Review: Hornitos Reposado Tequila

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 12, 2011

Hornitos Reposado Tequila is a 100 % Agave Tequila produced by the Sauza Tequila Import Company located in Tequila, a municipality of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The Tequila is the creation of Don Francisco Havier Sauza (Don Franco), a third generation member of the Sauza family who founded the La Preseverancia, distillery. Don Franco is credited with helping the Mexican Government to establish the Jalisco region of Mexico as the exclusive origin of genuine tequila in 1974. Hornitos was reported to be Don Franco’s favourite tequila. Unlike other spirits which proudly boast of a maturation period in small oak barrels to ensure heavy contact between the spirit and the oak, Don Franco’s Hornitos spirit is different. The Hornitos Reposado is aged in large 10,000 gallon oak ‘pipones’ to ensure limited contact with the wood during maturation such that the agave flavour remains as pure as is possible in a reposado spirit.

And this concept of minimal wood contact may have some merit. I have spoken with many Tequila aficionados who insist that aging Tequila in oak damages the spirit rather than enhances it. These Tequila connoisseurs are looking for that pure agave expression which Hornitos Reposado promises. Sauza is now part of Beam Global Spirits, and it was the Beam Global Team here in Alberta who made a sample of Hornitos Reposado available to me such that I could provide this review. Here is an excerpt from that review:

“…The initial nose is full of spicy herbal agave fruit. It is a powerful, earthy smell that pours out of the glass growing deeper and stronger as you allow the tequila to breathe. White pepper scents and tart green apples reach the breezes along with grilled pineapple and lemons to round out the nose which is robust and anything but laid back. The scents and aromas from my glass interest me, but I sense a strong warning in those breezes. This is going to be intense…”

You may read the full review here: