Review: Adictivo Tequila Añejo   81/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Published December 07, 2020

Tequila Adictivo was founded by Gildardo Partida, a third generation ‘tequileros’ from San Diego whose family apparently has a rich tradition of tequila manufacture and distribution which reaches back over 100 years. Adictivo Tequila was formerly produced at Tequilas Gonzalez Lara, S.A. de C.V. Distillery, (NOM 1560 CRT) in Los Vallos (the lowlands) at El Arenal, Jalisco. Knowing that the spirit is produced in the lowlands, gives us a clue as to its taste profile. Lowland grown agave will usually bring more earthy/punky fruit flavours through the distillation than highland agave which tends to bring more citrus-like fruit flavours through the distillation as well as a light squeal of white pepper. Of course Lowland distilleries may source their agave from the Highlands and vice versa or even use both styles of agave in their production of tequila.

Adictivo Tequila Anejo is an aged or ‘rested’ tequila spirit produced from agave pinas which have been baked in traditional brick ovens, with the juice extracted with a Stone Roller Mill. The cooked agave juice is twice distilled before being aged for 2 years in French oak barrels. Depending upon the market the spirit is exported to, the bottling proof may be anywhere from 35 to 40 % abv..

My sample bottle was bottled at 40 %.

Note: Recently, there has been a change and Adictivo Tequila is now produced at Tequilera Puerta de Hierro (Leticia Hermosillo Ravelero), (Nom 1477) which is also located  in Los Vallos (the lowlands) at El Arenal, in Jalisco Mexico. Gildardo Partida also founded the Lote Maestro which is produced at the same facility. My sample bottle is identified with the NOM, 1560 indicating it was produced at the older facility. This is reflective of the spirit in my market in Alberta.

In The Bottle 5/5

The bottles for Adictivo Tequila are stylish decanters which exhibit a touch of feminine class which is unusual in the tequila category. The bottle is sealed with a glass topped synthetic plastic cork stopper which adds to the ambiance of the bottle. An interesting feature of the glass stopper is that it is hollow and filled with tequila as well. So when your bottle is empty, the last shot can be obtained by removing a plastic stopper from the bottom of the stopper. The label tells us that this is a 100 % agave spirit.

In the Glass 8/10

Colour: Amber

Legs: Mid-sized legs which amble slowly

Nose: Sweet agave fruit, honey and butterscotch, very light on the pepper, with grilled pineapple and flower blossoms underneath. This is very inviting, but it seems to be sweetened to the point that the white peppery spice so typical of tequila has been subjugated

In the Mouth 48/100

The entry into the mouth is soft and somewhat sweet with the typical flavours of agave fruit and spice muted to some extent by that sweetness, and perhaps by some sort of filtration of the spirit as noted in my review for the Adictivo Plata (see here). In fact there is almost no spice to speak of which I am sure is going to disappoint many aficionados of the spirit.

My first thought when I tasted the Adictivo Anejo was that I was tasting a liqueur and not a hard spirit. Persons with a preference for sweetened spirits will like this tequila will like a lot, but connoisseurs of the spirit will not.

In the Throat 12/15

Smooth and sweet, but perhaps a little boring, as most of the agave thrust is missing.

The Afterburn 8/10

I have given the Adictivo Tequila Anejo somewhat positive scores throughout the review; but the point has to be made that this is not a tequila for tequila lovers. Although the flavour is pleasant, the sweetness of this anejo brings to mind a spirit that is more of a liqueur than a sipping tequila. This will be too sweet for the true tequila enthusiast.

Note: If  you are interested in more of my cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

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You may (loosely) interpret the scores 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 Tequila.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, (we are probably still cocktail in 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 delicious cocktails!
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)