The Drinking Texas Whiskies Of The Year 2023 - KTAF RADIO

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The Drinking Texas Tequilas of 2024

TEQUILA OF THE YEAR 2024 This year, we’re doing something new … tequila! “But,” you think while re-reading that line with your brow properly furrowed, “tequila is not new.” And you would be correct. The first licensed tequila manufacturer was Jose Antonio Cuervo, who got a land grant to cultivate agave from the King of Spain in 1758; his son opened the first “mescal wine” distillery in 1795. The first tequila legally imported to the US was by La Perseverancia in 1873. The rules that govern what needs to happen for a liquor to be considered tequila were published in 1974. And I got my first serious hangover from drinking too much Tequila Sauza in 1986. Tequila has been around. But what was old is new again, and tequila is no exception. As the years went on, modernization came to the old distilleries. Tahona stones were replaced by steel roller wheels; brick ovens were replaced by autoclave steamers; sugar, sweeteners, and other additives became common; large corporations and mass production made for an unexceptional product. And most people’s experience with tequila in the 80s and 90s was much like mine – covering the taste with salt and lime, getting nauseous, and dealing with the pain of the next day. But a revolution was already underway. The traditional tequiladores began to lean into the craft of their business, into the art of tequila. Some who sold their name and history to international conglomerates (Don Julio) started a new legacy with old recipes (Lalo), some who had been shut out when their family sold the business (Sauza) returned to their beginnings to start anew (Fortaleza), and some who once tried to make products for others (Patron) returned to producing just their own juice (Siete Leguas). These old/new distillers honored the agave instead of using sweeteners. They brought back the old ways like tahona stones driven by mules and low temperature brick ovens. Now they use hand-blown glass bottles, make full-proof Blancos, and do it all without using additives of any kind. This revolution has not gone unnoticed. In 2024, tequila replaced vodka as the best-selling liquor in the United States for the first time. That checks out because this was the year Drinking Texas really started taking an interest in premium tequilas. So here’s what’s new – we present the first Drinking Texas Radio Show’s Tequila of the Year. Of course, we’ve done a Tequila of the Year show before, but not one with a winner or even a list. In fact, we barely had tequila. This time, we’re doing it right. To be eligible for this year’s list, the tequila had to be tasted on air during 2024, it had to be artisanal or at least additive free; and it had to be a Blanco (with one notable exception as you will see below) because it’s not really fair to compare Blancos to Anejos as the flavors are so wildly different. We tasted each week throughout the year and did a final taste-off of a number of candidates in mid-December. Here are the 2024 winners as we see them. Let the arguments begin …

THE FIVE #5 – El Tesoro Blanco, 80p. Crafted at La Altena Distillery (NOM 1139) by Carlos Camarena in the same fashion as his grandfather and distillery founder Don Felipe Camarena did in 1937. Highland agave, deep well water, stone/brick ovens, tahona stone, copper pot. Additive free. Bottled immediately after distillation. Awards: Double Gold SF International Spirits Competition 2022; 96 points and Chairman’s Trophy Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2022. Tequila Matchmaker - #9 of 139 Carlos Camarena has been making El Tesoro since 1995; it was developed with tequila promoters Robert Denton and Marilyn Smith to give them a brand to help them bring high-quality, artisanal tequila to a broader audience. From the beginning, Camarena has been concerned about two main things: the tequila’s terroir and the distillery’s artisanal process. “I think of El Tesoro Blanco as a simple picture taken in the agave fields. A beautiful, complex, layered image. It is pure agave flavor,” says Camarena. The agave is 6-9 years old, cooked at low temperature for 48 hours, then cooled for 24 hours before being crushed by a two-ton volcanic tahona stone. The bottle’s label has an illustration of a man rolling the tahona over the agave and images on the distillery’s website show men holding the stone as well, but La Altena uses a tractor to roll the stone since the more traditional donkeys retired. Fresh agave, honey, and an earthy umami resembling Spanish olive on the nose; Sweet up front with cooked agave and sugarcane immediately noticeable. Peppercorns, either black, white, or green depending on how your palate perceives them, and the essence of fresh-cut grass ease your palate to the finish.

#4 – La Gritona Reposado, 80p. Crafted at Vinos Y Licores Azteca (NOM 1533) by Melly Barajas, who owns the brand, and her all-female staff, which has been producing La Gritona since 2019. Single estate highland agave, deep well water, stone/brick ovens, mechanical roller mill, stainless steel pot. Additive Free. The green bottle is hand blown with the label simply being raised glass block letters, giving it the look of a medicinal bottle from the late 1800s. Being a Reposado, the juice is rested for 6 months in used American whiskey barrels from Jack Daniels and Balcones. Tequila Matchmaker - #30 of 139. When Melly was 20 years old, she was well on her way to becoming a fashion designer. Then one day her father said he’d love to have his own tequila and her quest changed. When she began assembling her distillery, she was told by industry insiders that she wouldn’t survive 6 months. Doing the initial hiring, she was surprised that only women were coming in to apply. This has become the strength of the brand. “The energy of women is different. It’s their energy, hope, reflections, and dreams that they pour into the tequila,” says Barajas. The oak barrels are used over and over, leeching them of the char, sugars, and flavors associated with whiskey or other Reposados. That’s why this Reposado seems to go right alongside these Blancos. The aging is intended to smooth out the tequila, not introduce new tasting notes. Fresh agave and vegetable greens on the nose; Smooth up front with cooked agave, with black or even red pepper following immediately, before any sweetness kicks in, then the palate is enveloped by sweet vegetal and herbal notes. The whiskey barrel doesn’t affect the flavor much; I get a wooded dryness that could be credited to the American oak this tequila spends half a year in.

