New Tequila - KAH Tequila - The Day of the Dead Tequila

Wandering through the liquor store the other day, I ran across this new brand in very distinctive bottles:
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Blanco is in the white skill, Reposado in the gold or yellow and Anejo in the black skull. Interestingly, the Reposado is [u]110 Proof! While one might assume that these hand painted glass containers were just a clever marketing ploy, these Tequilas have won numerous awards for quality and taste: http://www.tequila.net/tequila-news/latest/kah-tequila-rings-in-the-holidays-and-2011.html

Certainly not an inexpensive Tequila with the Blanco selling for about $40USD here.

For those who deem themselves Tequila Connoisseurs, they produce an Extra Anejo in a distinctive bottle with over 700 Swarovski crystals. This product runs about $200USD here:
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Moments of bliss exhibited over tacky tequila overexuberant marketing ploys engaged in by back-country distillers who have never taken the bus beyond Guadalajara are to be absorbed with skepticism or discarded altogether as frivolous. Really bad and unaccomplished art has many homes. Stop trying to lay claim to the home of bad taste.

Dawg:

Maybe you will be more impressed by the fact that the brand is certified to be both organic and Kosher?

There is no mention on their website of organic or kosher certification. The KAH brand was introduced a year ago this month. It's made by "Fabrica de Tequilas Finos who makes 28 other products all using the same NOM. This means products are identical, only the bottle and packaging are different. The company was founded in 2000 and produced the first product in 2001.

http://www.wbillc.com/#!products

If you go to the above page and scroll down under the Kah product it indicates organic and Kosher.

I wonder why neither the distillery nor the KAH website mention it? I think there's some jive going on here. The distillery makes only 4 tequilas, sold under 20+ brands, all made under ONE NOM. So the products are all the same with only the branding being different. If the distillery is certified kosher then ALL the brands are kosher. As for the "Organic" certification I wonder who certified it? In the case of Casa Noble, for example, it's certified by the USDA. I notice that neither KAH, their distillery, nor their importer mention the certifying agency. BTW, to receive an "organic" certification the fields where the agave is grown must be certified. There's a lot of marketing hype being applied to tequilas made for export. Besides the distillery making KAH, and many other brands, there are a couple of big distilleries in Guadalajara doing the same thing; many brands but really only one product.

I believe that the link that I provided is the importer. Could it just be that the terms "organic" and "Kosher" mean more NOB from a marketing standpoint? If my memory serves me correctly, it was about two years ago when the first "Kosher certified" Tequila was announced and it was a big deal at the time.

I think you're correct about "organic" and "kosher" meaning more NOB. I know that for a product to be certified kosher a Rabbi must certify that the production of the product meets very stringent kosher criteria. If the facility and process meets those criteria then everything they produce would be kosher.

During our most recent trip, we were in search of Kah Tequila and by default decided that this was an export branding since it wasn't to be found in any of the large Tequila shops anywhere in our travels. During out visit to Casa Cofradia, another couple in our group was also searching for the brand. They were from California and had purchased a bottle from their local Costco. They did comment that the Resposado they had tried was quite good. It does make some sense that Costco would have this brand since it is from the same distillery that makes the Kirkland Tequila but we haven't seen it at our local Costco.

"The distillery makes only 4 tequilas, sold under 20+ brands, all made under ONE NOM. So the products are all the same with only the branding being different."

David:

The above statement has been bothering me a tad since you first made it. I have been doing a fair amount of research on various distilleries and their brands. It does appear to me that the same NOM on various labels indicates that they are all the same. For example, when we made the tour of La Cofradia, we tasted the Casa Cofradia Anejo and then the Casa Noble Anejo and there was certainly a difference. While they manufacture 22 different labels, these two are at the top of their premium brands.

CheenaGringo wrote:Wandering through the liquor store the other day, I ran across this new brand in very distinctive bottles:
[img][/img]

Blanco is in the white skill, Reposado in the gold or yellow and Anejo in the black skull. Interestingly, the Reposado is [u]110 Proof! While one might assume that these hand painted glass containers were just a clever marketing ploy, these Tequilas have won numerous awards for quality and taste: http://www.tequila.net/tequila-news/latest/kah-tequila-rings-in-the-holidays-and-2011.html

Certainly not an inexpensive Tequila with the Blanco selling for about $40USD here.

For those who deem themselves Tequila Connoisseurs, they produce an Extra Anejo in a distinctive bottle with over 700 Swarovski crystals. This product runs about $200USD here:
[img][/img]

Dawg is a big tequila fan but only drinks Herradura Blanco and will not consume any tequila reposada as I do not like wood in my tequila - just in my unblended scoth whiskey or fine rums. There is something a bit disturbing to a tequila drinker, especially one given to occasional excess, about drinking tequila sold in bottles designed as skulls. The French have a saying about the presumption of imminent death translated into English as "smelling the fir" (or if in the U.S., one would say "smelling the pine") out of which a cheap coffin is manufactured. One needn't be reminded of the dangers to one´s continued existence on the planet while sipping tequila by pouring more poison from a skull. If one is an Alabama boy and is consumimg (non-kosher) fatty pork BBQ sandwiches with the tequila, at least alternating heart stopping greasy pork with blood thinning booze is the proper "food pyramid" to see one through the day while, perhaps, limiting future days to come but, what the hell, we are all doomed anyway so have some fun while you can, says Dawg.

Dawg:

You raise a couple of interesting issues. Your preference for blanco is an opinion voiced by many. During our recent visit to Casa Cofradia, we were given the opportunity to taste the first distilling (before it becomes blanco) while still in the fermentation rooms. Maybe for a Southern boy raised on white lightening, it would have been preferred but we found that pouring on our hands had a profound effect by making one's skin soft to the touch. But for drinking, forget it! Later during a tasting session, we ran through the various versions from blanco to extra anejo. My subjective opinion is that I prefer Reposado for mixing and Anejo or Extra Anejo for sipping while using an officially approved "Tequila glass":
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As for your comments about drinking Tequila from a skull, it depends on one's motivation for the original purchase. In our case, we have been collecting Tequilas in unique containers for going on 12 years. To date, we have never cracked or consumed even one bottle of the collection. While in recent years, we have attempted to concentrate on Tequilas not typically found NOB, I do have to admit to buying into the marketing by purchasing a bottle of the Kah Anejo as a birthday present for Kathy. Not only does it fit into the Tequila collection but can also fit along with Kathy's collection of Día de Muertos Catrinas.

I agree with Dawg on Blanco. I too don't want any wood to influence the flavor of the agave. I do enjoy an occasional Anejo however. I agree with Neil concerning the use of a proper glass.