This is the bottle that started my real, continuing exploration of artisanal tequila two years ago – a bottle of Mijenta Blanco produced at distillery Casa Tequilera de Arandas (NOM 1499) in Arandas in the Jalisco Highlands (Los Altos) region by master distiller and blender Ana María Romero Mena.
Tequila, followed by non-tequila mezcals, was the spirits type/s that I started off my real, deep (read: nerdy) exploration and study of spirits on following nearly two decades of not drinking any alcohol at all. I had, like many people, had spirits (almost entirely poor quality) as an undergraduate in college, but didn’t have fond memories of any of those experiences since the point then had been effect rather than aromas and flavors.
As I started looking into artisanal tequila brands after revisiting best-selling brands including Jose Cuervo, 1800, and Lunazul, Mijenta was the first of the former that drew my interest. This was in part because of its master distiller and in part because of its brand logo and the history behind it which spoke to me as a historian and a lifelong student of history as a discipline. I began to buy bottles of Mijenta and then gradually started expanding into other artisanal brands including El Tesoro, Tequila Ocho, G4, Siempre, ArteNOM, and Cascahuín – to name just a few.
There was just one problem – I hadn’t actually opened a bottle to try Mijenta. When I opened this now-finished bottle two years ago at a family gathering, I didn’t know what to make of its flavor profile which is famously incredibly floral. I wasn’t sure that I liked it. But, fast forwarding through the story, it is now one of my favorite blanco tequilas and the Mijenta reposado is one of my favorite reposado tequilas – I love sharing and turning on new people to the beauties of Mijenta’s tequilas. Most recently, a colleague of mine who doesn’t usually enjoy blancos tried a bottle of Mijenta blanco I brought to a work bottle share social and he later told me he really enjoyed it, in part because it has notes that remind him of his favorite spirits type, gin, while still having punchy Blue Weber agave notes like a good tequila.
This bottle will always be remembered as the bottle that started it all for me in my exploration of artisanal tequila.
I’ve already opened up a new bottle.
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