Upon opening the bottle, I let it aerate for about 20 minutes. Aged for six months in French white oak Napa Vallery cabernet wine barrels for six months, Código 1530 (Codigo) reposado has decent viscosity and a buttery mouthfeel, coating the palate well.
On the nose there is cooked agave, cinnamon and baking spices, vanilla, caramel and butterscotch, whiskey, oak influence and barrel spice; hints of smokiness, and an earthy quality. The caramel and vanilla aromas are particularly strong. There are hints of pepper but not that strong. Initially, I don’t get citrus, though hints of citrus do emerge on the back palate after a few sips. In terms of aroma, the alcohol is much more subdued than that of the Codigo blanco (this is not the case on the palate).
On the palate, the caramel/butterscotch and vanilla are initially dominant followed by a very strong alcohol and peppery hit. The mouthfeel is nice and viscous with strong oak influences that transforms into bitterness and astringency after swallowing (particularly on the back palate and under wither side of the tongue). Like the Codigo blanco, the reposado is quite hot and the heat remains in the throat and the chest after swallowing.
The finish is pretty short with the bitterness remaining the longest on the back of the palate.
The nose/aromas are much more pleasing than the actual flavor profile.
On subsequent pours, the aromas and flavor profile remained largely the same, though there was a new hint of an aroma that reminded me of Elmer’s Glue.
At $55-67 pre-tax in my area, this reposado is at the same (or near the same) price point at superior reposados including Tequila Ocho and El Tesoro. It’s more expensive than other more complex and nicer tasting reposados including Siempre (NOM 1414) and El Tequileño Reposado Gran Reserva.
The lote (lot/batch) under review is LN049REP40 bottled on March 4, 2020.
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