Review: Leyenda del Milagro Reposado Tequila   90/100
A review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Published July 09, 2018

Leyenda del Milagro Reposado Tequila is produced from estate-grown 100% Blue Weber Agave harvested from the highlands of Jalisco. As a highland tequila,we can expect the Milagro Tequila to exhibit strong fruity citrus notes and to have a little hot pepper in the delivery and in the finish. (This is as opposed to lowland tequila which has stronger earthier flavours of agave and less hot pepper.)

The spirit is produced at Tequilera Milagro, S.A. de C.V. (Nom 1559) where the agave is roasted in brick ovens made from the same volcanic-rich soil where the highland agave flourishes in Jalisco. The roasted agave is shredded to extract the cooked juice which (unlike other tequila brands which are double distilled) is triple distilled in a Copper Pot Still. This makes Milagro Reposado Tequila a lighter spirit than we would typically expect.

Although Reposados are typically aged for two months, Milagro Reposado is aged in American oak whiskey barrels for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 6 months. The final spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume for the Canadian market.

In the Bottle 4/5

The bottle presentation for the Milagro Tequila is shown to the left. The top and bottom of the bottle is tinted a reddish-brown colour which fades to clear in the middle. The labeling at the bottom  is much easier to read than is shown by the bottle shot, and the tall bottle is sealed with a wood topped natural cork stopper. The wide neck makes pouring easier as well.

Although I like the presentation, it doesn’t really fit my idea of what a tequila bottle should look like. It’s tall narrow shape makes it somewhat unstable (I like short squat tequila bottles), and the design seems more suited to a liqueur than a hard spirit. I have reservations about the corkage which on my bottle was spongy. I probably would not have commented on this, but my sample bottle of Milagro Anejo Mezcal which has the same design and corkage suffered an extreme failure of the cork when I tried to open it, The spongy cork pretty much disintegrated when the bottle was opened for the first time and I had to strain cork remnants out of the spirit and reseal it with one of my spare corks. A denser cork, or better yet, a synthetic cork would be better.

In the Glass 9/10

I poured out a small sample of the Milagro Reposado into my glencairn glass and began my review with a good look at the tequila before I began to nose it. It is a pale straw coloured spirit consistent with a Reposado Tequila which would spend between three and six months in oak barrels. I gave my glass a light tilt and a slow swirl and discovered a light sheen of tequila left on the inside of the glass which gave up a  skinny legs. This is consistent with expectations.

When I brought the glass to my nose I discovered a lightly sweet, mildly punky agave aroma lifting from the glass. There is a savory quality with fruity smells reminiscent of baked butternut squash. This is complemented by light caramel, hints of oak, some scattered black pepper and citrus zest. There is also a lovely earthy quality which brings me impressions of black licorice and angelica as well as oolong tea.

This is a very good beginning.

In the Mouth 54.5/60

The reposado tequila has a light buttery texture which coats the palate and tongue allowing the flavours to spread out and linger. I taste earthy agave, complemented by light flavours of oak spice, vanilla, caramel nuts, and baking spice. There is also a very nice (although also very mild) briny note which gives the spirit a mineral-like mouth feel. Of course we also taste the earthy agave which brings light flavours of grilled pineapple and zucchini to the palate. The spirit is definitely smooth enough to sip on its own or over ice.

Although the tequila is listed as a highland agave spirit it nonetheless brings a  savory earthy quality which reminds me of lowland tequila. So I decided to mix a Picador rather than a Margarita as I have found that lowland tequila loves lemon juice more than lime (maybe its me who loves the lemon). My choice was good as the cocktail was very appealing. I decided to travel a little farther down this path and created a ‘cosmopolitan’ style cocktail next mixing cranberry and lemon juice with the Milagro Reposado Tequila (see recipe below).

In The Throat 13.5/15

The medium bodied tequila has a lengthened smooth finish with lingering herbal flavours of rich agave complemented by citrus and a light nutty quality. Hints of Oolang tea and scattered oak spice provide a touch of bitter dryness which is most welcome.

The Afterburn 9/10

Leyenda del Milagro Reposado Tequila was a treat to sip and to mix cocktails with. Although not mentioned earlier the agave spirit also makes an outstanding Tequila Old Fashioned which speaks to its quality and depth of flavour. This one is a keeper for my premium spirits shelf.

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

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Suggested Cocktails

One of the modern classic cocktails I love to work with is the Cosmopolitan which mixes Vodka and Orange Liqueur with Cranberry and Lime juice. It is an excellent serving which never fails to please my friends when we have our Vodka Tastings. A few years ago, I came upon the idea of tweaking the Cosmopolitan using Tequila as its base rather than Vodka when I created a recipe I call Metro Mexico. This time I tweaked it once again adding grapefruit bitters and swapping out the lime for lemon juice.

I called this new recipe, Metro Fancy.

Metro Fancy

1 1/2 oz. Milagro Reposado Tequila
1/2 oz.  Bols Triple Sec
1/2 oz. Cranberry Juice
1/2 ounce Lemon Juice
Tsp of  Sugar Syrup (1:1 ratio)
dash Grapefruit Bitters
ice
Citrus Peel

Add the first six ingredients into a metal cocktail shaker with ice
Shake until the outside of the shaker begins to frost
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with a citrus coil

Please Enjoy Responsibly!

If  you are interested in more of my original 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)