While I certainly understand and can appreciate the recent trend towards truly high-proof blanco tequilas, clocking in at 50% ABV and up, I personally find expressions in the mid-40s - like this exemplary tequila from Siete Leguas - to be the most satisfying.
This is a still-strength blanco from the legendary Gonzalez family, who have been making exceptional tequila in Atotolnico el Alto for 75+ years.
At 47% ABV (hence, the name) this tequila tastes a lot like their regular blanco, with the intensity and viscosity turned up a few notches. It's excellent as a mixer, and will cut through the strongest fruit juices, but also an outstanding sipper.
Like all core Siete Leguas blancos, this is a combination of two different tequilas made at adjacent distilleries. One uses a mule-drawn tahona; the other a roller mill. I've tasted each of the ingredients separately, and they are quite different, especially in their fruity vs. mineral flavors. Truly, the sum is better than its parts. They actually have seven people on staff that taste batches every morning to keep the blend perfect. And, Siete Leguas may be the only distillery left that uses mules to pull the volcanic stone wheel tahona. See my recent article on The Tequila Report about these mules!
Nose: Cooked agave, minerals, jalapeño, earth, black pepper. More minerality than the regular blanco.
Flavor: Cooked agave, minerals, herbs, pepper, more saline than the regular blanco.
Finish: Medium-long, a tiny bit hot, pronounced minerals, with cinnamon.
This is not the most complex high-proof blanco. But it's one of the most balanced. It disguises its ABV beautifully. And when people say to me "I'm not sure I will like a high proof" I reach for this every time. It changes minds.
NOM | 1120 |
|---|---|
Agave | Los Altos |
Cooking | Stone / Brick Ovens |
Extraction | Tahona, Roller mill |
Water | Natural spring water |
Fermentation | Open-air stainless steel tanks, with and without agave fibers |
Still | Copper Pot stills |
Age | — |
ABV | 47% |
