Review: Patrón Reposado Tequila    87.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on June 27, 2012

Patron Tequila is a pure 100% Blue Weber Agave Tequila made from agave grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. This Agave is 6 to 7 years old when harvested, and the heart of the plant or the piña is all that is used. These piñas are cut and slowly steamed in traditional masonry ovens for 79 hours. The steamed piñas are then shredded and placed into a traditional stone pit, where they are broken into finer pieces with large stone milling wheels called “Tahonas”. The resulting juice is fermented for 72 hours in a wooden fermentation vat, and distilled twice in copper pot stills.

Patrón Reposado Tequila is a blend of unique tequilas which have been aged in oak barrels for an average of six months. I received a sample bottle of the Patron Silver Tequila from Diamond Estates Wine and Spirits, who are the local distributor Patron Spirits.

In the Bottle 4.5/5

To the left is a J-peg photo of Patrón Reposado Tequila provided to me by Diamond Estates Wine and Spirits. The bottle is similar in shape to many of the Tequila bottles I have seen.  The labeling is simple but not unattractive. I like that the bottle is sealed with a nice cork which gives me that nice satisfying ‘pop’ when I open it. According to the Patron Website, each bottle of Patrón Reposado is made from recycled glass and hand-numbered.

Things are nice, and I have no real quibbles.

In the Glass 9/10

I poured out a sample of the Patrón Tequila into my glencairn glass and began with a good look at the spirit before I began to nose it. It is a very pale straw coloured spirit with only a smidgen of colour drawn from the oak barrels which housed it for about six months. I gave the glass a light tilt and a slow swirl and discovered that a light sheen of tequila on the inside of the glass was slowly giving up some moderately skinny legs. Everything is as it should be for a Reposado Tequila.

When I brought the glass to my nose, light scents of caramel and mildly punky agave were rising from the glass, and he initial aroma is very enticing. As the glass sits some light scents of sandalwood develop and some hints of honey and vanilla. The decanted glass has a nice ‘earthy’ aroma with fruity accents of broiled zucchini and oven baked squash softening the more pungent agave and muting the peppery spice we usually encounter in a highland tequila.

In the Mouth 53/60

My tasting notes include descriptors like honeyed caramel sweetness, soft ‘earthy’ oven baked squash, sweet green peppers, hot white pepper, sprinkles of sandalwood, and a hint of vanilla. But a list of descriptors does not really give us an understanding of how these flavours interact with each other. It turns out that the Patrón Reposado Tequila is a bit of a dichotomous spirit which begins to act in one direction, but then takes a sharp turn in another as you take your first sip.

The tequila enters the mouth with the sweetness of caramel and softness of earthy agave; however, very quickly the sharp bite of peppery spices catches your attention and reminds you that this Tequila is only six months removed from its younger sibling the Patrón Silver. The contrast between the softness of the agave at the front of the palate, and the sharpness of the pepper at the back of the palate is quite startling, but at the same time, I have to say it is also quite delightful. The key to why this works is that honey caramel sweetness which I listed as my first descriptor. This sweetness actually lingers throughout the tasting experience from beginning to end and acts as a bridge connecting the two disparate experiences of soft earthy agave and hot spicy pepper together. Despite the contrast from entry to exit, there is harmony in the experience, and (as I said earlier) a certain amount of delight.

In the Throat 12.5/15

The exit as indicated above is full of peppery spice. There is also a moderate burn that accompanies the hot spice; but there is also a nice lingering sweetness of honey and caramel which outlasts the heat and leaves a positive final impression.

The Afterburn 8.5/10

The Patrón Reposado was a nice jump up from the previously reviewed Patrón Silver (which is itself a nice Tequila) . The Reposado is much more sippable, and that lingering sweetness in the finish leaves such a positive impression that it is easy to take another sip.

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 Recipe:

Bright Orange for the Shroud

2 oz Patrón Reposado Tequila
1 oz Orange Curacao
splash of Grenadine
ice
3 oz Orange and Mango Soda (Koala brand works great)
Orange slice

Place the first three ingredients into a metal shaker with ice
Shake until the sides of the shaker frosts
Strain into a large glass full of ice
Complete with Orange and Mango Soda
Garnish with a slice of Orange
Enjoy

Note: This cocktail continues my series of Tequila cocktails named after the Travis McGee novels of American author John D. MacDonald. I have always like the Travis McGee novels, and the titles of these novels just seem to me to be particularly well suited to be also the names of great tequila cocktails.

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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)