This morning while Mr. C was at the liquor store buying tequila to make margaritas tonight, he stumbled upon a newly stocked item – Don Julio Tequila-Reposado, Double Cask.
Did you catch what the box says? “Finished in casks used in the making of Buchanan’s blended Scotch whisky.” Whisky meets tequila. Holy cow! “What’s that,” you ask? Why yes, of course, he bought a bottle, silly!
If you are familiar with the Don Julio brand, you know that their tequilas are top-shelf. Definitely not the stuff of college drinking games. No. Don Julio tequilas are like a fine wine or a premium Scotch. They are meant for sipping (emphasis on sipping), savoring, and appreciating all of their excellent qualities. In fact, Don Julio tequilas are so exceptional that you can enjoy them neat. No mixer required.
This limited edition item is the first tequila launched by Don Julio in six years. Just like the regular reposado tequila (meaning ‘rested’), it is aged for eight months in American white oak barrels. It then spends its final 30 days in barrels that have previously been used to age Buchanan’s Blended Scotch. This result of this marriage of whisky and tequila is quite unlike anything I have ever tasted before. What a genius idea!
Mr. C and I each did a comparative tasting to see what sort of ‘nose’ and ‘taste’ we could detect. We both identified peat in the ‘nose.’ What differed between us, though, is that Mr. C tasted the Scotch first followed by the flavor of the tequila, whereas I tasted it the other way around. I thought the tequila was more pronounced at the beginning with a Scotch finish. I looked up Don Julio’s web site, and this is how they describe it:
Nose: Tropical fruits and mild vanilla with peaty notes
Taste: Pomme fruits and honeyed notes of agave
Finish: Spicy and peaty
No matter how your palette interprets this tequila, there is probably one thing upon which we could agree – it is unique, rich, complex, and delicious. If you love tequila and you love Scotch, you really must give this a try.
Have a terrific week, friends.
Cheers,
*Featured Image courtesy of Pixabay.
Wow! I’m impressed by your knowledge of liquors. I don’t know a thing, so I don’t understand about the nose, the taste or the finish. It sounds very nice, but I would probably miss all those fine points. 🙂
Thank you. I’m still learning the art of it myself. The ‘nose’ refers to the smells/flavors you detect when you put your nose over the glass and gently inhale. The ‘taste’ is just that, discerning things like fruit, vanilla, peat, etc. And the ‘finish’ is the taste that lingers on your tongue after you’ve taken the sip. These same things apply to wine as well. It definitely takes practice. I still have a hard time discerning all the individual aromas/tastes. Guess I’ll just have to keep practicing haha. 🙂
Thanks for that lesson! I still wouldn’t be able to detect the different aromas and flavors. But I’m sure practice would make perfect. 🙂
I need to try some of that 🍻
Yes, you must! If you enjoy both whisky and tequila, you will appreciate the way the one influences the other. It’s really good stuff. 🙂
What an interesting combination. I ‘ve never tried drinking whisky with anything other than water, but I’ll give anything a try once if someone else is paying.
I’m also partial to an Islay malt, Laphroaig being my preference, but I’m certainly no expert, but I’ll no doubt be finding out a bit more when I stray north of the border in December. Interesting post. Thanks for enlightening me even more.
Yes, Laphroaig is a really good one too. Have you ever tried Bruichladdich? It is also and Islay Scotch but is unpeated. Our favorite is the one in the yellow can which is the barley. It is aged in bourbon and French wine casks. It is so unlike any other Islay Scotch I’ve had!
Can’t say I have – in fact I’ve never even heard of it, but I’ll be looking out for it now 🙂
🙂