We run a lot of spirits reviews on this luxury travel blog, but we’re not in the habit of going out and spending $100, $200, or more on a bottle of premium tequila. So when we were staying at the St. Regis Punta Mita recently and got the chance to do a premium tequila tasting with an experienced Mexican bartender and a tequila expert, I jumped on it and made sure to take lots of notes.
We’ve posted a new review of the St. Regis Punta Mita and the place is looking great after a recent $45 million renovation. Part of that went into revamping the lobby and going from traditional to more contemporary in the look and feel. At the end of the lobby is a great bar with 117 varieties of 100% blue agave tequila bottles.
We really went top-shelf with this tasting though, trying things that are usually not going to show up at the swim-up bar at an all-inclusive resort. Some of them you can’t even find in a store.
A Premium Tequila Tasting Flight Round 1: Silver and Reposado
For these tequila tastings, I got a pour in an ideal glass for tasting tequila and there was some kind of small bite plate accompanying it that the planners paired. This also served to cleanse the palate between bottles.
As usual with tequila tastings, we started with the youngest and moved to the one with the most time in the barrel. We tasted a silver/white tequila with no aging then moved on to reposado, joven (a blend), añejo, and extra añejo.
Santarena Organic Silver
We started out with something where the agave shines through, with no time aging in a barrel. Santarena Silver tequila is one of the few that is certified organic, though in reality there’s not much fertilizer or pesticides in the mix with most tequila brands anyway: agave is a much heartier plant than corn, grapes, or potatoes. That’s why you see it growing wild, not just cultivated in farmers’ fields.
Santarena is also more like a winemaker instead of just a distiller, creating batches of tequila made from single agave fields, no mixing and matching from different areas. They’re also a low-volume producer as a result. The biggest rounds they produce are just 6,000 bottles, while some are less than 2,000. So if you have a chance to try this, it’s a rare treat.
Our sampling was from the Piedra batch of 2020, number 254 of 2,066. They also make a kosher version!
This was a very smooth silver tequila that goes down easy, but has plenty of subtle flavor hints that shine through. It also came with a lovely ceviche tostada that looked as pretty as it tasted. We were off to a good start with Santarena tequila, a new one for me. See more about them here.
Casa Dragones Reposado
We’ve posted a review of Casa Dragones Joven in the past and I should be a big fan of this brand since they’re based right down the road from me in San Miguel de Allende. I’ve had trouble getting past the price-to-payoff ratio though as I’ve found others I like better at half the price and the bottle isn’t all that impressive.
I was pleased with this Casa Dragones reposado though, aged in Japanese oak barrels instead of the usual American or French. That gives it a bit different nose and finish than the usual.
It probably didn’t hurt that it was paired with a delicious lobster croquette with chipotle sauce, a mouth-watering combination. I’m still not ready to go plop down three figures for it, but I really enjoyed trying another one from their stable at this tequila tasting.
Clase Azul Tequila Gold (Joven)
If you stay in a luxury resort in Mexico anywhere, you’re bound to see Clase Azul bottles on display in prominent positions in the bar areas and restaurants. The reason is, they’re some of the prettiest bottles around, including the ubiquitous white and blue hand-painted porcelain bottles they sell the most of with their reposado version inside. You can see our review of it at that link.
I had never tried this Gold version though and it is something you don’t see so often in the tequila world: a “joven” blend of three different aging levels. Let’s take it from the source on this one:
This joven tequila combines Clase Azul Tequila Plata, a special reposado tequila matured in French oak casks and an extra añejo finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.
That’s a lot going on in this gold and black bottle, which is meant to evoke a Mexican sunset. My tasting guide Felipe explained that everything you see on a Clase Azul bottle has some kind of symbolism involved. I also learned something new: the stopper at the top is a bell, meant to be dinged when it’s time to start pouring.
This blend was more cohesive than I expected. Rather that creating a clash, the various tasting elements played well off each other and the whole really was better than its individual parts. One criticism I’ve heard of their reposado version is that it’s too sweet, better for dessert than for casual sipping. This blend tones that down a little and the anejo adds more heft. It was especially good with the fish taco that magically appeared, with avocado and pico de gallo.
Tasting Round 2: Premium Anejo
When you start getting into the tequila brands you see going for $150, $300, or more at duty free, those are usually going to be anejo or extra anejo ones that have spent at least a year aging, plus they’re in some kind of special bottle that’s going to look impressive as a gift. Often you’re paying for the packaging as much as what’s inside, but the best ones live up to the first impression.
In general, añejo tequila must be aged more than one year (the maximum for a reposado) and a maximum of three, in barrels that hold 600 liters max. (So no giant wooden barrels like you sometimes see used for wine or cider.) The ones tagged as extra añejo must spend at least three years in the barrel. You should try one of these if you’re a fan of aged rum, Scotch, bourbon, or cognac.
There’s not really a maximum, but in Mexico’s climate, once you get past five years it starts to become counter-productive. The barrel flavors overpower the spirit.
Here’s what we tried from the older brands.
