the agave gets smothered and the tequila starts to taste a lot like whiskey, assuming they tequila is aged in ex-whiskey barrels.

Good añejo is a balance: enough oak to add depth, not so much that the agave disappears. Some of the best añejos spend less time in wood than you'd expect, to protect that balance.

Extra añejo sounds like a centuries-old designation, but it didn't exist until 2006, when it was added as the standard for tequila aged a minimum of 3 years.

Before that, everything aged past the añejo mark was simply called añejo, no matter how long it sat in barrels.

Ironically, the oldest tequila has the youngest classification.

Packaging is often part of the price, but the bigger driver is the angel's share: the tequila that evaporates from the barrel during aging.

In the warm, dry climate where tequila matures, that loss can average roughly 1% per month.

Over a 3-year extra añejo, the barrel gives up around a third of its volume to the air before bottling, and the price goes up accordingly.

13-15. You’re an ace. Want to work for The Tequila Report?

10-12. You’re pretty sharp, and know your way around an agave field.

6-9. Well done. You’re the person your friends ask about tequila.

0-5. Keep reading. You’ll learn more every day.

Blanco/Plata/Silver - Aged less than 60 days

Reposado - Aged at least 60 days

Añejo - Aged at least 12 months

Extra añejo - Aged at least 36 months

Joven - Any blanco/plata/silver with aged tequila blended into it