Review: El Jimador Silver Tequila   (83.5/100)
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
July 16, 2018

El Jimador Tequila is owned by Brown-Froman. The Brand is produced thirty miles from Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, in the town of Amatitan, at Brown – Forman Tequila Distillery Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. which is also referred to as Hacienda Herradura. The Hacienda also produces the more premium Herradura brand as well as Suave 35 and Antiguo. The Jimador tequila is named to pay homage to the jimadors who harvest agave. After it is harvested, the agave is cooked in clay ovens. The juice is extracted after cooking using steel bladed shredders after which it is distilled on old copper pot stills.

Because Hacienda Herradura is located in the Central Lowlands of Jalisco rather than in the Highlands we can expect a more earthy style of tequila than which would be produced in the Highlands where the agave tends to produce a spirit with higher citrus notes and a sharper squeal of peppery spice.

El Jimador Silver is an unaged tequila bottled between 35 % and 40 % alcohol by volume depending upon the market the spirit is intended for. My Sample bottle produced for the Canadian Market (and the USA Market) was bottled at 40 % abv..

In The Bottle 4.5/5

To the left is a bottle shot of el Jimador Silver Tequila. The spirit arrives in a tall rectangular bottle sealed with a black metal screw cap. Embossed upon the front is a rendition of a mexican jimador harvesting agave. The bottom label is simple and attractive.

I like the long neck on the bottle which makes pouring easier, and the embossed jimador serves a dual purpose making the bottle easier to hold and grip. El Jimador is priced very moderately in my locale, and the presentation serves to elevate the spirit beyond others in its price category.

In the Glass  8.5/10

As an unaged spirit el Jimador Silver is clear in the glass with no hint of colour at all. When I tilted my glass and gave it a twirl, I noticed the spirit was only lightly oily as the crest dropped skinny legs which disappeared relatively quickly.

The breezes above the glass brought me nice citrus notes (lime in particular) which were joined by an earthy agave scent which seemed to hint at boiled celery and baked squash (maybe some grilled pineapple as well). There is a sort of raw vegetal note which is typical of lowland agave as well as hints of black pepper, and a mild menthol note. Punky balsam wood and light undefined herbal notes round out the nose which certainly is more pleasant than my descriptors might lead you to believe.

In the Mouth 50.5/60

The entry into the mouth brings me a mixture or punky lowland agave flavours (fruity agave, baked squash and grilled pineapple), smokey black pepper, and mild citrus (lemon and lime).  There is a touch of ‘rawness’ which reminds me of the vegetal taste of new-make spirit which has been cut wide on the distillation. This ‘new-make’ quality makes the spirit a little difficult to enjoy as a sipper although I did find that a touch of ice helped enormously.

I decided that I should try a few cocktails and began with a Paloma. The combination of grapefruit and lime works very well with the Jimador and I was pleased that the agave flavours within the spirit pushed through the tall cocktail rather well. I decided to use the same combination in a Margarita style cocktail (recipe here). Again I was quite pleased; I preferred the Paloma, but that very well could have been just a reflection of my thirst (it was a hot day). Both cocktails were quite nice; but it was a hot day and so I decided my serving suggestion for the silver agave spirit should be a tall serving (see recipe suggestion below).

In the Throat 12/15

The spirit sits between light and medium bodied and therefore the exit is lengthened only slightly. Herbaceous agave linger upon the palate, however there is perhaps also a touch of alcohol burn and vegetal roughness in the throat. When I made cocktails, this ‘roughness’ disappears.

The Afterburn 8.5/10

Adding up my scores, I fear I have been too harsh in the review. So I bumped my score for the delivery and here in my final comments just a little. El Jimador is a fine silver tequila with a lightly smokey and mild earthy, herbaceous flavour profile which results in nice agave forward cocktails.

You may read some of my other Tequila Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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Recommended Serving

This mixed drink is an agave take on the popular gin cocktail, the Tom Collins. The recipe is simple, Tequila, lemon juice, agave syrup, and soda. Because the Juan Collins is such a simple drink to mix, it is a favourite for afternoon lawn parties or Sunday afternoon barbecues.

Juan Collins

1 1/2 oz. El Jimador Silver Tequila
1 oz Lemon juice
1/2 oz Agave Nectar
Ice
2 oz. Sparkling Water or Club Soda
Lemon Wedge

Add Ice to a tall serving glass
Pour the tequila, lemon juice, and agave nectar into the glass
Top with club soda
Stir Gently
Garnish with a citrus wedge

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)