Gather ‘round Comrades, and learn the taste secrets of one of the few (only?) Co-Op tequila brands on the market: Regional. In this episode, Th’ Lip learns if the credo; “All for Tequila, and Tequila for All” holds true with this classically produced lowlands brand.
Regional has been in the marketplace since before the Millennium, and had a stellar reputation as a solid Treasure Bottle offering. They have since moved to a different distillery within the Co-Op and the juice has changed. Is this once mighty brand still worthy of your dollar and palate? Watch and see!
TEQUILA Details:
BRAND: REGIONAL
NOM: 1503
AGAVE SOURCE: “EL JITO” CO-OPERATIVE AGAVE FARMERS – LOWLANDS
GENERAL TASTING NOTES:
Regional offers up a very traditional lowlands agave taste throughout the product line. Expect less floral, & herbaceous notes (highlands characteristics) in the taste, and you’ll find a more deep and solid ‘bottom end’ on the agave taste. The blanco presents a slight sour tang with pepper on the nose while presenting a solidly sweet wash on the palate. Expertly balanced with few standout notes, this blanco is a solid sipper without presenting a lot of loud fanfare or singular flavor note in its profile. Lippy really liked this about the blanco.
The reposado introduced a accompaniment of sweet-ish wood (as expected) with a soft bottom note of vanilla way in the back of the mouth as the finish was starting. Again, this is a nicely balanced product without a lot of high flavor spikes. Think of this repo as more of an accompaniment to a solid Mexican meal and you start to get the idea that although it’s not screaming at you for attention, over the longer haul it is destined to become a favored “go to” tequila.
The anejo brings a bit more sweetness and wood to the mix of flavors, but your Tequila Whisperer didn’t think it went far enough. It felt a bit like the repo was a great place to stop, but the Producers kept the juice in the barrel longer without discovering/protecting a certain flavor “spark” within. In essence, if you’re liking the repo then by all means try the anejo. It’s gone further down that repo road, but without a whole lot of anything extra. For the price any/all of these ages are worth trying and buying!
BUY RECOMMENDATION: Regional Reposado (Wally’s Wine & Spirits)
FLAVOR Profiles for REGIONAL REPOSADO (out of a possible 4 points)
