You are listening to another episode of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast, back in your feed, fresh on the heels of our bourbon-tasted blind, most recent value bourbon. That was great, Dan. That was good. I, no joke, I bought JW Dan and Old Granddad 100 that day. Oh yeah, that JW Dan was great. And let me tell you something, it's gone. Oh, there you go. What was that? Two days ago. Those were great bottles. I absolutely bought them. So you're here again and it's going to cost me money. Oh, sorry about that. Except this time it's going to cause me money too. Oh yeah. Lexi has serious opinions this time. Maybe. Because we're tasting Agave spirits, we're tasting tequila. Dan brought 48 bottles, but we don't have time for that. That's a four part series. Part one starts now. You brought Blanco and Repo and Añejo? Yeah, so it's budget tequilas. I tried to keep under $40. Nice. And we do have all three of the major categories you'll find on our shelves are under that price point. So if you're looking to save a little money this summer when you're mixing up your Palomas, this is a good episode to listen to and keep on file. Unlike last time, this time we're going to taste them in chunks. First we're going to do Blancos, then we're going to do Reposados, and then we're going to do Añejos. Yes. All right, I'm Greg. I do communications at Binny's. I'm Dan. I work in spirits. Hey, I'm Chris. I do wine. Hey, I'm Roger. I work in beer. I'm Lexi. I work in social. Jim, from the future, I'm going to be telling you which tequilas they're trying as we go along. Number one. Luna Azul Blanco Tequila. We have samples. Already the past round. What do we got here, Blanco? We got Blanco, blind. We don't know what it is. We don't know what it is. Let's talk about it. It smells like Blanco Tequila. It does. I mean, it clearly has a Gavet character shining through here. I'm taking better notes this time, because I want to be in the second half of the conversation. Yeah, it's La Citrus, fresh agave. Real youthful. Very fiery youth. A fiery youthful. I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, whoa. You don't know what I'm talking about. It's like peppery. It's very peppery. Peppery and spicy with a lime candy quality all the way through. Yeah. It's an aggressive profile, I would say. It has a minty vodka freshness too. It's got some herbalness to it, yeah. Yeah. Not the Lexi Seal of Approval. This is a mixer. Yeah. It's a mixer. It tastes like something that- Wait, what? Roger's on this one? I think that's the longest Roger's got without talking. It tastes like something that you go up and you go, can I just have a shot of tequila? And they're like, yeah, here you go. No, like, can I have eight shots of tequila to pass them to all my friends? Not even that. Just one for me. One shot. Yeah. And then you also ask the bartender, do you want anyone with me? They're like, what kind of tequila do you want? And you're like, well, and they're like, all right, one more shot of tequila. This is the tequila that I would use for when I'm drinking my Palomas at home, but I'm not putting any effort in and just using Fever Tree Grapefruit, which by the way, is an amazing hack and I recommend it to everybody. Oh yeah, it's delicious. But you just throw this together with that. Easy. Wait, how else do you make a Paloma? Grapefruit juice, lime and sugar. What? Make your own soda. Most people use squirt or Fresca. Yeah. I've made them with grapefruit juice, lime and simple syrup and then a little soda to freshen it up. For so long. Yeah. I actually had so much of it. You're going to actually make one? I over consumed on Fever Tree Grapefruit. I can't wait because I've never tried this together. So this is going to be the drink of the summer. Oh, it's rad. You've never had a Paloma before. We should grab one. Just not a Fever Tree Paloma. I've always had them. You take the tequila and shake it with all the stuff and then you just top with soda. Oh, what am I? You're the bartender. Why am I talking about this? That's okay. I mean, I think that's still the best way. It's okay to have opinions. Not when someone is smarter than me in the room. Well, then I would never have opinions. I mean, don't forget that for a lot of people, a Paloma is tequila and squirt. Right, I mean. Yes, absolutely. More Haritos, Grapefruit. Yes. Ooh, there you go. That's Mulya's Añejo. All right, just real quick. I want to point out that this tequila is fine. I don't hate it. It's not special. It's not refined, but it's just a shot of tequila. I was going to say that that's exactly what I was going to say. It's a rustic but characterful version of Blanco. I bet it's Hornitos. I bet it's not because I didn't bring Hornitos. Wrong. How about Tequila Numero Dos? Yeah, let's pass them. Pass them. Number two. Cimarron Blanco. I probably should have kept that. Yeah. Yeah, I would recommend drinking half of your thing. Or just getting a refill. A small refill on the number one because I was dumb. This one smells less alive. It's got a vegetal quality, almost savory. Are you alive? Like everyone's alive? But it's still got that. I mean, there's still some agave there. It has that, but I agree with Greg. It's not as lifted. It's a little more muted in the nose. Kind of, I don't want to say dull, but yeah, kind of dull. Totally different mouthfeel. Creamy. It's not as viscous. I was going to say it's a little creamy, a little buttery. It's very sweet, yeah. But it has a tonic back edge bitterness too. Yeah. Quainine bitterness. I prefer the first one. This still has a lot of peppery notes on the finish, but it tastes slightly artificially sweet up front, and it's still just as rustic and not as bright and fresh. It's not that sweet though. Oh, there's some marshmallow vanilla floating above everything. It's just really right up front. There's a hint of sweetness. I just think it's not- No sugar shaming. Not as well. Regardless of the sugar, I think it's not quite as well made as the last one. Jim, can I have a touch, a top off on the number one also for comparison sake? I did it again. Can I have a top off on number two? Shut up. I'm serious. I absentmindedly dumped it. I'm passing what to play. What do you think, Roger? What number is this for Chris? That's number one. Chris also dumped out number two. Oh my God. That might have been a subconscious on purpose. I dumped it down my throat. I did not dump it down my throat. It's in my spit cup. I want this strategy. That's the smart strategy. Roger's making himself a tasting mat. Yeah, that's a lot better. It's better than this mess. It's better than my usual doormat. I don't know. I can count to four three times. Not me. Yeah, but I want it all with it. Two for Chris. Do you need one again, Greg? Yes, please. I need one again, too, as well. Also, Dan needs one again. Iconic. Thank you. We're so smart. Yup. Binny's brain trusts are on the table today. Yeah, they'd really have to close all the stories every time we're doing a podcast episode. Number three. Aguasol Blanco. En Espanol, por favor. Numero tres. Medianoche, all right. Wow, holy vegetable. Medianoche, what else? Midnight Orange, baby. Midnight Orange. Medianoche, all right. That's some excellent vocal fry. Limestone and vegetables. I get lots of fresh lime peel, too. This is really calming. I'm getting Taramana. Taramana, yeah. This is so much more refined than the first two, in my opinion. Is that the Rockstekew? That's a Rockstekewer, right? That's like surprisingly kind of good. Why are you pretending not to know that? It's like one of the blind tasting contest on this very podcast. Yeah. I don't know. It's like a celebrity endorsement. This is a really good- You get nervous. It's really good smelling. I know you have me thinking Taramana. This is a lot of citrus, almost like a limoncello. Yeah. It's fresh, it's bright. The finish is nice. It's got that pepper that the other two had, but it doesn't grip your tongue as much. It's softer. It's much more refined. I'm a fan. I'm a big fan. Yeah. Cool. A little bit of, I don't know, there's a bitterness on the back end here too, but it doesn't feel out of place. It feels natural. Roger, you're suspiciously quiet. What? He's not even here. Where are you, Roger? I wasn't thrilled with that one. I don't know. It was kind of, there was a vodka come, something about it made me think of vodka. It's a little too much ethanol. It was much cleaner and much more refined than the other two, maybe too much. Maybe you like sweetened tequila, Roger. Nothing wrong with that. Okay. Number four. I tend to like reposados better, so numero cuatro. Number four, Lalo Tequila Blanco. Really bright aroma. You hear me out. Cheddar? Cheddar? Greg's getting the cheese. Or cream? Something weird. Something dirty. Yeah. Speaking of a bitter tonic edge to it, I get a lot of bitterness. I get more of that vodka-esque character in this one than the last one. Less agave showing up. Yeah. Weird like herbal, almost bordering on dill. Yeah. Maybe that's the- And there's a wave of marshmallow here too. It's not vanilla though. It's like cotton candy. Yeah. That comes and goes. At least it doesn't stick around till the finish. I thought the aroma to me is super bright and clean. I think this is when you get and you do a shot and you do the, oh, that's not fun. I like that. It catches you off guard a little bit. Yeah, but when I do it, I'm like, oh. Yeah. I feel alive again. Oh, yeah. Yeah, because at first, you're like, oh, I don't know. And then you, you know, guy, that's cool. All right. So that's four Blancos. That's four of them. Should we do a reveal of Blancos? There's almost no suspense now. I know. We should do Repo and then. Do them. Do we want to say which one we like the best? Number three. Which one do you like the best? Consider that for a moment. I'm just kidding. None of these I thought were bad. Number three, I think. Don't start with that caveat. I like number one better than you guys like number one. No, I was going to say my favorites were definitely one and three. I thought two and four were the low points of this. There's nothing offensive about number four. It's just not blowing my socks up. No, there's nothing interesting about it. One was pleasantly rustic and had a lot of character. Yeah, it's like some parental shade. There's nothing interesting about it. It's a bit biting. Well, little child's okay. I wasn't trying to be kind to it because I didn't particularly like it. I didn't like it either. If I go back and try number one again, I like it. No, I'm okay with one. I just think in three, I liked it because it was much more refined. So I've got two ends of the spectrum here, but I think they're the best made of the four. Okay. Raj? I'd say three is probably the most elegant. It's fun to go back to one because it doesn't seem quite as spicy now. It's still pretty spicy though. Even minty. Definitely minty. I guess I said that the first time. Probably three, I guess. I concur with your