Review 177: Lunazul Reposado

Review 177

9/5/13

Lunazul Reposado: 40% abv

Background: Well before doing any research on this, I’d just like to make the statement that I don’t plan on being able to find much information on Lunazul. And hey, I’m right. At least we get a few facts to go off of. First fact: Lunazul is a pretty young product, being introduced in 2002. They are made by the Tierra de Agave distillery in Tequila, Mexico. This tequila is made from 100% pure blue agave, resting in old bourbon barrels for 6 months. Their Anejo tequila sits in the barrel for 12-18 months. Lunazul sits among some of the more reasonably priced tequilas in the world, and do not take much effort in identifying themselves as unique. But maybe the only thing they need to say is in the bottle. Let’s find out.

Straight

Nose:  The first thing to notice about the nose is there is a distinctive note of fruitiness that comes through, with a hint of vanilla complimenting it. There is some blueberry and strawberry present with a small aroma of melon layered on top. Among some of the other fruit flavors, banana and orange balance in the glass as subtle additions to the nose. There is a very interesting note of tobacco coming through, with some moderate brininess. There are intense notes of lemon and lime that come through fresh and crisp, bringing liveliness to the nose. In addition, a mild since of white wine comes to mind. There is clearly some agave that comes through, but it isn’t over-dominant. There is a slightly solventy note to the end.

Arrival: This is certainly dynamic, but I’ll reserve myself to the arrival for the arrival section of the review. We noticed a mellow, dry, vanilla-like arrival, with slight hints of fruit and agave creeping into the beginning. Lime shows up, not much to our surprise, in the arrival. There is a bit of strawberry as a lingering taste in the arrival, but almost like a strawberry yogurt.

Body: The body, after letting the arrival set in, is explosive to say the least. A hot sense of black pepper and spiciness come through in the body, still being very dry and intense. There is a bitter, earthy flavor that becomes dominant in the later part of the body. There is something of a pineapple flavor that sits in this part of the tequila.

           

Finish: The finish is surprising, like young, fresh grainy spirit, unaged. There is some mint and herbal notes. The finish is peppery, with some creaminess and lime. The finish is not particularly long when it comes to full flavor, but it lingers for a while on just a suggestion of its former self. The finish seems to be the least complex in the event.

With Water

Nose: The nose reflects a lot more alcohol coming through the smell, but does smell a bit sweeter as well. The prominence of the alcohol is blocking off some of the other smells, which makes for not a whole lot of brilliant observations. There is a bit of confectionary sugar and dry wood that becomes evident later in the nose.

Arrival: There is a sense of apple showing up in the arrival, followed by some bitterness and earthiness.

Body: The body is still relatively spicy, although shorter and not as intense. There is some sense of cayenne that comes through, but builds more into the finish. The agave in the body is still pretty intense, but fades off quickly.

           

Finish: The finish is hotter than before, probably due to the taste of cayenne. It is not to say that this is because of rough alcohol, it is simply a taste profile that’s becoming prevalent. There is some graininess that resides within the finish, but it tastes a little bit different than before.

Final Comments: This is definitely a solid tequila, but it was by no means revolutionary. We liked the fact that it offered some intense notes, a little bit of variety, but not a whole lot of complexity or depth. So without much analysis, this is an easy one to disposition. For not very much money, it’s drinkable. Going back to the statement at the beginning of the review about if they’ve made a statement about themselves in the bottle, I don’t really think they have. Like many tequilas, this one just sits on the shelf next to the twenty five other brands at the same price with the same advertising: “So smooth, you don’t even know you aren’t drinking water”. It’s a shame we don’t do more to encourage uniqueness and intensity of flavor.

