Tequila

Arrghh! My mistake. Of course it's Cofradia! Did you visit the pottery works as well?

Since we visited Cofradia on a Sunday, the pottery works were not in operation so we poked our heads in there just to see. We did purchase a bottle of the Casa Cofradia Anejo in a pottery bottle:
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We did a tasting of this Anejo and really enjoyed it.

By the way, Casa Cofradia has either two or three Company Stores in Tlaquepaque. When we were there in January, they were running a "special" - buy one bottle at the regular price and the second bottle for half price. These prices were better than those offered at the distillery or in any of the shops we checked out in Tequila.

Herradura uses natural means of bringing the bugs in to cause fermentation.
In the old days (mucho mucho old) the workers use to swim in the vats after
work to put the good bugs in the raw mix. So not all the big guys practice
shortcuts. Go visit Herradura and see the original vats and some wonderful
old huge copper stills to learn more. Wonderful tour. Beautiful property.

Z

Since you asked CG:

Dawg is, as reputed, a tequila lover but ony clear tequilas which have not been aged in wood. I am of the opinion that wood aging ruins tequila or at least makes it less desirable. My favorite is Herradura Blanco but never chilled served with lime on the side or my spicy homemade sangrita chaser. If I were in the states I would indulge in Patron Silver. The last time I purchased Herradura Blanco I paid the peso equivalent of about $38USD for a liter at Paz Liquors in San Antonio.

When in Oaxaca visiting friends we switch to mezcal as provided by our hosts, in Alabama fine single malt scotch or a few other varieties of top whiskeys, in Chiapas Havana Club Reserve Dark Rum and in France calvados.

When in Rome.

Dawg agrees with Zed wholeheartedly that the Herradura Tequila tour is outstanding and much more educational and fun than the other distillery tours around the Tequila area - at least the other tours I have patronized..

NoTengoNada wrote:Some good points here. Sauza is Jim Beam, Cazadores is Barcardi, Herradura is Sazarak, and so on and so forth.

Herradura is owned by Brown-Forman.

Dawg:

As I stated in my first post in this topic, Tequila opinions are very subjective and a matter of personal taste. When we first started our Tequila collection back in 1999, we would go to Paz or one of the Tequila shops in Tlaquepaque and base our buying decisions on what the bottles looked like. We did stay away from brands that we would typically find in the very limited selections in the Oregon State Liquor Stores but really had no clue what we were doing. Through the years, I have attempted to educate myself while the industry has grown with leaps and bounds. Our collection currently stands at 64 bottles with seals intact and consists of about 70% Tequila labels that are not currently exported. For the purposes of our collection, we stick to Reposado, Anejo and Extra Anejo. Blancos or Silvers don't last long in our house since they are what we drink when in the mood to take a break from Rum. And it seems that we disagree on Rum too. Could that be an indicator?

Gonzalez is my current favorite Blanco. Can you get it in MM Neil?

We agree on one thing, Neil, an open bottle of tequila blanco, at least the Herradura variety, in the Dawg household is destined to be empty in short order. That´s why I don´t have it in the house.

Dawg loves white rum in mojitos, perhaps my favorite cocktail but rum straight up must be dark and well aged. My favorite as stated above, is Havana Club Special Reserve which, no doubt, you cannot find in the U.S. at the present time. Of course, since Dawgette is French, her rum comes from Martinique. I´ll drink to that.

I fear I could never collect fine spirits over an extended period of time. I admire your tenacity with the unopened tequila bottles but I fear my dogs would get into the bottles and become besotted while Dawg was not looking. This seems to have happened in the past to the best of my recollection.

David:

Since I wasn't familiar with Gonzalez Tequila Blanco, I did some research and found: http://www.tequila.net/tequila-reviews/blancos/reserva-de-los-gonzalez-tequila-blanco.html
If this isn't the correct one, can you supply the NOM so that I can look it up? Off the top of my head, I don't remember seeing the name in our primary liquor store but will do some looking after I am sure what I am looking for.

