Add This To Your Liquor Cabinet: El Tesoro de Don Felipe Añejo

Tequila is an undeniable part of modern pop culture and is one of the few spirits with rising sales.

Spirits including vodka and gin strive for smoothness, for a gentle and almost neutral flavor that hides the taste of alcohol and the origin of the ingredients. Like fine brandies, the best tequilas aim to bring to the glass as much flavor from the plant and soil as possible — what the French call “gout de terroire.” Made in Mexico from the blue agave (which looks like an oversized aloe vera plant and is often mistaken for a cactus, but is actually a relative of the lily), tequila has earthy, herbaceous flavors that set it apart from all other spirits.

Expensive tequila should mean top-shelf tequila. Make sure it is made from 100 percent blue agave and bottled at the source. It should also be “reposado,” which literally means “rested,” or “anejo,” which means “extra-aged” and implies that it has been aged from two to 12 months for the reposado tequila and over 12 months for the anejo tequila. Mexican laws make it very difficult to lie about the contents of a bottle, so if you know what to look for, you can be assured you are purchasing a quality product.

Expensive tequila, more than any other type of tequila, can be drunk straight. It should have a richness and complexity of flavor that you will want to enjoy on its own. Mixing it with juices and blended mixers is certainly not a crime, but you might consider using more moderately priced tequilas for these types of drinks.

In our search for a quality tequila, we found that El Tesoro passed our quality inspection tests and lived up to our standards. In Spanish, el tesoro means “the treasure”. El Tesoro is created from 100% blue agave that is grown in the mountains of Jalisco, Mexico. They have been making tequila for over 70 years and the consumer is only the better for it.

El Tesoro de Don Felipe Añejo with its remarkably full and balanced flavor, has been described by many connoisseurs as one of the world’s finest sipping tequilas. Mexican law requires Añejo (“year”) tequila to age for at least one year. El Tesoro Añejo is aged two to three years in oak barrels. El Tesoro de Don Felipe is the last of its kind. This work of art is the only tequila still produced entirely in the old traditional method: by hand. Any tequila lover will have to have this bottle in their collection.