assessment. You're welcome. I would say three. You're welcome. I accept your apology. I would say three. Yeah. All right. Jimmy, you're going to give us. I'm wondering if there's a Lunazool over there. Not that I tasted one. I just am curious. I haven't had that one in a while. Very affordable. Number one. Lunazool. Oh, that's crazy. Lunazool. Hamhorn. Yeah, super affordable. $21.99 on sale for $21.99 right now. Yeah, good tequila. I don't know if anyone else agrees with this, but I get just the subtlest, phenolic hint a la Mezcal after that. Yeah. Oh. This is, I mean, for the money, it's a good tequila, for sure. I've definitely recommended this over the years. Interesting. You told me to stop drinking that one I was drinking. Because it's triple distilled and it's a little too. And start drinking Corralejo, which I've had exclusively since you shamed me. Yeah. Don't buy triple distilled tequila. You might as well buy vodka. I had no idea. I just. All right. Anyway, what's number two? Wait, sidebar. Lunasol is used in a lot of bar wells, depending on the kind of bar you go to, I guess. Been in a lot of cocktail bars. So if you are buying this one, definitely try it with cocktails, like a Paloma or whatever. Good call. I liked it. I thought it was really good. Number two. Oh. Cimarron. Is that what it says? I can't say. Oh, yes. Cimarron. This is another affordable $24.99. It's made at the same facility that makes Don Fulano, which is one of my favorite brands. Yeah. Tears of Yorona is also made at the same facility. Cimadana. I just realized this. We're this far into this episode. I have no idea what I'm talking about with any of this. I've had so few tequilas. Yeah. The only ones I've had have been hand picks that I've been forced to taste on shows like this throughout the years, and we've never done a value lineup like this, and I'm actually stoked. This is great. Sorry. Did anybody have that as a pick? Cimarron? No idea. No, but I thought it was pretty good. I know it got kind of, everybody thought it was a little too sweet, but- I think it was also paired after the first one, which is almost a little peppery. So to try it right after, it's going to taste sweeter than it probably is. It's going to taste good right now. It's got really nice mouthfeel. We can always go back to it. Yeah. It's like viscous, but not in a really good way. It's viscous. Dan, did you bring any tequila that you're embarrassed of? I don't know yet. Dan doesn't even entirely know. He brought way more than what we're trying, so this is from what Jim picked. Yeah. I don't dislike this one. It is a little sweet, just a hint of sweetness upfront, but it's still peppery and herbal and intense. I like the creaminess, which maybe is from, you know. It does have a rinder, more unctuous mouthfeel than the rest. That's today's word, unctuous. All right. What's three? Number three. Agua Sol. Dang. Yeah. I think we've had this for about a year now. I've never seen this bottle before and it looks like a water bottle. Agreed. I have never ever had this or seen it. Get it? This one is water and espanol, Greg. Sun water. And it's meat. Shut up. It's on the upper end of the price point we're reaching for. It's $39.99. Well, I love it. And it's great tequila. It's by the same folks that do Cascawine. That's why it's good. A fantastic bottle if you're looking to spend a little more money. How come I've never even seen this before? I'm not insane. Yeah, I'm wondering that too. The Repo is. Yeah, good one. That's a good one. Anyway, by far the most refined of the tastes. Yep. Cool. Number four. Oh, I've never had this. Lalo. Lalo. Yeah, this is another. I've drank a lot of Lalo. Lalo. Lalo. Lalo. Lalo. Named after the grandson of Don Julio, who distills the tequila. Well, Don Julio, I don't think he's with us anymore. He's for a long time now. So his grandson did grow up. He's a grandson that likes to say aww. Yeah, he's like 80. I don't know how you distill wrapped in swaddling clothes. That's how they do it. L-A-L-O. L-A-L-O. Okay. Oh, did I say the price? This one's actually $44.99. Does go on sale for under $40. Fairly often though. All right, Repo, Repo-zado. As Jim works to pour Espresso-zado as a round. Wow, that looks like a remarkably pale Repo-zado. Lexi, give me some feedback. Our margaritas are made with Repo-zado. In the Versh household. Oh, okay. The Repo is the source of tequila. I don't know, it's smoother. It's more close to bourbon. I think it's truly based on preference. I don't think it really matters. I think if you are adding a bunch of stuff to it, then go with a Blanco because it doesn't have quite as much of a flavor profile. More so if you're doing like, oh, we're making watermelon margaritas, just use Blanco. Yeah, we don't do that. But if you're doing like a classic, yeah, I would do a Repo. Fresh limes. Roger gave us the best advice one time. He was like, eat the fake lime juice and drink the real limes. And eat the peels too, right? He didn't tell me too. He didn't have to. Whoa, this is weird. Okay, number one, Roger's got to focus. Tequila Arrete Reposado. Weird, it smells plastic. It smells kind of sulfur-y. I have a little bit of olive, a little olive brine on the nose. Yeah, it's definitely olive-y. Hmm. Maybe this is a bottle that was just olive juice that was re-bottled. Well, it is remarkably pale. Dan, remind us of the aging requirements for Repo. Oh, God. Let's cut this part out. The part where he's Googling. Six to eight months. I think so. 68 months? That's