Tequila Ocho Reposado El Bajío 2018

Rating: 15/23 N: Clean and minty. Then some sweet stewed agave caramel and restrained brine come out. A little bit of spice from the wood. Refined, but not super interesting. P: Fuller than I'd expected with a spicier, pepperier punch. Then there's mint and undercooked caramel from the agave. It reminds me vaguely of some sort of tequila twist on a mint julep. The profile is very clean and approachable with a nice execution, but it isn't very complex. There's a little bit of that starchiness to the mouthfeel. Some agave vegetal flavor does make it through, but not much. F: Clean with sweet stewed agave, a constant breeze of mint, and some other bits kind of going in and out that are a bit faint to identify. - Conclusion - This is good. It's far from blowing my mind, but I'm happy sipping it. In a side-by-side reposado competition, I'd take Pasote because it's substantially more complex with what I'd consider to be a more balanced profile. This is good, but it just isn't wowing me. Turning to Cabeza, I find more oomph and complexity there. There's a reasonable argument that it's less balanced and well-executed, but I prefer it. This just doesn't seem up to that level. Prospero Blanco strikes me as inferior to this, but not by a lot. I'm looking at a 14 to 15 here. I think a 13 is pretty unlikely and so is a 16. I'm landing on a 15, but just barely. Thank you @ctbeck11 for sharing a sample of this.

A rich, Tequila Reposado aged 8 weeks & 8 days by the Camarena family at the Ocho Distillery in Jalisco Highlands - Los Altos, Mexico aged in ex-American Whiskey barrels. It has a delicate birth with notes of agave & vanilla; while a balanced life adds notes of earth, oak, almond, vanilla & tapenade; leads to a long & smooth death with notes of pepper, caramel & zest. September 2018

Nose: Orange, green olives, butterscotch Palate: Salted caramel, white pepper, hint of orange