De la Tierre (Maple Liqueur Tequila)  81.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on June 24, 2012

De la Tierre is an interesting fusion of 100% Blue Weber Agave Reposado Tequila, Pure Amber Maple Syrup, and flavours extracted from Ceylon Cinnamon Bark. The Reposado Tequila used is distilled in a copper pot still and aged in American Whiskey barrels; the natural Maple Syrup is preservative free and contains no GMOs or artificial flavors; and the flavours extracted from the Ceylon Cinnamon Bark are extracted through a distillation process in copper stills from off-grade bark, leaves and roots.

I received a sample of the De la Tierre from Pure Global Imports, who are the local distributor for this product

In the Bottle 4/5

De La Tierre Maple Tequila Liqueur arrives in the squat, clear, rectangular glass bottle pictured to the left. The bottle and the label are satisfactory, they do not ‘pop’ out at you; but neither do they blend into the background unnoticed.

In the Glass 8/10

The tequila liqueur displays as a golden straw coloured liquid in the glass. The maple syrup gives the spirit a heavy body, and the initial aroma rising from the glass is a nice mixture of maple syrup and agave. If the glass is allowed to sit the smell of cinnamon soon joins, and over time it begins to dominates the breezes above the glass. I like the triad of cinnamon, maple and agave, and nosing the glass is nice and pleasant.

In the Mouth 49/60

I find the flavour very interesting. The maple and cinnamon flavours lead out with the nice fruity/earthy agave flavour  not far behind. The spirit has a nice kick of heat which stems both from the hot pepper of the agave and the cinnamon. There is just enough maple syrup to ease that heat across the palate. When I was a kid, I used to chew on wooden toothpicks that had been infused with cinnamon, and I can taste that woody cinnamon flavour here. Obviously the oak flavours in the reposado tequila are revealing themselves.

In the Throat 12.5/15

The finish is nice and spicy with hot white pepper and pungent cinnamon doing a dance down the throat. The palate and the throat are left heated. The maple syrup provides some welcome sweetness in the finish, and it also coats the palate and the throat ensuring this lovely spicy heat lingers.

The Afterburn 8/10

The De la Tierre is a very pleasant indulgence. I find I like to have a small sip in a brandy snifter after supper when I am relaxing on my back deck in the evening, and I even tried some on vanilla ice-cream and again it was very pleasant. This is not a complicated indulgence, it is more of a simple pleasure. For a guy like me, simple pleasure are often enough.

You may read some of my other reviews of  Liqueurs and Flavoured Spirits (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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My Scores are out of 100 and you may (loosely) interpret them as follows:

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing spirit.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails.)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+            Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)