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Continue reading →: The Bottle That Started My Artisanal Tequila JourneyThis is the bottle that started my real, continuing exploration of artisanal tequila two years ago – a bottle of Mijenta Blanco produced at distillery Destiladora de Los Altos (NOM 1412) in Arandas in the Jalisco Highlands (Los Altos) region by master distiller and blender Ana María Romero Mena. Tequila,…
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Continue reading →: Of Blends & Single Barrels: Buffalo Trace BourbonToday I picked up a Buffalo Trace Bourbon single barrel for a friend who’s just recently started exploring how single barrels can be quite different from regular blends and who is also a big Buffalo Trace Bourbon fan. I’ve suggested we new crack his single barrel, a single barrel (unopened)…
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Continue reading →: Last Graduate Student Bottle Share of AY26 – Spirits Are for SharingSuccess – the final optional bottle share social of Academic Year 2026 resulted in cross-spirits category tastings and lots of good conversation amongst a small group from a larger group on a staff ride. The final bottle lineup was mostly determined by student votes with some additions of my own:…
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Continue reading →: Lineup for Final AY26 Graduate Student SocialThis is the final lineup of bottles for the last optional graduate student social event of Academic Year (AY) 2026 based on my student’s votes plus a few special additions of my own. Since this is the final gathering before they graduate and head off to bigger things in their…
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Continue reading →: SHORT REVIEW: Tequila Ocho Plata Tequila – La Mesa Estate (2025)Produced by master distiller and agave rancher Carlos Camarena at distillery Tequilera Los Alambiques (NOM 1474) in Arandas in the Jalisco Highlands (Los Altos), this blanco is made from mature 7-10-year-old Blue Weber agave cooked and cooled for 48 hours in stone/brick ovens (hornos). The sugars (aguamiel) is extracted using…
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Continue reading →: NEW BOTTLE HIGHLIGHT SERIES: Revisiting Knob Creek – Knob Creek 12 Year BourbonKnob Creek’s 9 Year Bourbon and 7 Year Rye were two of the first non-single malt American whiskies that I tried two years ago and I didn’t like either of them due to the prominent nuttiness and punchy oak char. But about a month ago I took a shot on…
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Continue reading →: SHORT REVIEW: Don Fulano Añejo TequilaProduced at distillery Tequileña (NOM 1146) in the town of Tequila in the Jalisco Valley by one of the masters of tequila barrel aging and blending, Enrique Fonseca, and his nephew and blender, Sergio Mendoza, Don Fulano Añejo is made with mature Blue Weber agave from Fonseca’s own estate in…
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Continue reading →: NEW BOTTLE HIGHLIGHT SERIES: Alambique Serrano 3 Años Single Origin Oaxacan Rum (Edition #1)I’ve had this bottle for a while, picking it up just after Christmas 2025, but just cracked it open yesterday. It had a big hill to climb because my view on rum is generally low after trying a bunch of the mass market, caramel-colored and sugar-added releases that make up…
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Continue reading →: NEW BOTTLE HIGHLIGHT SERIES: Madre Blanco TequilaIf an earthy blanco tequila and a funky non-tequila mezcal got married and had a baby, it would be Madre Blanco Tequila. As a hectic work week comes closer to its end, I needed something earthy, funky, and malolactic on my palate and this is all of those things in…
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Continue reading →: SHORT REVIEW: Lunazul Reposado Tequila*Follow-up to the review of the Lunazul Blanco. An inexpensive budget-friendly brand, Lunazul is made at distillery Tierra de Agaves (NOM 1513) in Tequila in the Jalisco Valley using an autoclave to steam roast the estate-grown Blue Weber agave, roller mill maceration to extract, shred, and rinse the aguamiel, fermentation…
Documenting my journey into agave spirits along with a smattering of other spirits after many, many years away – This blog is meant to take note of this journey including tasting notes, bottle photography, and other related topics.