100% Agave | Aged In Oak For Three Months PROTECTED APPELLATION OF ORIGIN MADE IN MEXICO
Origin: Zacatecas. Agave tequilana
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Mezcal (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Sweet, vegetal with green pepper, touch of vanilla and honey, only a hint of cigar smoke and a bit of detergent. Palate: Viscous, sweet with vanilla, a touch of corn and honey. Finish: Short and drying, sweet with honey, vanilla and roasted corn. Comments: Very similar to the Luminar Mezcal Joven, except with bits of vanilla and honey. In color, this has just a subtle, golden hue. Also similar is the noticeable absence of smoke. While I liked this better than the Joven, that’s not a ringing endorsement.
100% Agave PROTECTED APPELLATION OF ORIGIN MADE IN MEXICO
Origin: Zacatecas. Agave tequilana
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Mezcal (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Sweet, vegetal with fresh but mild green pepper, only a hint of cigar smoke. Palate: Viscous, sweet with a vegetal note and a hint of corn and honey. Finish: Short and drying, sweet with roasted corn. Comments: Picked up a 50 mL of this along with two other Luminar offerings. Some of the reviews I’ve read on this called out that it is more like a tequila than a mezcal. While not terribly familiar with either, this definitely isn’t smokey like I’ve come to expect with mezcal. Pretty uninspiring and forgettable.
40% ABV $130 Website We would like to thank Luxco and BYRNE PR for sending us a sample to review.
What the Producer Says
To celebrate and honor El Mayor’s 25th anniversary, Master Distiller Rodolfo Gonzalez selected 25 barrels of the distillery’s oldest stock to create a unique, limited-edition tequila: El Mayor Extra Añejo Bourbon Barrel Aged. The ultra-premium tequila is aged for 39 months in American Oak bourbon barrels and distilled from Blue Weber agave from the valley area of Jalisco, Mexico. A limited allocation of approximately 6,000 bottles will be available at a suggested retail price of $129.99 per 750-ml. bottle. Distilled and produced at Destiladora Gonzalez Lux in Arandas, Mexico, the limited-edition tequila will be available nationwide in July 2023.
“This limited-edition Extra Añejo tequila is the culmination of 25 years of knowledge, expertise and innovation,” said Graciela Gonzalez, fourth-generation distiller and daughter of Rodolfo Gonzalez. “The result is an extraordinarily smooth, well-balanced tequila with elegant oak hints, baking spices and dried fruit on the nose and palate. It’s a gorgeous expression worthy of marking such a significant milestone.”
The El Mayor 25th Anniversary Extra Añejo Bourbon Barrel Aged bottle features a silver label and embossed detail around the neck. It is packaged in an attractive black box with silver markings that complement the label.
“The tequila category is experiencing a meteoric rise, fueled by award-winning brands like El Mayor,” said Chelsi Hofmeister, brand manager for El Mayor. “This latest 25th Anniversary Extra Añejo tequila is sure to be sought after by those who recognize and appreciate exceptional tequila.”
For recipes and more information about El Mayor and the limited-edition 25th Anniversary Extra Añejo Bourbon Barrel Aged tequila, or to find a retailer, visit elmayor.com or follow the brands @elmayortequila on Facebook and Instagram.
What Gary Says
DISCLAIMER: I’m a whisk(e)y enthusiast, and not familiar with Tequila (so read at your own risk!) Nose: Vanilla, agave, vegetal note, hint of tangerine and nutmeg. Palate: Thick mouthfeel with agave nectar, apples, vanilla, touch of cinnamon and a bit earthy. Finish: Short to moderate in length with honey, dried fruit and pepper. Comments: Not a tequila aficionado by any stretch, but of my limited experience, I found this to be quite nice. As a bourbon fan, you definitely get that influence which I appreciate. And this made a fabulous margarita!
Broken Barrel x Black Hjerte Collaboration Collection
Blended Rye Whiskey Finished With Coffee Liqueur Barrel Staves
53.5% ABV $95 Website We would like to thank Broken Barrel Whiskey Co. and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.
What the Producer Says
Broken Barrel’s newest release, Black Hjerte, an industry first, showcases a blended Rye Whiskey finished in two types of coffee liqueur barrels from Laurel Canyon Spirits. The result of both masterful blending by the company’s founder, Seth Benhaim, along with his sourcing of Laurel Canyon’s Black Hjerte Barrel-Aged Coffee Liqueur Barrels, is a warm and inviting whiskey that ushers in the winter months unlike any whiskey produced before. The blend features both Kentucky Straight Rye and Kentucky-distilled Light Whiskey, offering a truly exceptional tasting experience. The Oak Bill combines 2/3 of its staves from the standard Black Hjerte Coffee Liqueur, while the remaining 1/3 features staves from a limited-edition Blood Orange Coffee Liqueur barrel.
As soon as the golden amber spirit hits the glass, the aromas conjure an alluring blend of roasted coffee, vanilla, buttercream, and charred oak.
On the palate, the whiskey is a symphony of flavors that begin sweet, with caramelized sugar and orange zest notes, intertwined with rich and mildly bitter coffee notes. The result is a beautifully balanced fusion of coffee liqueur and whiskey, where the spirit’s underlying grain and vanilla tones gracefully share the spotlight with the coffee’s deep, earthy complexity. The finish is velvety and enduring, with a lingering and warming citrus sweetness from the blood orange liqueur staves.
Intended to be sipped neat or used to craft a ultra-premium cocktail, this coffee liqueur finished whiskey barrels guarantees a one-of-a-kind taste profile that is to be expected from Broken Barrel Whiskey, upholding their 2023 Icons of Whiskey – Brand Innovator of the Year title.
Nose: Oak with medium-dark roasted coffee, smoke, cigar paper, a hint of vanilla and toffee. Palate: Caramel, blood orange, coffee liqueur, vanilla, nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon. Finish: Short to moderate in length, drying with coffee, cinnamon, caramel and pepper. Comments: The coffee liqueur influence is nice, and the blood orange shines through on the palate. A bit of water brought out hints of maple and salted caramel on the nose, and brought those forward on the palate as well. I enjoyed sipping on this. I did find the underlying base whiskey to be overpowered. I inquired more into the whiskey and appreciate their disclosing that the rye is 3.5 years old (distilled by Owensboro, a 95% rye mash bill w/ 5% malted barley) and the light whiskey is 6 years old (distilled by Beam, a 99% corn and 1% malted barley mash bill). The mix is right around 50% rye (although somewhere there’s a typo because no ratio of those mash bills result in posted end result; and Owensboro does make a 95/5 rye). In any event, the coffee liqueur is dominant and I don’t pick up any rye whiskey notes (although to be fair, a blend of the two without any finishing staves might come across like a bourbon, and there are some bourbon notes on the palate). Often I criticize when the finish is ‘heavy handed’ – but I think for this brand, the finish IS the point. And like I said, I enjoyed it, which ultimately is what matters most!
Straight American Whiskey Finished with Broken Barrel Staves
55% ABV $80 Website We would like to thank Broken Barrel Whiskey Co. and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.
What the Producer Says
Broken Barrel Whiskey is excited to announce its latest offering of Single Barrel whiskeys – a return of its immensely popular Honey Smoke [2022], with some slight updates to the offering and a sizable increase in its distribution and accessibility. Building off the 2022 release of the Honey Smoke Rye (101 Proof, 180 Bottles), the new single barrels of Honey Smoke Reserva will feature a Kentucky-distilled American Whiskey, bottled at 110 Proof with a 6-Year age statement. The whiskey has also updated the Oak Bill to blend both Honey Barrel staves with Texas Sotol barrel staves, providing an even deeper, earthier and smokier complexity than last year’s release. The older whiskey, higher proof and longer finishing time (now over 5 months) lend to an all-around masterpiece that promises to be one of the most distinctive tasting spirits every produced. The new Oak Bill provides another industry-first for Broken Barrel, using Sotol and Honey in combination to finish a Kentucky whiskey, which has never been done before. On the nose, the earth and terroir of the sotol hog the spotlight, while the sweetness of honey waits patiently in the glass to be discovered when sipped. With the earthy complexity of barrel aged Texas sotol, a truly extraordinary elixir offers the senses both enchanting aromas of honeycomb sweetness mixed with charcoal and woodiness. On the palate, a remarkable flavor unfolds with familiar hints of vanilla and spice, harmonized beautifully with golden honey sweetness that balanced the grain and oak. The smoke underpins the entire experience with a constant but never overwhelming presence that separates this whiskey from traditional bourbons and ryes. It is a fascinating union, creating a compounding unique flavor profile, departing from last year’s release that had vegetal and floral notes. The finish is a testament to the brand’s innovative genius, leaving lasting impressions of sweet, spice and warming smoky flavors. These single barrels are expected to move quickly and can be found in select states and online retailers.
Mash Bill: 99% Corn 1% Malted Barley
Oak Bill™ 50% Ex-Honey Barrel 50% Ex-Sotol Barrel
What Gary Says
Nose: Soft, subtle, charred oak, smoke, earthy with a hint of vanilla in back. Palate: Creamy mouthfeel with vanilla, honey, allspice, nutmeg and a pepper bite at the end. Finish: Moderate in length, wet and syrupy with honey and smoke. Comments: The heavy corn mashbill is a good choice for the honey and Sotol barrel staves (a bourbon or rye might have dominated the finishing with barely a hint). This is a nice, unique whiskey. A bit of water brings out cornflakes by a campfire on the nose, and on the palate it brings out more vanilla and a touch of caramel. While there is a bit of smoke on this, I wouldn’t call this ‘smokey’ necessarily. Someone who appreciates an Islay whisky might argue this isn’t smokey, but if you’re comparing this to a corn whiskey – there’s definitely more smoke and earthy notes.
