This week’s tequila has a donkey on it, but you’d really be an ass to discredit it. IXA in our minds would be a monstrous force unrivaled were it 10 dollars cheaper, but as is – makes waves being a higher tier tequila. (Organic nonsense aside)
It’s the cocktail recipe for us – that really makes it easy to hate them. Especially when it asks for specific vermouth and grapefruit peels being squeezed – c’mon. Just be upfront and say this makes a good margarita because spoilers – it does. Don’t get all bullshitty on us.
What they Say: “We’re obsessed with flavor…
Greenbar distillery go to Mexico to source ripe agave, ferment the whole pina with white wine yeast, distill it slowly and age to taste to bring you something rare… a rich, complex reposado tequila with a buttery finish.
Doble O Siete
- 2 1/4 oz IXA Reposado Tequila
- 1 1/4 oz Dry White Vermouth
- Shake + strain into martini grass.
- Squeeze lemon + grapefruit peels over glass
- Granish with lemon twist.
Why Organic? We made regular spirits when we started. Then a few of our farmers switched to organic in 2007 and we saw a huge spike in flavor. We switched to all-organic ingredients the next year. (Told you we’re obsessed with flavor)”
Taste: 5.5 – It’s a wealth of agave flavor, too much in fact. Anything that even tries to get through is swept away.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – That flavor continues and while it does have some smoky aspects as it begins to fade out, it’s just pure agave baby.
Burn/Smooth: 5.5 – Yeah that burns, not in an awful ‘oh why’ sort of way, but in a considerably smooth for what you had, but yea you kind of expected that way.
Aroma: 6.0 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6amDbAwlY – seriously though it smells like tequila. Like you can’t escape it the glass isn’t even to the nose and it’s everywhere. It’s not bad, but god damn.
Honesty: 4.0 – You have a cocktail, and it’s with dry white vermouth? Dafuk is that? Also squeezing two different peels, and then garnishing with only 1? Get the fuck outta town. Put a picture of an ass on it, and are you trying to be classy or what, we can’t tell. And who gives a shit about organic.
Mixability: 7.5
W/ Rocks: 7.0 – The ice actually mutes that large overriding agave. What you get is more balanced, there are more spice and smoky elements. The initial response is really ‘oh!’ In how much it actually improves, and sure it’s not a nice sipping Anejo – but still damn good.
Margarita: 8.0 – That is a fucken fantastic margarita. Even though we use mix (for consistency) it’s great, and the ratio allows you to make it dangerous.
Value: 6.5 – We bought this as we usually do – because that’s how the site works. While it weirdly feels high brow – it’s partly earned given how well it mixes. Sure we will still likely call out Trago as the drink of choice for high-tier tequila just because how well it works neat, but for ~20 dollars less – get out.
Google Shop Average: $46
Website: https://greenbardistillery.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 6.0
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Metric Score: 41/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.86 |+| Reviewer Average: 6.0
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Final Thoughts: This on the onset seemed dubious, especially given how upfront that agave flavor was. However, when muted with ice or juice it becomes amazingly enjoyable and well worth the minor niggling thoughts around it. It’s a tequila one would be proud to have in their margarita or to take straight with salt and lime, and that alone is mighty.