a lot. Silver Blanco is aged no more than two months. Repo is 2 to 12 in any size oak container. Añejo is in small 158 gallon, one to three years, and then extra Añejo is at least three years. This is, I would say, an unconventional Reposado with some interesting, but strange, earthy, kind of almost funk, bordering on cheese. Yet at the same time, it has a soft, pleasant easiness. Yeah, it's pillowy on the palate. It is, yeah. And there's like pillowy and funk. Yeah, not to rattle at the nose. Yeah, it's unusual. Number two, numero dos Reposados. Lura Azul Reposado Tequila. This looks more like a conventional repo for you. Reposados. Numero dos del Reposados. Pizazz. There we go. Oh, wow. You really see how anemic the first one is. Yeah. Next to it. Well, you have to keep in mind though, I mean, the natural color of a tequila, even an Añejo is pretty pale. Yeah. True. Agreed. But I mean, look at the radical difference between these two. I mean, it's an audio medium. They can't. I'm talking to Dan, who I think I can't see that far, so sorry. Okay. I mean, the one that we're saying- You can work with the one in your hand. All I'm saying is the one that we're saying is more typical Reposado color is still very, very pale. So this number two, both things I'm about to say are true. There is more agave character in the nose, clean agave character, and also the nose is more muted, and like polished down. The nose is pretty floral on this. Yeah. I don't know if I'd say it's more muted. It doesn't have the offensive sulfur character. Maybe that's what I'm talking about. Spice on the sides of the tongue. You know what this reminds me of? When we were sitting down with Soderbergh, Humblebragh, and we were trying a singani that was very perfumed, to put it politely. I find it to be an interesting juxtaposition of savory, almost like savory brown spice, flowers, and citrus, and herbal agave character. It's relatively complex. It is. It's got a cardamom kind of characteristic that's pretty interesting. I'm going to pull the hams right now and say that this is the house pour. I think this is the house pour. I think this is Corralejo Reposado. It's nice on the palate too. It would be funny if I'm like, I really enjoy this tequila, the one I buy all the time. It's pretty good. It has a nice soft carmeliness up front from the wood, but it's not really intense. It finishes to me very minty and herbal. Yeah. A gentle caress of ockumice. Gentle caress of oak. With some spice at the finish too. Yeah. And the whole thing is good. Let's caress. This gets a thumbs up from me. That's all I'm saying. Me too. Yeah. Easygoing and complex. The Dan Hartman story. I got something to say. Easygoing and complex. That is great. He knows himself. I drank your repo today. Lexi, what do you think of that one? I don't know. He can sometimes be an angry fella, I hear. Lexi, what do you think of that one? I liked it. I don't know. I'm still, I don't know. Utah, give me two. I'm not picking much out of that one. Numero tres. Cimero Reposado Tequila. It smells like orange peels and funk. Little savory. Definitely funky. A little cheesy almost. Blue cheese olive. 268. I would not. I would not. This one's good too, but it's way more rustic. Oh, do you taste the mint at the finish? Yeah, and it's neat. It's like actual mint, like minty. This would be like a good dirty martini. Yeah. Olive rind with lime juice and this. Tequilatini. This tastes like caraway. Yeah. It does. It tastes like caraway. It's very interesting. Complex. For all you Aquavit fans, I was going to say that. Are we sure it's not Aquavit? That's what it is. It's not mint. It's caraway. It's like eating a piece of rye bread. You need some salmon. Salmon on rye bread. The hot trend of 2025. Yeah, the famous Mexican Roblox. I don't know what this is. I'm getting a bottle of it. This is great. I like it a lot. It's complex and yet it's pleasant and easy. A Norwegian goes to Baja. Can you do an accent? Is it okay to do Norwegian people accent? Let's not find out. I'm not good at Norway. Is that Ingmar Bergman? Sure. Yeah. No. Swedish? Swedish? Incredulous. How dare you mix up Scandinavian countries? You have broken the seventh seal, my friend. I think that last repo would be really good with a Mojito situation, lime and mint. Excellent. Number four, Terra Manna Reposado. Just visually, number four. Toasted marshmallow. The first one is so light, but everything else is right in line on that spot on repo color. Toasted marshmallow, it smells like cola too. Yeah. Those little root beer gummies, Coke bottle gummies. I don't hate it. It's very different. It tastes like that too. It tastes like a root beer gummy or cream. It smells like a cream soda. Tastes like a cream soda. Yeah. What is going on with this? I get some anise. It's got a lot going on. It's another one that's easy to drink and herbally complex, but there's no sharp edges whatsoever. Yeah. If I had to guess, this might have been doctored up a little bit. Yeah. I would agree. The vanillin, perceived vanillin from barrel aging for two months in a giant vat. That's not an endorsement from Roger. What do you think? Maybe they took a dump truck full of dum-dums and just threw all the creamsicle. Yeah, the cream soda one. Yeah. There's only one of me. You can't fill a dump truck. It's Casamigos adjacent to me. Yeah. I don't know if it actually is, but it. That's a good call. It's like towards that direction. I don't think it's as sweet as Casamigos. No. I could drink