Fortaleza Blanco Tequila

As always, Fortaleza has a different take on tequila. This is a rich, sweet tequila that emphasizes chocolate. It has a rich milk chocolate flavor that mixes with mulch to constitute the core of a somewhat confusing experience. This absolutely does not taste like a blanco. This is far less dry and astringent than Fortaleza Reposado, almost as if the batches' labels were swapped. There is some stringent presence here that could be argued to be lime with some dry pineapple. If say it's better than the reposado, but not on par with the best tequilas. The flavor is full and creamy though, so it does have something going for it. Corralejo Reposado lovers should give this a shot. The slightly rancid flavor in here is unfortunately enough of a problem to push this down below Espolon Blanco. Weirdly, I would have guessed that this was at least a reposado, if not an anejo, based on it's rich, robust, and rounded flavor. Rich, with a creaminess and a smokey backing with sweet undertones. There are mixed vegetal and herbal notes with a tad of spiciness and some mineral undertones. There are notes of green olive, lime, and raw pineapple, but they are not very strong. Lightly roasted coffee and bittersweet cocoa come through too, with some iodine that suggests tobacco. The sweetness gives way to dryness toward the finish but the dryness is not overwhelming. There is a fair amount going on here, but there are no brilliant notes and the notes are a bit too balanced toward the rich flavors, which is weird for a blanco tequila. Remarkably smooth, rich, and smokey with a sweet slightly fruity backing and vegetal flavors. For a Blanco, this character is surprising. It has a bit of mintiness in the finish. The flavor is rich, robust, and complex. It is not in any way overwhelmed by alcohol. This is a very good tequila. The complexity is comparable to Arta Anejo (prehaps it is a bit less) but the flavors are generally better. In some ways, I prefer Cabeza's pure tequila flavor for its honesty, but this is really good in its own way. This is very smoky with a rich, meaty, vegetal element that tastes slightly eggy and rotten. It's kind of sweet but in a way that oddly doesn't balance out. This 8s an astonishingly rich tequila with smoke and rancid meat really powering through. That latter part is unfortunately not all good though. There is some sweetness mixed with the smoke and vegetal flavors and some fruit comes through as well. There is some odd tartness to balance it out the net result is both good and impressively rich for a blanco. It seems like a tequila that is good in special circumstances rather than on average though. It is well worth trying for its uniqueness, but it's a bit of a risk to buy a whole bottle. The nose is olive and oil. The brine is prevalent in the nose, but is not piercing. The palate has a surprising amount of mineral alongside see clear brine that comes with some umami oil. It's very much its own thing and it isn't shy about being so since it's so assertive, but it is definitely a bit odd. The earthy and spicy notes are there for sure and there is some sweet fruitiness as well. It's a bit bitter and oily for my liking, but it does work kind of well in that way. The finish is remarkably like the palate, maintaining the complexity and avoiding any excessively bitter weirdness. The oiliness sort of makes it hedonistic in that tequila flavor profile. It's quite good, but in the end it is very oily and packed with green olive. There's no smoke to be found, but it is still rich and rather bitter from the vegetal notes. It's a super, but it doesn't set any new bars. The sweet pineapple really comes through for that brief moment on larger sips, but the finish is still on the dry side. It's a bit too oily though. I slightly prefer Cabeza with its cleaner flavor profile and substantial complexity.

Rating: 17/23 So I'm down to my last 25 ml or so. It's had a lot of oxygen, which will affect my tasting for sure. I may decline to rate it if the oxygen had too large of an impact. N: Oily with lots of olive brine. Something on the savory, vegetal side emerges, bringing out some funkiness with the herbal elements. I start getting more balance and complexity, though I struggle to pick out further distinct notes. P: Oily with terrific mouthfeel. There's plenty of olive brine, but much less than the nose suggested. Spicy prickliness comes out alongside mint, some minerals, and maybe a little lime leaf. The balance here is terrific and so is the depth. There's not a ton of sweetness from the agave here, but I do get a bit of that stewed vegetal character mixed with the little bit of sweetness that there is. The complexity is really solid as well, though it could be more substantial. F: Full with some of that oily character remaining. Rich and savory olive with not a ton of brine. - Conclusion - This is a really exceptional tequila. It's a long way from a 23, but it's one of those ones that grabs your attention and keeps it. I'm looking at a 17 most likely. I can imagine an 18, but a 16 seems pretty unlikely. I just gave Fortaleza Reposado an 18 and it seems clearly better than this, so I'm going with a 17 here. A fresh bottle of this might prove better, but this is at least an increase from the rating I gave it previously.

Tried side by side with El Toroso and this is a very nice blanco. I've recently found myself leaving the bourbon/whiskey scene as it's been a nice ride but got sick of competing with the hundreds/thousands of others here in the Tampa area who camp out or have inside knowledge of when allocated bottles drop. And quite frankly once you taste 100 bourbons they all start to taste the same. Okay rant over.... Back to this nice blanco. I did some Distiller sleuthing looking for a good blanco after having bought El Toroso and it almost blowing my mind on how good it tasted. Fresh and earthy is what i felt were the most relative descriptors of it and this Fortaleza has excellent ratings as well so i figured I'd give it a shot. Price was in line with what i was willing to spend and i happened to find a bottle which apparently is a hard thing according to the internet. Who knew?? Anyway I like this one a lot and it has a very plant like natural taste to it with an undertone of almost vanilla? probably the agave I'm tasting but regardless I really dig this. After tasting Casamigos against this I really really don't think there's a comparison. Casamigos is almost syrupy compared to these natural blancos. Can't wait to continue this tequila journey (which is where i started in spirits many, many years ago). 8/19/22

90 Not big on blancos because I love some Barrel age, but this tequila is a true gem with plenty going on. Fortaleza blanco Nose: Light smoke Fresh sweet agave Cucumber Rich buttery Palette: Smooth creamy sweet agave Olive Lime Mineral water Spice on finish compliments Hint of pineapple Pepper Sweet vegetal Clean balanced oily This is what tequila should be. And all spirits for that matter. Truly crafted and artfully perfected through generations.

Notably, I’m a novice to the tequila game, but three ice cubes, a shot of lime juice and letting it sit for about 3-5 minutes, this tequila is incredible. Tried it neat and you get pepper, vanilla and black licorice/star anise notes. Let it sit in ice and a little lime juice, the sweetness comes out and it gets as sippable as any tequila I’ve ever tried. Almost dangerously so. So good.

This is my second review of this spirit, different bottle: The first bittle i tried was heavy on the mineral side and had an almost soapy finish. This bottle has much more agave sweetness. The mineral character is still there but turned down and the finish is a wonderfully balanced combination of agave and black pepper. The mouthfeel is suprisingly oily for a 40% tequila.