Cinco de Mayo is holiday time… oh, wait, we’ve covered that already. Let’s get right to the review, then.

Don Julio’s Añejo tequila is top shelf stuff. This aged spirit has an immediate kick of vanilla, butterscotch, and Christmas spices, with a good, mellowed agave flavor that seeps into all of it. The wood is there (as it should be: it’s aged 18 months in oak barrels, though that’s shorter than many premium añejos), but it’s not overdone, as you get with some tequilas. Who likes to feel like they’re drinking liquefied oak? There’s some initial bitterness if you drink this tequila straight out of the water, but like fine wine it tends to “open up” after a few minutes exposed to the air and the bitterness fades away. (If you take it on the rocks, this effect happens much more quickly, by the way.)

Don Julio is good served neat or on the rocks, and I especially enjoy it with a Sangrita chaser. (Making Sangrita from scratch, ugh, that’s a whole other post someday.) It’s pricey, but it’s just about worth it.

A- / $43 / donjulio.com

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. And Cinco de Mayo is holiday time. Holiday time in Mexico. While we celebrate Mexico’s victory against Napoleon’s invading force in 1862, we are encouraged to do so with quality tequila. Here’s the first of two reviews of premium tequilas, both of which are excellent choices for your May 5 consumption.

El Mayor (translation: “The Greatest”) is a relatively new entrant to the tequila space, an old brand that relaunched in 2005 during the tequila mini-boom. As with all premium tequilas, it’s 100% blue agave. El Mayor’s claim to fame is that its agave is grown in the Jalisco Highlands, which it says leads to a sweeter product.

The proof is in the sipping: El Mayor Blanco is noticeably sweeter than most other Blancos on the market, very smooth, creamy, and lightly spicy. Think nutmeg and allspice hints, and a touch of floral, too. The tequila bite is there, but it’s mild. El Mayor has the smoothness of a Reposado while maintaining its crisp, unaged character. That’s a tough act to follow, and it’s a spirit that I recommend highly, though it can be quite expensive. It works exceptionally well in cocktails, too, and the bottle is a nice conversation piece, too. I look forward to trying the Reposado and Anejo bottlings in the near future.

A / $40 / elmayor.com

Mexico’s answer to Amaretto (and no, I didn’t know there was a challenge that needed answering either) is Almendrado, a tequila-based liqueur flavored strongly with almonds and bottled at 60 proof.

If you’re the type of person who can handle Amaretto on the rocks after dinner, you’ll have no trouble with Reserve del Señor Almendrado. (As far as I can tell, Reserve del Señor is the only company in the Almendrado business.) The tequila base is almost completely masked by the sugary sweet almond flavor, creating a dessert-like experience in a glass that’s heady with candied nuts. I’m sure you will find more differences among Amaretto brands than you will between Almendrado and, say, DiSaronno.

All that said, Reserve del Señor Almendrado is perfectly palatable in small doses and can work well in cocktails, I think. Pairing it with Licor 43 and Kahlua feels like a natural for a south-of-the-border themed dessert drink.

B / $22 / almendrado.com

Only about a week until Cinco de Mayo… time to get some tequila coverage out of the way, no?

Herradura is one of the bigger tequila brands, and for good reason. Nothing at all wrong with this smooth sipper with the horseshoe on the label. This tequila is a pale pale yellow, aged 45 days in white oak barrels, which gives it the slightest amount of butter, almond, and wood on the palate. The tequila heat shows in the finish, making it unmistakably a silver, but it’s easy to drink despite the kick.

The price, at $33, is on the high side for such a spirit that otherwise doesn’t offer a whole lot of surprise. But if you’re looking for a good standby tequila that you can rely on and, equally importantly, is sure to be in stock wherever you go, Herradura’s a solid.

B+ / $33 / herraduratequila.com

As far as I can tell, Tenoch makes only one type of tequila, this reposado bottling that’s lightly golden, aged in oak, and bottled in a stoneware jug designed to look like an agave plant is enveloping it.

Tasty stuff, it’s lightly peppery and sweet like caramel, with herbal notes dancing around your mouth. For sipping tequilas, it’s just about perfect, creamy and lush, filling your mouth wonderfully.

The downside is the price. At $42 a bottle (or urn?) you won’t be making margaritas out of the stuff, and I woefully regret spilling half a shot on myself. Not just for the wasted money, I mean, but for the wasted tequila, too.

Highly recommended.

