The aroma was a tangle of floral notes, surprisingly soft sweetness and petrichor, with an essence that reminded me of rain water and earth. Upon tasting I was truly impressed with the initial gripping flavor of petrichor which was surprisingly potent and pleasing and I found myself enjoying the bold taste of minerality and soft floral essence until the following flavor of overwhelming honey and vanilla rose up like a tide of drenching sweetness. In that instant I went from indulging to put-off. I could have reveled in the initial tone but the following honey flavor, which is truly a pure representative of its moniker, did not appeal to me. Perhaps if the honey dominance was present from the beginning taste to the finale I could have been more open to its flavor but the initial leading taste of cooked agave and petrichor with its hard and fast transition to saturated sweetness did not appeal to me. The combination of flavors are dramatic in my opinion, and while I could imagine a certain crowd enjoy this expression, it doesn’t enchant my palate.
This tasting had the advantage of following two really bad tequilas - Mi Familia Cristallino and Addictivo Anejo. This actually taste something like a tequila after those two I will say that before my conversion to AF, this was a go to of mine. I get agave on the nose along with barrel spices. Nose is decent The taste has a bit of that artificial sweetness but nowhere near what those others are putting out. Nothing special about this offering but I can drink it. I’d take Patron Repo over this in a place that doesn’t offer really good tequila but I would not turn this down if offered to me.
After 40 plus years of drinking tequila, next to Patron, Don Julio is probably the tequila I have consumed the most of. In my mid 30s and early 40s these two brands were what I thought were the best. After going to the traditional side of tequila, I haven’t looked back on my old standard DJ although I will drink Patron in a pinch because it is half way decent. The nose on this is like a cinnamon apple cake. The taste is ok but still has an artificial taste to it. This taste nothing like the tequila that I drink these days but I can see why a person that doesn’t know what tequila is supposed to taste like might think this is great. It is easy to drink and goes down smoothly. Probably just what Don Julio was looking for. For me, it’s a pass.
So before discovering AF tequilas 1942 was what I considered the pinnacle of tequilas. Yeah, I know. Little did I know how much better things could get. I decided to take a trip down memory lane to see if I could find what I thought was so special about this tequila. Sorry to say I did not find it. In fact, I am embarrassed that I thought it was so great. The nose is nothing special. Tons of sweetness. Tons of vanilla. I do get some oakiness I think maybe a touch of agave shows up but it is buried. The taste is god awful sweet. Like cake batter. Lots of vanilla and caramel and sweeteners. Let’s face e it, most people love sweetness and this is like a dessert. I see why it is popular with is tall slender bottle and it’s birthday cake taste. For me, glad I am way over it. There is so much better to be had for a lot less money. If you buy a great tequila for around the same money then you will hear the Angles sing. Just know when it shows I recommend this, it certainly isn’t to tequila aficionados. It is to those who are looking for a sweet dessert like tequila and do not have an appreciation for the good stuff.
In order to become a TMM tequila Bad Ass I am going to have to taste a lot of tequilas I normally would not be interested in. This one has two big strikes against it. 1, it comes from Don Julio which quit making good tequila years ago. The nose maybe it’s biggest strength but isn’t great by any means. Very sweet nose almost like a vanilla cupcake. A bit of minerality but primarily conveys most things sweet. The taste is medicinal. It’s bitter and strong alcohol. I’m not getting agave. The finish isn’t good and it shall be interesting to see if your typical DJ tequila fan will like this. While I said I will not drink this again, even though I do not recommend it, under certain circumstances I might if I did not really have any other choices. While I love the TMM app I wish we had a little more granularity on the drink again and recommend.
Nose: sweet and vanilla/ artificial vanilla/ caramel/ butter / oak / hint of fruit / mint / hint of floral / baking spices / chocolate / maple / hazelnut / cream soda Taste: vanilla and caramel (artificial), pepper / earth / banana/ melon / lime / licorice/ hay / tea / lemongrass Finish: a mildly viscous mouthfeel holds on to lingering bitter notes that stay throughout the final swallow. The sweetness disappears early and what’s left is bitter oak and tea. This anejo has artificial flavorings of vanilla and baking spices. The bitterness during the middle of the taste and the lingering artificial sweetness fights against the bitter ending
Nose: very slight agave / mineral/ vanilla/ hint of citrus / anise / nutmeg/ butterscotch/ maple / cream soda / alcohol Taste: artificial vanilla/ agave/ pepper/ light artificial sweetener or sugar/ banana/ melon / anise / peppermint/ all spice / butterscotch/ molasses/ alcohol Finish: mildly viscous mouthfeel with lingering artificial vanilla, bitterness, pepper, earth, and alcohol. A light minty finish. This cristallino anejo is loaded with artificial vanilla and a sweetener that could be just sugar. The bitterness after the sweetness and artificial vanilla feels like a bad roller coaster ride.
2005 bottle. Phenomenal. I wouldn't touch the new crap.
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It's not the worst I've had but far from the best. Someone bought me a pour of this at a bar, and I wanted to be polite. I've given every cristilino a fair shake, although I am inherently against anything that undermines the delicate aging process. I still haven't found one that makes me happy. Besides the fact that this is a cristilino, I'm not historically fond of Don Julio. This has done nothing to change my mind.