this though. Yeah. I could drink it. Oh, yeah. Just drink it. Yeah. I'm not in love with it. All right. Fair enough. You don't have to love it. Mix with cream soda. Yeah. Modern and easy. This could be one of the only times that I've ever thought about mixing tequila with root beer. Yeah. You've never been... No, I told myself I'd stop doing that bit. You know those poppies? Yeah. They make orange cream poppies. Oh, those things. The probiotic. Poppies. Gut buster. Yeah, this is orange soda. That could be interesting. It's orange vanilla soda. This with orange vanilla soda. And it will both harm and restore your gut bio. Two for one deal. You got to tear it down before you build it up, Greg. It's chaotic neutral. Big reveal. Just to see which one you like. All right. I like number two. I like three. I like three also. I like three a lot. Yeah, I don't hate any of these. Number one is the least exciting, but it's also fine. I just can't nail down number two. I can't figure it out. I like number two. Yeah, two is the one that I enjoyed the most. Me too. It's the most elegant of the four. There's a funk that seems to be pervasive in a few of them that, I don't know, maybe it's popular with the kids these days. I think number two is the daily driver. Yeah, we want the funk. Give up the funk. Big reveal, number one reposado, Arete. Never heard that. Arete is $34.99. They have a Blanco that we saw a ton of as a good value Blanco. This is my first time actually having the reposado. Stop it. All right. Have you had a lot of Arete reposado? Arete means stop in French. Oh. It's going to say, jeez, okay. Our humor is based on arrested development. Yeah. Number two reposado. These guys are right. You are just killing it. How much is Lunazule reposado? It's on sale right now for $21.99. That's the new guy. This is my new guy. Yeah. Two categories in a row. It's always been one of the best budget tequilas bar none. Wow. Cool. It hasn't gone up much over the years either. Like for how much a lot of other brands. Don't tell them. Don't tell them. Anybody listening to this, just don't tell them. Number three. These guys again. Repo. I like that better than the Blanco. Agreed. Yeah. It's still it. It was this is the one that we're saying is like a Aquavit-esque. Very different for a Repo. How much is Cimarron? Cimarron is $29.99. I could get down with that too. That's the price of Corralejo. Numero cuatro. Terramana. Didn't you say you were getting Terramana vibes from Terramana? No, that's Aguasal. This one, I got Casamigo vibes from this one. Different celebrity. Yeah. This does not resonate with my memory of Terramana. Same here. Well, it depends on what we're juxtaposing it against. I called it modern and easy and I can't argue against that. It is that for sure. Yeah. Our palettes are probably blinded to some of the agave stuff from the other ones and then all we're picking up are the sweeter, higher tones in this, maybe. Maybe. I definitely don't remember the rock cooking with this much marshmallow. Right. Neither do I. This one is on sale right now for $33.99. Go back and try that Terramana. Yeah, try it again. I think it's great. I think it's fine. It seems more focused and spicier than I remember from the first go round. I'm getting some Luna Zool. Yeah. That's terrific. This is a revelation. Does it come in a handle? Yeah. In some stores, it does. It can. Probably not. It can and should. No, that's relatively new that we have Luna Zool handles. Hey, don't sleep on that, people. That's one. That's one right there. A perfect summer tequila. Well said. Because you're going to probably drink a lot of it. Maybe not. Probably. Let me text my wife. Sorry, honey. It's tequila night. Yeah. There you go. Sorry in advance. Añejo number one, Pueblo Viejo, Añejo. Okay. I'm obsessed with this one. It's very good. It's orangey. It's floral. It's a little chewy. I've never used that word to describe something. Orange and lavender, something like that. Floral. Here's where you really start tasting a little oak too, I mean. Yeah. It's vanilla's present. It's pretty good. This is pretty good. This is like my palette. Really? This is what you're going for? I mean, it's soft. Yeah. It's delicious. Like that dark orange, like a. Yeah. Like a potpourri orange kind of, which doesn't really sound good, but gets to what I'm trying. It's very perfumed. Roger, what's the tea? Yeah, like a constant comment kind of. Are you talking about Earl Grey with bergamot? Or Earl Grey with bergamot? That one. Oh. It's only valid when Roger says it. What is it, Roger? Earl Grey with bergamot. With orange peel? Oil of bergamot, they're like the super bitter oranges that they distill the oil from. Yeah. And flavor the black tea with it. Flavor blast? Yes, it's one of the OG flavor blasting techniques. All right. I have some Earl Grey in here right now. I can't remember what the cross is, but bergamot is a cross of lemon. Anyway, orange cream, vanilla, that's good. That's real good. Nice job, Jim. Añejo numero dos. Gran Centenario Añejo. Whoa, hello. Evergreen Park Pours. Yeah, we got to put these bottles back on the shelf, so. I don't know if it's... Sometimes when I taste an Añejo or smell an Añejo, I smell pencil shavings with the graphite and the wood, and that is this. Has that quality. By far the deepest color of anything we've come across. It's a giant cup. It's a bigger pour. You can't... Well, I don't know. I was wondering that, but I mean, if I look down from the top, I've actually got more