Aroma: once I get past the initial hit of alcohol, there’s a pleasant caramel sweetness along with a healthy amount of oak. I also smell a little bit of vanilla and coconut Flavor: a surprising amount of black pepper followed by some oak, cooked agave, and citrus notes. Not overwhelmingly complex but not hard to drink either. Finish: very short and watery. Doesn’t leave a whole lot of flavor behind.

Santo Fino Blanco 110 - I know quite a bit about high proof blanco tequilas but what did I know about Santo Fino? Almost nothing. I knew it was a celebrity brand that involved Sammy Hagar and Guy Fieri. I knew that Sammy Hagar created Cabo Wabo tequila in the late 90s but eventually sold it. So why try Santo Fino now? I recently watched Guy Fieri speak about Santo Fino Tequila with knowledge and passion with a trusted tequila connoisseur. I then found the high proof blanco on a local shelf so now I’m going to give it a review. - On the nose I get some vegetal and cooked agave notes that’s carried by some alcohol vapors. There’s a skosh of sweetness but the vegetal essence appears again and the scents continue to rotate. - On the first sip I can feel the alcohol tingle on my lips and then my palate. There’s some natural agave sweetness that hits up front and then it turns into black pepper and alcohol but not overly so. It’s not bitter and I didn’t detect any tastes of solvents. It was a strong first sip but with how strong it was it was equally clean of defects. After that sip I then detected some additional scents of citrus, green olive brine and some white almonds. The second sip is sweeter and the buttery cooked agave is more pronounced. The black pepper is still very present but it was more mid-palate. The pepper continues into the finish but it subsides into a tingle on the tongue with lingering sweetness. - Overall this is a strong agave blanco that’s slightly alcohol forward with a nice punchy finish. This tequila isn’t smooth but that’s a good thing. It’s a quality high proof blanco.

tasted summer 2022