Dawg:

You and I are somewhat in tune with Rums. To be quite honest, I have never tried Havana Club when in Mexico. Interestingly, I had thought I had seen this particular label in our stores but was at a loss because I knew it was distilled in Cuba. Just did some research and found that we do in fact have access to the Havana Club label. [b]But, it is distilled by Bacardi and is the subject of litigation between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard who has a 50/50 joint venture with the Cuban Government. At this point, my favorite darker rums are Mt. Gay and Pyrat XO Reserve.

At the present time all Tequilas and Rums are safe from my consumption since I am on a temporary "timeout" from drinking.

That the one Neil. The bottle shown in the review is the "special" more costly one. http://www.tcdg.com.mx/

Zedinmexico wrote:Believe it or not Kirkland (costco) Tequila is pretty good!! Beat out a lot
of names in taste tests.

Z

And guess who makes it. According to NOM number 1492 (if I remember correctly) Patron in Atotonilco.

CheenaGringo wrote:David:

I beg to differ on Casa Noble. I remembered from our tour of La Cofradia last August being told that they produced Casa Noble and it was even included in our tasting. Just for drill, I looked and here is confirmation: aste!

Absolutely correct.Enrique at La Cofradia does indeed make Casa Noble. Plus many more. They started out as agave growers and branched into distilling during an agave glut.

CheenaGringo wrote:David:
Dawg:

You and I are somewhat in tune with Rums. To be quite honest, I have never tried Havana Club when in Mexico. Interestingly, I had thought I had seen this particular label in our stores but was at a loss because I knew it was distilled in Cuba. Just did some research and found that we do in fact have access to the Havana Club label. [b]But, it is distilled by Bacardi and is the subject of litigation between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard who has a 50/50 joint venture with the Cuban Government. At this point, my favorite darker rums are Mt. Gay and Pyrat XO Reserve.

At the present time all Tequilas and Rums are safe from my consumption since I am on a temporary "timeout" from drinking.

I too like aged (dark) rum. Pyrat, however, I think is loaded with Caramel coloring and flavoring. The barnd is owned by Patron Siprits (Patron Tequila) and is made by the same French island distillery as Mt. Gay. I've been to Cuba and fell in love with 15 year old Havana Club. IMHO it is the best long aged rum today. No available except in Cuba. The law suite from Bacardi started because the Havana Club distillery was appropriated by Cuba after the Bacardi family fled to Miami.

Actually, the NOM for Kirkland Tequilas is 1472 which is: Distillery Fabrica de Tequilas Finos, S.A. De C.V. Tequila Products. You will note from the following link that they make a number of "private label" Tequilas: http://www.tequila.net/reviews/tag/tdistillery/fabrica-de-tequilas-finos-s.a.-de-c.v/?criteria=1&limit=10&page=1

We haven't tried the Kikland Silver or Anejo as yet but both are on the Costco list for this week. Certainly reasonable here @ $18.99 for the 1.5l Silver and $19.99 for the 1l Anejo.

Big Daddy Mexico wrote:For the price, 100 Anos is pretty good.

Oh Big Daddy that's my fav too! I was just going to recommend it. I love their Blanco. For my palate, I could put it side by side next to tequilas 4x the price and I'd still choose Cien Años.

Merry

merry wrote:

Big Daddy Mexico wrote:For the price, 100 Anos is pretty good.

Oh Big Daddy that's my fav too! I was just going to recommend it. I love their Blanco. For my palate, I could put it side by side next to tequilas 4x the price and I'd still choose Cien Años.

Merry

It will be on location at the board meeting. LOL

Two of the most complete Tequila offerings that we have found are in Tlaquepaque:
1) Not sure of the name but located on the NW corner of Juarez & Matamoros (#154 Juarez) has an incredible selection and does offer tastings. To get an idea of the selection, here is a link to a series of photos taken in the store: https://picasaweb.google.com/118146709599975173363/TLAQUEPAQUEJALISCOMEXICO?authkey=Gv1sRgCOCgi8rOv5jjsgE#5699116464081551666
They also have a smaller branch on Independencia.
2) Tequilas El Buho (#164 Juarez) located a bit west of the above on the same side of the street. They have a slightly different selection than the above store but claim over 300 labels. I ran across the following clip about this store: http://tastetequila.com/2011/the-coolest-tequila-store-in-mexico/
They too have a smaller branch on Independencia.