liquid to look through in the small cup, and it's still considerably dark. It's almost like an herbal, citrusy thing. I can't place it, though. I can't describe. I love the nose here. It's lifted tangerine and flowers. It's kind of grassy, though, too. Everything you're saying is true on the palate. It's soft lemon cream with a grassy undercurrent and a spice, too. This is wonderful. This is so good. Very floral on the palate. Nice. This is so good. See? I told you we should do Añejos. You're right. He's been wanting to do Añejos for years. Nobody wanted to put up with him. Yeah. I mean, there's so much orange cream in the center of this, and then it's spicy on the finish. This is pretty awesome. Wow. That's good. Oh, wow. I like it. Lexi doesn't like it. You don't like it? No, I like it. I'm not getting a soft orange cream. Oh, what are you getting? Not that. I'm getting that pencil-y situation. Pretty strong in the front. That's hard front edge. Yeah. Yeah, Ticonderoga No. Best pencils ever. Best pencils. They call those the Versh Swizzles thing. That is apocryphal. Yeah, it's apocryphal because he used the eraser end, okay? Pat was telling this story about somebody else and everybody thought it would be funny if it was about me. I used a pen. Is that what happened? Yeah. Go back and listen to it. It's on tape. I use my vape pen. Lexi, what's your opinion? It's definitely the oak-iest of the bunch. For sure, which is what I was saying about the color even. Yeah. We've got more oak here, more round creaminess from that oak. A little lignin. Let's talk over it, man. Well, gathering too. Clearing my palette and then trying it, it's a little creamier. It's a less of a pencil on the front, but it's fine. I like it. I mean, I don't deny the presence of that cedar-y, graphite-y edge. I mean, it's definitely there, but I think it's also relatively complex and it's got other things going on. I like it. That's my final pronounce. I could curl up in the fetal position and lay in this like it's a nest. Yeah. It'll be a wet nest. It's so comfortable. Wet nest. It's so comfortable and pleasing. I'm a large man and so very rarely do I feel surrounded and protected, and that is what this tequila is. You would want your matrix pod filled with this. Yes, that's it. That's exactly it. I come bursting out of there and I'm like, put me back in. Why am I so sober? The first one, when you go back to it after this, I'm not as keen on it. Yeah, it sure makes the bitter spiciness. Tastes like cola syrup. Yeah. Wow. Well, that's really interesting, Roger. It is weird how what you had in your mouth prior affects what you're tasting now. Yeah, I think it numbs your ability to pick up on certain. Oh, yeah. We've always advocated for tequila paired with tequila. That's the way I like it. I got a T and T, tequila and tequila. Right? That's my joke. That's an old joke. You go to the bar, you're like, can I get a Jack and Coke? They're like, is Pepsi okay? You're like, okay. They're like, one Pepsi and Coke. He laughed. He's the only one I haven't said that to 26 times. I just thought it was funny you'd order a Jack and Coke at a bar. Oh, Añejo number three, Corralejo, Añejo Tequila. Chocolate. Chocolate? No, chocolate. Spray paint? Like those orange chocolates that you smack on the table? There he is. I think you're right. Yeah, I know I'm right. It's got that, yeah. It smells like the side of a train at about 2 a.m. last night. Bring you back to your hobo-in-days. I like this. I haven't decided. Okay, I'm gonna say the nicest, in the nicest way I can say it, but it smells like it's sherryed. It has those qualities that a sherry and scotch would have. Oh, I think I might know what this one is. I'm not gonna say it, though. Yeah, I'm not particularly down with this one. Underneath that is chocolate. I think it's like orange chocolate. Almond. Others, almond. I really like this. I think there's a lot of oak, which I'm loving. This is very, I would pour this on a ice cube and have a great night. It's just hilarious, because that's how I feel about the first one. I feel like late in the airing and it's fun. I feel like I'm in a kitchen with a gas leak. Yeah. I need this to be aerated for me to be able to drink it. Yeah. I'll take two cups. Yeah. I don't know. That spray paint, the kind of airplane glue thing is going on in the nose for me. It's, I don't know. The wrong day to stop sniffing glue. Well, who said I stopped? Maybe it's just residual. It's through the palette too. I don't know. I don't know, Dan. It's okay. We can disagree for now. Tester smells like testers. Hard boiled eggs in the hobby shop. Now I want to sniff some glue. Number four. Agave Trails, Añejo Tequila. Añejo numero cuatro. This is kind of shared. Grippy. This is grippy. When I think of Añejo, this is what I think of. This is the profile that I usually think of. It's a red cherry fruit on the nose. Or maybe it's just liquorice, red liquorice. Yeah, there's a little twizzler going on there. Yeah. It's a tin. This is going to be obscure reference. I know you all sit around drinking this like I do. Hold on a second. Roger says it's an obscure reference, and he just turns to Chris. With a smirk on his face too. This is very brandy de Jerez. