San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Ah, agave!
6 high-end tequilas to sip and savor
The pandemic led to a growing shelter-at-home-driven interest in cocktails and high-end spirits, including collectible tequilas.
One of the fastest-growing liquors over the past five years, tequila is beloved in Texas. For good reason: The best of the Mexico-produced, 100 percent blue agave juices make for delicious sipping.
Show off your tequila (and mezcal) appreciation with these top-shelf charmers.
Código 1530 Mezcal Ancestral
Código, co-founded by “King of Country” George Strait, now produces mezcal. This Oaxacanborn spirit offers flavors of honey, tobacco, vanilla, cantaloupe and hazelnut; $150, codigo1530.com.
Dulce Vida Extra Añejo
Made from 100 percent organic blue agave and rested for five years in American oak barrels used by a Napa Valley winery for merlot and cabernet, this ambercolored spirit sports a nose of cinnamon and butter and flavors of sweet vanilla and spiced oak; $190, ducevidaspirits.com.
Flecha Azul Añejo Cristalino
Aged for 18 months in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels, this smooth spirit offers silver brightness with aged richness. Look for aromas of dark chocolate with flavors of vanilla and oak from this premium tequila made in Jalisco; $200, flechaazultequila.com.
Tequila Casa Dragones Añejo
Matured in two different barrels (new French oak and new American oak), this 100 percent blue agave sipping tequila affords
notes of juniper, figs and pine nuts, and flavors of macadamia, blackberry, nutmeg and peppery cacao; $160, casadragones.com.
Tequila Corazon Reposado
Named the world’s best tequila at the 2021 World Tequila
Awards, this single-estate reposado is affordable with flavors of vanilla, almonds and fresh herbs with a nose offering green grass and agave nectar; $30,
tequilacorazon.com.
Tequila Corralejo 1821 Añejo
Fermented with a special strain of yeast, this double-distilled tequila (using 400-year-old copper column stills) is aged in American oak, resulting in a golden spirit with a nose of citrus,
Flecha Azul Anejo Cristalino, vanilla and oak.
chocolate, cinnamon and an herbaceous floral taste jumped with pepper, spice and nuts; $140, tequilacorralejo.mx/en.