The 2024 release of Tequila Ocho’s Plata Puntas from the Mirandillas agave estate is one of my all-time favorite tequilas, so the 2025 batch Terroir Select: Río Lerma release has a mountain to climb. Having said that, as a huge fan of the brand and everything Carlos Camarena produces, I’ve been looking forward to the 2026 for a long time.
Produced in Arandas in the Jalisco Highlands (Los Altos) at distillery Tequilera Los Alambiques (NOM 1474) and made from Blue Weber agave 7-10 years old grown in five fields in the Río Lerma area on the border between Jalisco and Michoacán, the 2026 Puntas, like all of the brand’s releases is cooked for 48 hours in stone/brick horno ovens and the sugars (aguamiel) are extracted using a roller mill. Fermentation takes place in open-air wooden tanks for 100 hours before the tequila is 2x-distilled in small copper pot stills. All of the Puntas special releases are collected from the distillate between the “heads” and “hearts” and the 2026 is bottled at the cap for tequila, 110 proof (55% ABV).
Crystal clear with shards of silver in the light, the tequila is defined by an earthy, herbal, and sour-sweet citrus fruit aroma and flavor profile. My first impression is that it’s unique but doesn’t compete for me with the 2024 Puntas – but I will let the bottle open up and revisit it several more times before writing a review. The herbal, funky, fruity, sour-sweet notes are oddly pleasing together.
The flavor profile follows the aromas with earthy, musky cooked agave, a mélange of fresh herbs, slightly fermented citrus fruits (lemon, lime, grapefruit, sour orange), pineapple, florality, minerality, salinity, robust black pepper, and a hint of anise bitterness and cloves on the finish. The flavors are a nice mix of earthy sweetness, peppery spice, and slight bitterness to balance everything out.
The finish is long, 10-13 seconds with the flavors beginning to fade around 10-11 seconds. I’m looking forward to seeing how this tequila opens up as it continues to aerate.
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