#3 Fortaleza Blanco, 80p. Crafted at Tequila de Abuelos (NOM 1493) by Guillermo Erickson Sauza, the man who revived his family’s 150-year-old distillery in 2005 with the launch of Fortaleza. Lowland agave, deep well water, stone/brick ovens, tahona stone, copper pot. Additive free. Each bottle is hand blown with its unique roughhewn stone look and the signature pina stopper. The tequila is bottled by hand, one of many processes used today that are the same as they were 150 years ago. Tequila Matchmaker #1 of 139. There are no acknowledged “unicorns” in tequila; unlike whiskey, they don’t really do limited releases and allotments. Fortaleza is as close as any tequila comes to having one. It’s always been artisanal and additive-free, but recently it’s become “the” go-to tequila for novices and connoisseurs alike. The former $30 bottle can easily go for $100 in the store – if you can find it. It seems only right, since Fortaleza (or at least it’s forebearer) was the first tequila legally imported to America in 1873. Cenobio Sauza Madrigal opened La Perseverancia that year and began selling “mezcal wine.” His son Eladio Sauza took over and changed the name of the product to “tequila” after the town it was made in. He eventually named the product Tequila Sauza and about the time of the Mexican Revolution was outselling his competition Cuervo and Herradura. The family ran the distillery, updating and modernizing, until 1990, when it was sold to Suntory. Guillermo, who still owned the property and the original distillery building from 1873, went to work rebuilding and starting making tequila just like his great-great-great-grandfather did.; Aromas include cooked agave and citrus with light notes of butter, black pepper, and an earthy, vegetal quality on the nose; the flavor of sweet agave greets the tongue, but soon notes of lime, basil, orange, green olive, and herb land on the palate. Less sweet, more herbaceous than the highlands.

#2 – Siete Leguas Siete Decadas Blanco, 84p. Crafted at Tequila Siete Leguas (NOM 1120) by Arturo Valle-Salcedo honoring distillery founder Ignacio Gonzalez Vargas for the distillery’s 70th anniversary, using wild agave that have been nurtured by nature, not ranchers. Highland Cienaga agave, natural spring water, stone/brick ovens, tahona stone, copper pot. Additive free. Cienega agave grow wild on the rocky hillsides and take longer to mature than farm-raised. Even after 10 years the pinas are smaller than normal, but also have a richer, more intense flavor. Awards: Gold at TAG Global Spirits Tequila Matchmaker #5 of 139. This is a one-time run of 70,000 bottles, 30,000 of which were sent to the US. So when it’s gone, it’s gone. The agave is cooked in small stone ovens for 3 days; slow cooking allows the agave to soften little by little, insuring maximum yield. The tahona stone is turned by donkeys in the exact same way it has since the distillery opened in 1952. When Don Ignacio began operations, he named the tequila after Pancho Villa’s horse, Siete Leguas; Seven Leagues is the distance the horse could travel in a day. It is the only tequila made at the distillery, though for a time Don Ignacio was contracted to make Patron. When conglomerate St. Maarten bought the Patron brand, they moved it to a larger, non-artisanal facility Roasted agave, citrus zest, basil, and spearmint on the nose; many more flavor notes than aromas with an earthy, vegetal base with sweet agave, black and white pepper, and sea salt up front with other notes like lime, orange, mint, anise, green olive, and chili pepper hovering about. The wide range of flavor notes is due to the unique wild agave.

#1 – G4 Blanco, 80p. Crafted at Destilería El Pandillo (NOM 1579) by Felipe J. Camarena, whose family has been making tequila for 5 generations (4 of them professionally, hence the name G4). Felipe broke away from his brother’s La Altena distillery and opened his own Pandillo in 2011 with G4 being the first brand produced. Highland agave, natural spring and rain water, stone/brick ovens, tahona stone, copper pot. Additive free. Felipe’s great-grandfather was the first in the family to open a tequila distillery in the early 1900s, but it was quickly destroyed in the Mexican Revolution with the tahona stone being the only thing to survive. That stone, along with an agave plant and a bust of Pandillo, the family’s legendary bull, make up the G4 logo. Awards: Platinum at TAG Global Spirits, Double Gold at Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, and Best in Show at IWSC Spirits of Mexico. Tequila Matchmaker #2 of 139. The Camarena family story is a winding one. They’ve had their hand in tequila making since the late 1800s. Felipe’s great-great grew agave for distilleries and made a little moonshine himself; his great-grandfather did the same, though he tried to open a full distillery, he never sold a bottle of tequila (legally). Felipe’s grandfather opened La Altena in 1937 and started making Tapatío tequila. Felipe’s father became master distiller until handing the reigns to Felipe and his brother Carlos. The two worked together until Felipe opened his own place. Felipe makes other premium tequilas there including Volans and ArteNOM 1579. Carlos makes El Tesoro, Siembra Alteño, and the original Tapatío. Sweet agave is enveloped by earthy and vegetal notes on the nose; Super clean and crisp with sweet agave, white pepper, herbs (basil, oregano), and very little else. It’s simple yet complete. The finish is spicy and dry and leaves you wanting another sip.