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Solera, Spanish brandy. Okay. So, I mean, you're talking about grape brandy there. It has that kind of note. You're right. You're right. You could have said cognac. It wouldn't have been that much farther off. It's really, really easy on the palate. Absolutely. Really easy. And then there's nothing particular that stands out. It's not vanilla, but there's a vanilla-like roundness. Yeah. It's not caramel, but there's a light caramel quality undercurrent under everything. And those two things are combined seamlessly. I think however long this was aged, it really rounded this out and made it kind of soft and supple. I'm getting, and it's pleasant. I'm getting this like, just like touch of like tannic grip. Yeah. Probably the wood. I would guess so, you know, again, just guessing, but I would guess this is on the long end of the Añejo aging. All right. I like it. Or potentially a unique cask. It would be fun to know. I know they're usually not very transparent about that. It could be. And most of the time, it's just American whiskey. Well, they're not doing single casks. They're doing big vattings. Yeah. I vote for that one for faves. Yeah, probably four for me. Number two. I like one and then four. I already can't remember, so I'm going to go with four because I liked it. You have all four in front of you. I know. Damn you. Yeah, I like number two. And in contrast, number one's still pretty good. Just go back to whatever I said when I was tasting them. Yeah, you can just play Chris' comments again on the show. All right, Añejo Reveal. Ready? Yes. Number one, numero uno, Pueblo Viejo. Yeah, this is a new, I think, I think it's a brand that came back. We didn't have it for a while. Imported by Sazerac. It is $24.99. Same facility where they make Corazon, Rae S**t, San Matias. Yeah. That's crazy. Very affordable. Whoever heard of an Añejo these days at that price? They're all nuts. All of them are, their whole line up is worth drinking for sure. That'd be a good Margarita Añejo also, because it would hold its own. Surely. I would do it something a little lighter, I think. Like a... I don't know. Excellent, excellent. Have you ever tried making a Margarita with lemon instead of lime? That might be interesting with that tequila. Like a daisy? A daisy. Yeah. I mean, a margarita itself is just a variation on the daisy family. So tequila daiquiri. Indeed. With some guendro. A daisy is brandy in it. Well, daisy is a broad family of drinks that would include margaritas. Esoteric cocktail histories. I think something with lime or lemon and then honestly cucumber. Yeah. Freshness. Light on its feet. Oh, man. Añejo Numero Dos. Number two, Centenario Añejo. Yeah, that was good. Grand Centenario. I buy this every once in a while. $37.99. We saw a lot of it. Good stuff. I like this a lot. I never drink it. I just taste it again. It's good. Beautiful bottle. Love the Art Deco, Matif. Agreed. I like the Repo too. Yeah, they're a Repo. I was going to say, yeah, I buy the Repo. The Repo and Blanco. I don't think I've ever bought those. It's like a rectangular bottle. We need to do more deep dive tequila episodes. I'm realizing this. This is fabulous. Summer is coming. It's like 70 degrees out today. Time to drink some tequila and gin. Yeah. Maybe water once in a while. Numero tres Añejo, which is Corralejo Añejo. Corralejo 37.99. Good brand. Yeah, that's weird. Normally, I don't know. I wasn't a huge fan of this and I normally... It's very savory. All right. Numero cuatro. Number four. I can't even see it. Agave Trails. Agave Trails. What? Muchos Authenticos. Yeah. This is a brand that's brought to us by BC Merchants. He does some special bottlings of tequila. Oh, yeah. 29.99 on Mops right now. We have some hand picks of further tequila that are finished in Vino de Naranja. I thought I heard that this also is finished in those kind of barrels, but I couldn't see any reference on the bottle. Well, that's interesting because it is very orangey, I think. Yeah. What's going on here? Bonus round blind, we don't know what it is. Lebelula, Joven Tequila, and it smells like bubblegum. It smells, yeah. The round ones that cost a nickel. I'm covered in tequila. You look great. Don't worry about it. I don't look great and I'm covered in tequila. This is a pale straw. It is even darker than the first Reposado, which we've learned since, which was a red, but it sure smells clean and fresh. I know what this is. I'm not going to say much. It's obviously a Cristalino, right? It is not. What the hell else could it possibly be? Can we just reveal it? No, no, no, no. Let's puzzle about it and act like idiots for a minute. It's the cheapest beech stow on the show. I know it's not. It's way too refined for that. It's a different, it's an additional style. There's not many of them. Roja, the red Reposado. Roja, no, it's having a stroke. Yeah, it's this word salad coming out of me. Does this look like a Rosa? No, it looks like the first Reposado that we had. You're getting close to what the style is. I have not moved. I don't know this. I don't know this at all. Bazooka Jose? It's the new Devil bottle of Jose that's spiced with habaneros. No. He's joking. He does that joke all the time where he says the gross thing and it's believable because he doesn't have any inflection of humor in his voice. Such a dry, deadpan delivery. The Michigander in me doesn't know how to emote. Take a gander at this angry fella. Okay. What the hell? What is it? Yeah, what's going on here? Let's describe it first. And then, so it's sweet, it's not sweet, it's soft. Soft, it's light. Soft, it's plush. Not quite floral, floral, but like almost. What's that? What am I trying to say? Bubble gum? Yeah. It is bubble gum. Very little