A / $42 / gviimports.com

I tried two of Milagro’s tequilas today (the silver and the reposado; didn’t have the anejo). Rather disappointing on the whole.

The Silver is a traditional, 100% agave blanco tequila, but it’s awfully harsh, even for a silver. Most super-premium, traditional silvers are surprisingly smooth, but Milagro’s Silver is rustic and carries far too much bite. It may be fine for college kids doing shooters with “training wheels,” but those tequilas cost 10 bucks a bottle. C / $22

The Reposado is better, mellowed with a bit of age but still packing in quite the bite, which overpowers the wood, though the oak age is evident on the palate. It’s still not something I’d sip as an aperitif, but I could get a shot down if a bet was involved. B- / $26

milagrotequila.com

From the biggest name in the tequila business comes an ultra-premium bottling, Jose Cuervo Platino, a silver tequila that’s priced to the skies.

Made using the innermost part of the agave, the piña, the tequila is meant to evoke agave in the extreme. And it certainly does. While it’s impressively smooth, it packs quite the agave wallop. If you love that musky, peppery tequila taste, this is the bottle for you.

For me, the flavor is simply too intense. A more charitable reviewer would say it has a “long finish,” but for me it’s an aftertaste that lingers for 10, 15 minutes. That finish begins with floral notes but ultimately gives way to vegetal flavors. It’s just too much “agave” for me. Try it with lime, on the rocks, instead of neat. But for my money, I greatly prefer Cuervo’s reposado Tradicional, which you can frequently find for $20.

The packaging, by the way, is impressive: Bottles are hand-numbered and dipped in wax. The glass is meant to evoke age, with microscopic bubbles embedded within. It’s a striking design, and the whole thing is packed inside a wooden box. Amazing gift potential here.

B / $53 / cuervo.com

Patron enthusiasts, you’re on notice: There’s better stuff out there… but yes, it will cost you.

Tonala is a pottery town in the state of Jalisco… and they also turn out a mighty fine tequila, too. Tonala’s Añejo is a subtle, not-overly-oaky golden amber sipper, as smooth a tequila as I can remember.

With just two to three years of age on it, the woodiness in many añejos is almost absent here. Instead, you get that telltale agave flavor, with a quite sweet finish: Caramel is even evident on the aroma, and it’s almost too the point where it’s too strong. Some cinnamon and allspice are also present.

You could make some killer cocktails with Tonala if it wasn’t so pricey. Most will probably want to just sip it straight… which I highly recommend.

The ceramic bottle is also tres chic.

A / $48

Here’s the official cocktail for my 2007 holiday party, inspired by the La Real at Solstice in San Francisco.

The Joost Sparkler
1 oz. silver tequila
3/4 oz. pomegranate liqueur
3/4 oz. lychee liqueur
1/2 oz. triple sec

Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice, strain into a champagne flute. Fill remainder with Champagne.

I’m planning it as a pitcher drink, making eight at a time (sans the Champagne), then pouring them as needed to avoid spending all night mixing drinks (which is common at my parties).

Oh, and St. Germain works in lieu of the lychee liqueur, too.

Cheers, and happy holidays! It’s a very refreshing, festive drink!

Finally got to sample Partida’s new, full line of tequilas today. Color me impressed. No, seriously. Here’s how they shake out.

Partida Blanco - This is a peppery but very clean silver tequila, smooth and perfect for mixing and even for sipping straight in a pinch. Among the best tequilas I’ve tried. A-

Partida Reposado - Very similar to the Blanco. A pale yellow, lighter than most Reposados. It has a bit more bite than the Blanco and a light woodiness reflecting its cask aging. I like it almost as much as the Blanco, but not quite. A-

Partida Añejo - The Cadillac of Añejo tequilas as far as I’m concerned, and my new favorite “sipping” tequila. This is an incredibly smooth Añejo, oaky and aged in Jack Daniels barrels, giving it a complexity and lushness that you don’t get in most tequilas of any age. A strong sweetness on the finish gives it a fruitiness that’s, again, uncommon in this liquor. Tequila fans will need to put this on a must-try list, immediately. A

Now for the bad news: None of these are what I’d describe as cheap. You pay for quality, especially in the tequila world, it seems. (Feeling rich? There’s a $330 bottle called Elegante Extra Añejo that even I haven’t gotten to try…)

Partida Blanco : A- / $40
Partida Reposado: A- / $50
Partida Añejo: A / $62
partidatequila.com