Your Essential Guide to the Best Tequilas

Tequila made from 100 percent Blue Weber agave comes in four categories: silver or blanco, which is unaged; reposado (meaning “rested”), which is matured in oak casks for two months to a year; añejo, which has been aged for one to three years; and extra añejo, which is reserved for anything older. This expression from Maestro Dobel is blended from reposado, añejo, and extra añejo tequila before being filtered to remove any color from the oak casks while retaining the rich and rounded flavor of a distinctly vanilla and floral note, meaning it is in a class of its own.

The key to good tequila is good agave, the base from which tequila is made. In fact, the single variety of Blue Weber agave is the only one allowed for tequila production. Far from being a cactus, which most people believe, it is in fact related to the lily. It is from the piña, or heart of the plant, that the drink gets its distinctive flavor. Ocho captures the true taste of the agave by calling out the year of production as well as the precise field from which the plants were harvested. Each batch will differ as a result.

Cazcabel tequila is distilled at an independent micro distillery in the town of Arandas, located in the highlands of the Jalisco mountains in Mexico, the heart of the designated tequila producing region. The Arandas region is famed for agave grown in mineral- and nutrient-rich soil, producing particularly large plants full of flavor, with an average age of around seven years old. Cazcabel’s tequila is distilled twice on a combination of copper and steel stills, which gives the spirit a clean and rounded taste. Cazcabel Reposado is matured in American oak barrels for a minimum of nine months, adding a subtle aroma of toasted oak to the spirit.

From the most famous name in the world of tequila, Jose Cuervo, this bottling is the pinnacle of releases from the family-run distillery. Only the finest agaves grown for more than a decade are hand selected, roasted, and distilled. The resulting spirit is rested in casks made from French and American oak, each bringing a distinct flavor to the mature tequila. These aged spirits are then expertly blended by Alex Coronado, the Cuervo Master Distiller. The result is an exceptionally well-made tequila designed for sipping, either neat or over ice. If you’re a whisky drinker, this expression will please you the most.

This expression from Patrón is the real boss of the tequila world. An extra añejo, the tequila has been distilled from 100 percent Blue Weber agave from the highlands of Jalisco before being aged in a combination of both American and French oak casks for more than three years. The result is a spirit that is designed for sipping and sits, flavorwise, somewhere between a whisky, a cognac, and, of course, tequila. One for a very special occasion indeed.