Socorro Blanco 110 Singular Edición

Sometimes the best way to understand a tequila is to turn the volume up to 11. Socorro’s new Blanco 110 Singular Edición does exactly that.

Founded in 2020 by Josh Irving and Pablo Antinori, Socorro has built its lineup around estate-grown Los Altos agave, allowing the to agave remain the focus.

The new 110 Singular Edición presents that familiar Socorro DNA in a considerably more intense form. The word “Singular” is important.

For this expression, Socorro made one tight corazón (heart) cut from a single second-distillation run, with no heads or tails blended back in. It was distilled to 55% ABV and bottled at the same 110 proof, without added water.

One cut from the heart created one batch of just 1,002 bottles. It’s about as close as Socorro can put us to the still without inviting us to Arandas.

The other part of the experiment is visible on the bottle itself.

Socorro pursued what it calls “radical transparency,” putting extensive production information directly on the label rather than behind a QR code. However, when you see a bottle, there will be a green sticker covering some of the details.

Due to U.S. regulations, those details could not remain visible on bottles, so they were covered, even though the label details had been approved by the CRT.

Socorro considers the sticker part of Singular’s story: it wanted to find the limit of how much production information could appear on the bottle. The details beneath that sticker show where it landed.

But transparency wouldn’t mean much if what was inside the bottle weren’t interesting as well.

Socorro says the agave averaged 32% Brix at harvest—a measure of natural sugar content—and that sweetness isn’t shy about introducing itself.

Bold cooked agave hits the tip of the tongue like a sledgehammer, with black pepper, earth, citrus and lighter fruit notes filling in around it. Mild peppermint and citrus emerge through the finish, while that intense cooked-agave flavor hangs around long after the swallow.

At 55% ABV, the intensity exposes bolder flavors, texture and structure. Singular displays surprising smoothness for a 110-proof tequila, but smoothness isn’t really the point.

Drinkers primarily searching for an easy, gentle sipping tequila may find this to be more horsepower than they’re looking for. Singular may be better suited to connoisseurs who enjoy the intense flavors of high-proof tequila and cocktail designers looking for bold agave flavors capable of standing their ground.

Nose: Cooked agave* / black pepper / earth / hint of bell pepper / pear / melon / grapefruit / black tea / floral jasmine / mineral

Taste: Bold cooked agave / black pepper / mild cinnamon / hint of vanilla / earth / mineral / orange peel / pear / green apple / hint of banana / lime / grapefruit / hint of tangerine / anise / mild peppermint / salt

Finish: Medium viscosity reduces quickly but leaves a nice overall palate coating / bold cooked agave arrives on the tip of the tongue with the intensity of a freight train; then mild bell pepper, black pepper, and light fruitiness give the midpalate a warm hug, leaning toward mild peppermint and citrus notes on the final swallow / the residual flavors remain deliciously intense for a good 30 seconds after the last swallow

Socorro absolutely turned up the volume on its first high-proof expression. Only in this case, it turned the volume knob to 110. I would definitely recommend this expression to high-proof tequila lovers.

*To this reviewer, cooked agave smells and tastes like a blend of roasted sweet potato and pineapple. Cooked agave often has a bold, sweet, caramelized character, with unique citrus notes and a light vegetal quality unlike any single flavor familiar to most palates in the United States.

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