Dobel Tahona Blanco

My first thought when I heard Dobel was releasing a Tahona expression was, “I need to try this.” I had the chance to taste it during a distillery visit to Cuervo in November, and my immediate reaction was that I didn’t mind it and would probably drink it again. I’d actually love to blind this alongside other Tahona-made tequilas to see how it shows up without the labels.

On the nose, I get cooked agave followed by bright grapefruit zest, with herbal notes of fresh grass and mint, plus a touch of brine. The palate leans savory with sage and olive notes, slightly musty in the best way, while anise ties everything together. The finish is medium-short, closing with black pepper, earthy depth, and lingering clove and anise. It’s bottled at 40.5% ABV, which I can appreciate. I would love to try this higher to see how the profile pops but can understand why they didn’t for casual sippers.

It’s worth noting that the first batch was produced at a rented facility while the Tahona is being built at their new distillery. That alone makes future batches interesting to watch, especially as production fully transitions.

I see this release landing in two very different ways. Longtime Dobel fans may not fully understand what a Tahona release is and could be put off by the flavor profile, especially since the core Dobel Blanco leans much softer and sweeter than this expression. On the other hand, tequila aficionados may either appreciate the effort to move toward more traditional processes or feel like the brand arrived late to the conversation.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this Tahona release performs in the market and whether Dobel continues down a more traditionally focused path. It’s priced at fifty-five dollars, compared to forty-seven for their core blanco. So the real question is, will a Dobel fan pay the extra eight to try it? And will agave aficionados choose this at fifty-five over other Tahona-made tequilas?