I would tend to disagree with whoever said the best prices were in Tequila (Big Daddy maybe). Personal opinion but we thought the selections were better at the above stores and prices better than the stores in Tequila.

Big Daddy Mexico wrote:

merry wrote:

Big Daddy Mexico wrote:For the price, 100 Anos is pretty good.

Oh Big Daddy that's my fav too! Merry

It will be on location at the board meeting. LOL

Just another reason to do my duty and make the Board meeting.

Merry

Never bought them in the stores. Got them from the factories at cost

If you want to try a great Blanco, try El Tesoro de Don Felipe. It's made in Arandas it's my personal favorite.

NoTengoNada wrote:

CheenaGringo wrote:David:
Dawg:

You and I are somewhat in tune with Rums. To be quite honest, I have never tried Havana Club when in Mexico. Interestingly, I had thought I had seen this particular label in our stores but was at a loss because I knew it was distilled in Cuba. Just did some research and found that we do in fact have access to the Havana Club label. [b]But, it is distilled by Bacardi and is the subject of litigation between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard who has a 50/50 joint venture with the Cuban Government. At this point, my favorite darker rums are Mt. Gay and Pyrat XO Reserve.

At the present time all Tequilas and Rums are safe from my consumption since I am on a temporary "timeout" from drinking.

I too like aged (dark) rum. Pyrat, however, I think is loaded with Caramel coloring and flavoring. The barnd is owned by Patron Siprits (Patron Tequila) and is made by the same French island distillery as Mt. Gay. I've been to Cuba and fell in love with 15 year old Havana Club. IMHO it is the best long aged rum today. No available except in Cuba. The law suite from Bacardi started because the Havana Club distillery was appropriated by Cuba after the Bacardi family fled to Miami.

I thought Mt Gay was Barbados rum?????Where ever it comes from it is very good rum.
Havana Club rum is Bien Bien.

Z

sparks wrote:This is a Sams Club Ad ... that I believe is part of Walmart and Bodega. Advertised price here is $39.98mx but I've been paying $47 at Bodega. Much better than many I've tried ... both for a sip and mixed.


http://www.sams.com.mx/Pages/product.aspx?category=Tequila&cat=SamsClub_MX&pid=159393&SortBy=&Asc=&rank=10&ig=Tequila-Vinos-Individual-Home

I've had two landlords that live in Guad and both have brought down some great "no name" stuff ... no cost to me. It must be out there

My workers call Tequila and Coke a Cuba. Great at the end of the week or a hard day

You have that decimal point in the wrong place? Did you mean $399.80 pesos for a bottle of this?

Thanks to everyone, this is what I was looking for, some specific suggestions from the more experienced drunks, oops, I meant Tequila fanciers.

Mt Gay is definitely from Barbados!!!!!!!!

Another rum that holds a dear spot in my mind is: http://cruzanrum.com/
Back in 1978, I was national sales manager for a Seattle mountaineering equipment company and held my very first sales meeting on the island of St Croix. Back in those days, one could go directly to the distillery and purchase Cruzan Light 3 bottles for $2. The mix was more expensive than the rum.

Made this post back in October of 2011:
"La Casa del Tequila is located at 336 Independence Street, Colony Centre, Guadalajara, to the side of the Rotunda of Illustrious Jalisco."

Apparently just opened this week. For those who don't have the time or inclination to drive to Tequila, this may be an interesting alternative for out of town visitors?

http://www.guadalajarareporter.com/news-mainmenu-82/guadalajara/29832-tequila-house-open-doors-in-citys-historic-downtown-core.html
http://jalisco.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/a651c69e0f2e1c7955fbbca5a8a71e22

And then I totally forgot about it when we visited in January and had plenty of time to visit. My understanding is that they have something like 1900 labels on the premises.

Dan, you should try Casa Noble, very expensive, but very smooth, like a fine single malt.

Herradura used to play classical music in the fermentation room They said it cut the fermentation process in half!
gm