Three Bargain Tequilas

[jdjohn84]

I tried a bottle of El Jimador a month or so ago, and tonight I bought a bottle of El Ultimo. I considered buying 30-30 Tequila as well.

The prices were about a dollar apart, starting with El Ultimo @ $19, El Jimador @ $20, and 30-30 Tequila @ $21, all for 750ml bottles.

So far, I would say El Jimador and El Ultimo are equal, both excellent mixers (and tolerable sippers) for the price. I have tried the repos of both, but not 30-30 yet.

I also did a little research regarding their respective NOM's, and came up with the following:

- El Ultimo, NOM 1522; also makers of 374 Tequila, La Pinata, and the recently popular XQ.
- El Jimador, NOM 1119; also makers of Herradura.
- 30-30 Tequila, NOM 1068; also makers of VooDoo, and others.

So, having said all that, how would you guys rate these three bargain tequilas against each other? I know local choices vary, but I can find these three pretty easily in my area, so would like to get your thoughts about just these three compared to each other. I think others on the forum might benefit from the comparison of these three as well.

Thanks

[gsars1]

Of those 3, I guess the El Ultimo is the best, but I don't drink it anymore because I was getting headaches from it after drinking it a few times without mixing it with any other tequilas,or other alcohol. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, so it may just be me, but I no longer drink it for that reason. As for 30-30, IMO, don't waste your money, that stuff was just way too harsh. El Jimador is ok, but bland.

On a side note, my favorite bargain tequila that is a very good sipper and excellent mixer is Espolon reposado. It is about $20 everywhere, and is far superior to the 3 you mentioned. Look around and see if you can find it, I annually drive from NY to FL, and have seen it in most of the states in between, so you might find it near you as well.

[jdjohn84]

Thanks for your reply. Interesting that El Ultimo affects you that way. I had some of it last night with no ill effects, but I only had one small pour neat, then two puros mixed.

I KNEW someone would bring Espolon into the discussion Since I can't find it locally, I purposely omitted it for purposes of this discussion. The thing is: early in my local searching, I could have sworn I saw a bottle of it somewhere, but after circling-back, I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I dreamed it...of course, I dream about tequila a lot now

[offworld]

Speaking of Epsolon, I found it in the supermarket a few days ago for $15 a bottle (blanco or reposado). I prefer blanco tequilas, so I bought 3 bottles of the Epsolon blanco. Never had it before, but had heard good reports. I liked it, and you can't beat that price. JT

[MilesDavis]

I like the 30-30 Anejo quite well for a sipper, and El Jimador ain't bad, but maybe a little plain. Still haven't tried El Ultimo. Espolon is pretty good, too.

[totallytequila]

I recently came across a bunch of 1.75 liter bottles of EUA Blanco priced at $21.99. I picked up a few for some of my house puro margaritas. I am hosting some tiki parties over the next couple of months and EUA serves as a very nice 100% mixer!

[1tequila2]

Originally Posted by gsars1

Of those 3, I guess the El Ultimo is the best, but I don't drink it anymore because I was getting headaches from it after drinking it a few times without mixing it with any other tequilas,or other alcohol. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, so it may just be me, but I no longer drink it for that reason. As for 30-30, IMO, don't waste your money, that stuff was just way too harsh. El Jimador is ok, but bland.

I only drink El Ultimo mixed with other blancos for the same reason. It gave me headaches. I've never tried the 30-30.

On a side note, my favorite bargain tequila that is a very good sipper and excellent mixer is Espolon reposado. It is about $20 everywhere, and is far superior to the 3 you mentioned. Look around and see if you can find it, I annually drive from NY to FL, and have seen it in most of the states in between, so you might find it near you as well.

I only drink El Ultimo anejo mixed with other blancos for the same reason. It gave me headaches. I've never tried the 30-30. I agree 100% with the Espolon recommendation.