Help a Newbie

[Zanaspus]

Greetings all. I am not experienced with tequila. In fact, my only experience with anything distilled in Mexico was a few legendary bouts with Monte Alban Mezcal back in college some 30 years ago. I have recently gotten into sipping spirits neat, and I'm giving all a fair shot. I love Single Malt and Rye, and dislike Bourbon so far.

I'm looking for some suggestions of an introductory tequila or two. From reading older posts, I see that folks seem to struggle with suggestions as low as $50. Is that really the entry point? If so, it would be the most expensive introduction, even surpassing single malt Scotch! Is that really where to start to develop your palate?

I'm looking for some suggestions for the question, "If you wanted to recommend some tequila to someone to send them on a love affair with the spirit and not break the bank, which ones would you recommend?"

Thanks in advance,

Tony

[sipper]

Not sure where you are, but Aha Toro or Los Tres Tonos Anejo are about 40-50 dollars. You might want to order a 200 ml of Clase Azul Reposado before committing to a larger expensive bottle. For blancos, I like Asombroso (and the bottle is charmingly phallic) and for very inexpensive blancos, I would suggest Espolon and the new Camarena. I liked the 50 ml of Camarena blanco I bought in the States. The joy of tequila is that your mileage may vary with all of them, so perhaps you might want to invest in 50 ml bottles and try them that way.

Just be sure your bottle says 100% agave as drinking a mixto tequila never ends well. Trust me.

[hondajustin]

I am not much of a scotch drinker but there is a lot of good quality juice in the $50 range. I assume you are leaning more towards Anejos? Here would be my suggestions in no particular order.

El Tesoro: You can get the Blanco, Repo, and Anejo all for under $50 a bottle.

Casa Noble: Samething Blanco, Repo, and Anejo (2 year) all for under $50 a bottle. You might even be able to find a Single Barrel Repo for about $50.

Over $50 but worth it IMO. Fortaleza. This is one of my new favorites. Anejo $69, Repo $54, and Blanco $44.

[Zanaspus]

Originally Posted by hondajustin

I am not much of a scotch drinker but there is a lot of good quality juice in the $50 range. I assume you are leaning more towards Anejos? Here would be my suggestions in no particular order.

I was actually thinking of starting with a blanco. It just seemed the purest "are you going to like tequila" choice. However, I'm a completely clean slate. Do you think Anejo is a better choice?

P.S. Here is the closest non-Ohio, non-Nazi liquor store. Presented for ideas:

Party Source Express - Shop your way for Beer, Wine, Liquor, Cigars and Beverages

[IceCold]

I picked up a bottle of El Espolon blanco for $20 and it is worth every centavo. The Asombroso El Platino is also good and if you want a kick, the 1800 Select Silver is tasty and 100 proof.

[sipper]

I started with Anejo and worked my way backward to Repo and Blanco. If there's a right or wrong way to fall in love with tequila, I musta missed it on Google Search. Enjoy the ride!

P.S. I'm totally jealous of your selections available - up here we have about six.

[raiderj16]

Looking at the website link, I would go for any of the following: Any of the El Tesoros, the 7 Leguas but they are a little more expensive, and also the Baluarte reposado. The Baluarte IMO is very good and it is at decent price. Good luck and enjoy!

[Zanaspus]

Thanks for all the recommendations! Anyone, please feel free to add more.

The only bummer is that I probably won't get down to KY until March or so, but you folks have given me a lot of ammo.

[hondajustin]

Where are you located? Can you order online? You might check out mission liquor, and hitimewine if you are in a state that will allow you to have liquor shipped to your door. I live in idaho which are state run liquor stores with poor selection (except for El Tesoro) so I order most all of my tequila on line which really opens the doors for selection.

I do notice a Casa Noble Private Barrel Repo at $55.99 (from your link)....I would assume that is the single barrel Repo which is a great bottle to have if you like Casa Noble...(most people enjoy Casa Noble but some people don't). I would recommend trying several times because the first time I had Casa Noble it didn't "float my boat", then about a year later I revisited my bottle and it was like a different tequila.

Its a fun journey. You will discover which age you like the best in no time. I tend to lean towards Anejo's and Repo's latley, and others will say they lean towards Blancos. Its all up to your taste buds. Enjoy your ride!

[Zanaspus]

Well, I went to my local state store today and found that they had a couple of things that folks on here like. I ended up with a bottle of Corazon Reposado (they were out of Corzo). I'm sitting down sipping my first Glencairn full of it right now, and I must say I'm impressed! I still love my single malts and ryes, but tequila is definitely entering my rotation.

I got reposado to sort of try middle of the road. With this tasting I see myself liking repsoados and anejos. In other words it seems to me that silvers would be a bit too "angular" and I'm thinking this and anejos would provide more of the "roundness" to fit my tastes.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to all and let you know you have a new member in your ranks. Now I'm anxiously awaiting my next trip to Kentucky!