agave spirit, agave quality. Take me back to my tops baseball card days. Ryder is just stuck in pink gum. The flavor, I mean the flavor to me has a lot of agave. The aroma, I just am having a hard time smelling much out of the glass, but that happens to me after I taste 45 things. It has a pleasant fruity floral sweetness. Yeah. I don't hate this. I don't know what it is. It is a little sweet upfront and it's definitely bubblegummy. You can chew on it for three or four minutes before it loses its flavor. Is this one of those weird distillates? It's tequila, the regular tequila. I mean, what does regular tequila mean anymore, really? You know, after this episode. Yeah. I buy all my irregular tequila at Marshall's. Agave. That's good. The weird pasta shapes. The tequila outlet store. Yeah, the pasta is like starting to turn color on the edges. Yeah, it's looking weird. The spices, the spice rack that comes with the spices in it. Right. I mean, all of these spices. This might not be candy sweet, but it's candy-esque. Like it reminds me of those strawberry candies with the- The bonbons. Yeah, the juice in the middle, the whatever, the ones that are wrapped with the strawberry foil. Yeah. They come in the Hickory Farms boxes. Old lady candy. I give up. Do you guys give up? Yeah, I give up. Can we get the reveal here? Yeah. All right, here's the reveal for this bonus round. It is. Luba Luma. So it's a Hoven, which is not old, not age long enough to be a reposado. I was going to say that. Were you? Yeah, I literally thought Hoven meant silver. It doesn't mean silver. Hoven, I think is like youthful or something. Young, juvenile. It means young, yeah. And by the way. OK, I didn't literally think it meant like the the the element silver. I thought it meant a young style that will bring the bottle back up. So I picked this one because it's got a dragonfly on it. Yeah. Odinata. And that's well, the family is Laebellula. Yeah. Laebellula is Spanish for dragonfly. And I'm an entomologist second now. I used to be one. Yeah. Sorry, I was speaking of order, not family. No, you're right. I mean, you got to dig down with these things. Yeah, you do. But yeah, it was the most polite diss match. You guys settled down. Why are you talking about the dragonfly order and not the family, which it's clearly named for? Yeah. But yeah, it's a Joven. So age for like usually a few, a couple months or under two months. I think it's under two months. Sometimes it's like just 30 days, I think. Is there a legal definition for a Joven? There is. So, I mean, Blanco is two months. So it's got to be under two months would be my guess. But yeah. Why didn't I say that? I knew it. Yeah. I mean, it was the only thing it could be. Yeah. Don't beat yourself up about it. I will. So what you should do is you should go to a Binny's store and buy this and make margaritas at home, and then go to Bar Taco in Bucktown, and it's their restaurant. And they have all of their- This is their house for? I don't know if this specifically is, but they have a restaurant, yeah. The producer of this tequila has a restaurant. What? Oh, I didn't know that. Are you going to say what defines a Joven? It all comes down to blending, which gets crazy. I know there's some Jovens will be blended of older and un-aged stuff. They'll mix a Repo with a Blanco, and if it's 90% Blanco or whatever, then there's certain levels that you can consider Joven according to this. You gotta have the whole chart to figure out where it plots. So it's a style more than an age statement, which is kind of like the way 20 ports work. You know, they blend older and younger things together and hit the 10 or 20 or 30 year old style. Yeah. What did we learn today? I learned that I need to drink more tequila other than the same single bottle that I buy on an almost weekly basis. Yeah, I mean, for me, when I first started drinking tequila years ago, I leaned in to just Añejos. In the last couple of years, I really have only drank Blancos, but this has taught me I need to go back to some Añejos because they were... Yeah, I was just about to say, you are the oddball starting with Añejo. I feel like it normally gets ignored, which is kind of a shame. Well, I think I just was mostly, like when I drank spirits, it was like whiskey. So that made the most sense to me. Yeah, which they definitely... It would be fun sometime to blind a bunch of spirits and just mix in Añejo Tequilas and see if we could figure out which ones were which. Just a bunch of Malort and then Añejo. Yeah, exactly. Well, the Añejo takeaway for me is that there are good quality Añejos at reasonable prices. Actually, that's a very good point because I did not assume I could spend that much. Right. There are some solid stuff here and yeah. Yeah, all under 40. All under 40. Some well under 40. And I'm going to start drinking Luna's Ool. Yeah, that's the other big takeaway. Seriously, real quality stuff there. Yeah. One way or another, this was another challenging blind tasting and we had some really interesting discoveries and appreciate it. Dan, thanks for bringing this line up. No problem. Anytime. Let's do it again with the other 8,000 tequilas we have. Sounds good. Cool. I'll be back next week. Same Barrel to Bottle time, same Barrel to Bottle feed. Yeah. Thanks for listening to this episode of Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast back in your feed very soon. Until then, I'm Greg. I'm Dan. I'm Chris. And I'm Roger. And I'm Lexi. Keep tasting. Medianoche Marana.