Maestro Dobel Atelier
We’ve written about Maestro Dobel before and while they are best known for kicking off the Cristalino gimmick of bleaching out aged tequila making it look clear, we do like their reposado and añejo versions that we’ve tried.
This is a Cuervo brand, but as with Reserva de la Familia, there’s an element of collectability with this Maestro Dobel Atelier release. “This one is meant to honor the charros,” said my bartender Hugo as he poured, the Mexican cowboys you see competing in rodeo-like competitions all over Mexico. It comes in a pretty hand-painted bottle that really stands out from the crowd on the shelf. There are five different versions each year, all around a different theme. (The 2023 version honors the boats used in Xochimilco, outside of Mexico City. The 2021 bottles were inspired by piñatas.)
This spirit retails for $199, so I was expecting big things, and it did taste more expensive and complex than your usual aged tequila. It was a bit spicier than the norm and the character really changed as it moved across the tongue, with a nice lingering sweetness at the end that paired well with the fried shrimp it came with. It comes in a nice gift box if you’re buying it at retail.
Gran Centenario Gallardo
If you see this one in a bar and you’re ready to throw down some cash to celebrate, you may not want to hesitate. If you go to the web page for this particular premium tequila, there’s a sign-up for to get on a notification list for when it becomes available again. When they say “limited edition,” they mean it. A 2024 article I found online said, “There are only 679 bottles currently available to retailers in the U.S.”
So this was a real treat during our premium tequila tasting and it really elevated the whole expeirence. It got to try something I’m not very likely to run across again — or pay for since it’s $600 for a bottle. What a fine bottle it is though, especially if you’re a fan of Art Deco style. It definitely stands out as a departure from the norm. See pics and more about it here.
Gran Centenario is part of the Centenario Tequila collection, which is the opposite of rare at the low end. We’ve reviewed it before because it’s one of the easiest brands to find in Mexico, maybe the best seller in that country among the 100% blue agave options, depending on whose press release you believe. The brand is part of the portfolio of the world’s largest producer, just like the one above, the house of Cuervo.
As we’ve said many times before, don’t judge Jose Cuervo by its namesake mixto headache producer that is not 100% agave. The brands they make that are pure agave, which is most of them, are quite good. This Gallardo tequila is one of the best ones I’ve tasted all year, so I’m glad they saved it for last.
I kind of cringed a little when Felipe poured it over a big dense ice cube since we’re so conditioned to think that a premium dark spirit should be sipped neat. “It’s really hot in this open-air lobby in the afternoon,” Felipe said, “so it’s refreshing to have this on ice instead with your dessert. Trust me, you’ll like it.”
He was right: it tasted downright perfect this way. The extra añejo tequila, a blend of barrels aged for three to five years, really benefitted from the ice taking a little of the oak edge off along with the pairing of chocolate cake with dulce de leche. Yum!
As you’d probably expect, this premium tequila tasting with food pairings is not cheap. Some of these tequila brands individually cost three figures for a shot if you order off the menu and here you’re getting five samplings. If you’re a tequila lover though, this is heaven. See more details at the St. Regis activities page.
About the St. Regis Punta Mita
While there are quite a few resorts north of Puerto Vallarta that have “Punta de Mita” in their name, only two of them are actually inside the manned gates of the upscale Punta Mita development of hundreds of prime acres. It’s where some of Mexico’s most exclusive villas are located and where you can play two of the best golf courses on the Pacific Coast outside of Baja. One of the two luxury hotels you can stay in there is The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort.
The Four Seasons opened at the very end of the last century, when only a few homes were dotted around the area and only one of the golf courses was finished. By the time the St. Regis Punta Mita came along, the exclusive gated community was much further along and word was getting out. We reviewed the property soon after it opened and have gone back twice. This time we were checking it out after a major $45 million renovation. Kick back with your favorite beverage and come along on a property tour!
The key selling points of this resort are still in place. It’s on a gorgeous stretch of ocean facing an offshore island, there are three beautiful infinity pools facing the sea, and all the rooms in this oceanfront luxury resort have a sizable furnished balcony or terrace to enjoy.
This resort spreads out along the water and has a beach to itself, but it is compact enough to get around on foot. This is especially easy if you’re staying at one of the beachfront villas with its own plunge pool and kitchen. When it’s time to venture out, you just go left, right, or up the hill to have a choice of multiple restaurants. Those range from a beachfront toes-in-the-sand place for lunch to high-end Carolina, where the tasting menu with wine pairings is delightful.
There’s a full spa here that will help you to relax even more. This is a romantic spot that hosts many celebratory occasions and the staffers have a long list of ways you can create a memorable vacation for two.
One unique aspect at this St. Regis resort is the dedicated butler program, where one person is your main contact throughout the stay, taking care of all your needs. Sure, sometimes there will be a butler #2 when the first gets a day off, but either way you’re communicating through WhatsApp to get what you need to make your stay wonderful.
St. Regis is part of the Marriott family, so you can earn or cash in loyalty points here, a big advantage for business travelers who have elite status. As a guest here, you have access to the golf courses and tennis center facilities in the complex, both off-limits to the general public.
See our full review of The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Riviera Nayarit.