 

Why you’d buy it: You were looking for tequila

Why you wouldn’t: You weren’t looking for tequila

Score: 7.75/10

Review 175: Hornitos Reposado

Review 175

8/31/13

Sauza Hornitos Reposado: 40% abv

Background: In an effort to a have a more confusing brand marketing strategy than General Motors did in the 1990s, Sauza has multiple, indistinguishable lines of tequila, including Sauza, Hornitos, and Tres Generaciones. Sauza also has, within its own brand, three different kinds of unaged tequila. I’ve been able to figure out is that Sauza is double distilled out of 100% agave, Hornitos is double distilled out of 100% BLUE agave, and Tres Generaciones is triple distilled out of 100% blue agave. Hornitos offers three pretty basic tequilas in its range: Plata, Reposado, and Anejo. All of these whiskies are double distilled, and like you might expect, the Plata is a silver tequila which is unaged, the Reposado is aged for two months in a 10,000 gallon wooden vat, and the Anejo spends a year of its life in a bourbon oak barrel. So this tequila, which has spent minimal time in a massive oak vat, sits in front of us to be judged. It has the very uninspired 40% abv, but blessedly it is 100% blue agave to impart some quality. Because of the volume of liquid present in the vats it is aged in, wood influence will not be large. In fact, Hornitos advertises the lack of oak presence, as if it is exciting to know that this tequila has an identity crisis. Now let’s visit the facts.

Straight

Nose:  The aromas in the nose start off with a soft impression of custard, vanilla and slight caramel. You can still smell agave in the nose, but it hides behind these soft, sweet notes. There is a small presence of berries in the nose, with a little bit of banana coming through as well. This actually smells a little bit like young rum with some tropical notes in it. The agave remains a weak note, while soft fruit and cream notes dance in the foreground. Some green pear notes come through, with even a less prominent sense of green pepper coming through.

Arrival: Not surprisingly, the tequila here tastes sweet and confectionary right in the arrival. There is some vanilla sweetness, and this thing almost tastes like a sugar cookie. What is surprising though, is although the arrival is a short event, as it bleeds into the body, the suggestion of barley malt comes through quite strongly. It does have some grain flavor to the arrival, but at this point you aren’t really seeing anything scream tequila at you.

Body: For a Scotch whisky drinker, it might come as a surprise to see some maltiness in the body of a tequila. I know, I know, this is sort of blasphemy, but it works quite well. The sugar cookie flavor comes through in the body, with a soft maltiness and other sweetness, but again, there is no sign of agave or tequila-like flavors present in this glass. I’m starting to wonder if I poured the wrong bottle…

           

Finish: After the very short body, you start to get small hints of agave coming through, with some slight spice and burn coming in, but no shortage of the previous flavors found in the tequila. The finish really falls short of having much flavor, but at least a bit of pepper, agave, and pear skin come through at the end. There is even a subtlety of sparkling wine at the end. The whole event is short, as if it’s been engineered to be for shots.

With Water

Nose: So far as I can tell, with water, nothing about this smells like tequila. A sense of grain comes through, the sweet, creamy notes have backed off, and the fruit notes continue to sustain themselves. If you think hard enough, you might detect the tiniest aroma of oak coming through after water.

Arrival: The arrival is still sweet, but takes on a more wine-like characteristic, having some white-grape tendencies, some pear and now a little bit of acidity from a tart lemon.

Body: The new lemon tartness carries into the body,  and although most of the old notes still apply, it adds a layer of complexity to the whole thing. There is a slight bit of agave coming through, and vanilla complimenting it.

           

Finish: The finish is still short, custard-like, and holds some agave. By the finish, the tartness fades off and what’s left is this confusing grain flavor.

Final Comments: So here I am, thinking through tequila as I know it. I smell a different bottle of tequila and remember that, ah yes, tequila does have a distinctive smell. But this tequila doesn’t smell or taste much like tequila at all. The identity crisis prevalent in Sauza’s entire brand is present in just one bottle as well. It is not by any means off-putting, it is very drinkable, and it is certainly unique. It is not a complex spirit, but it does make me raise my eyebrows. What scares me about this, at the end of the day, is that I have to answer two questions of why and why not buy this tequila, and probably exactly as they intended it, the only reason I can think of to buy this tequila is to shoot it down. It doesn’t taste much like tequila and therefore I wouldn’t use it for mixing, but it is not that eventful and therefore I would not buy it to drink straight. At the same time, it is a relatively quality bang for the buck…so how to answer…

 

Why you’d buy it: I’m not sure…but you might? 

Why you wouldn’t: You are shopping for tequila.

Score: 7.5/10