This post is part of an ongoing series where I’ll revisit spirits bottles that I haven’t poured for many, many months to see how my tasting notes now match with those in my initial short reviews in order to see how aeration time may or may not affect specific bottles over time.
I opened this bottle of El Tesoro Reposado tequila (batch/lote 022) well over 1½ years ago and there is about ⅓ of the bottle left meaning that this has had significant aeration time in the bottle. I used a Denver & Liely Mezcal glass and rested the tequila in the glass uncovered for five minutes. The viscosity in the glass is medium-long with a moderately creamy/oily/buttery mouthfeel that coats the entire palate with a medium finish of 9-11 seconds. El Tesoro is one of the few tequila brands that is distilled very near bottling proof of 80 (40% ABV) and the reposado, which is a light gold/light straw yellow, is noticeably much more viscous than the average 40% spirit.
The aroma profile is defined by earthy cooked agave and baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, light cloves), sweet citrus fruits (Middle Eastern sweet lime, tangerine), white pepper, light fruity caramel and vanilla, light herbal notes, and light oak/barrel notes.
On the palate are flavors of cooked agave and the baking spices from the nose with more prominent cloves, robust oak and barrel spice, creamy caramel and vanilla, sweet citrus fruits and citrus zest/peel, black pepper, and some anise bitterness on the finish that balances out the creamy, fruity sweetness.
Produced at La Alteña distillery (NOM 1139) in Arandas in the Jalisco Highlands, this reposado is made with mature 6-9-year-old Blue Weber agave cooked in stone/brick ovens (hornos) for 48 hours. The sugars (aguamiel) are extracted using a volcanic stone wheel (tahona) and are fermented in open-air wooden tanks with agave fibers (bagasse) using ambient wild yeast. It is a blend of multiple barrels of reposado aged 9-11 months. The distillery uses ex-Jim Beam bourbon barrels for aging.
El Tesoro is always reliable and should be a staple on the home bar of those who enjoy artisanal aged tequilas. The brand also produces some excellent single barrel reposados.
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