You gotta HAND it to Th’ Lip’s NOSE! He has a real knack for sniffing out a good value tequila from the very crowded marketplace. It’s a tough job, but your intrepid Tequila Whisperer will traverse any obstacle to bring you the best tequila for your drinking dollar. Behold “El Relingo”, a new-ish brand at a solid price that delivers TONS of agave and vanilla.
In this episode Lippy gets excited when he realizes he may have (at last) found a worthy contender to unseat the current “Bargain Bottle” champion, “El Ultimo Agave” reposado. That formal battle will take place on an upcoming show, but if you study this episode closely you may get a hint of what’s to come! Also tasted here is BevMo’s “Don Patricio” reposado.. of which, the less said the better!
TEQUILA STATS:
BRAND: EL RELINGO
NOM: 1486
AGAVE SOURCE: lowlands
GENERAL TASTING NOTES:
“El Relingo” blanco turns up the agave & mint flavors to “11” in a palate assault that will startle and amaze you. Whether this interest can be sustained throughout an entire sipping session is what’s at question here. The blanco *may* be a bit TOO aggressive(!) The repo brings offers the addition of vanilla and slight oak undertones to balance out that fuerte agave attack. This is the most fully balanced of the three ages though it is anything but subtle. The anejo tones down the vanilla but introduces a slight “high acetone” taste in the mid palate that is at first arresting and ultimately annoying.
Th’ Lip suggests trying the reposado first then moving to the blanco if you’re interested in a full-frontal agave attack. Either age will do very well as a mixer in addition to being a sipper.
FLAVOR Profiles (out of a possible 4 points)
Music Picks From This Show
“Acadian Driftwood” – The Band
[audio:https://tequilawhisperer.com.php5-11.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2-12-Acadian-Driftwood.mp3|titles=Acadian Driftwood]
“Time Makes Two” – Robert Cray
[audio:https://tequilawhisperer.com.php5-11.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2-07-Time-Makes-Two.mp3|titles=Time Makes Two]