As I’ve mentioned before on this site, if you want to bring a gift to impress to a Mexican who drinks, the safest bet you can make is Don Julio tequila. You could spend more on Clase Azul and create a bigger impression because of the hand-made porcelain bottle, but Don Julio Reposado or Anejo costs a good bit less, is easy to find in any store that sells liquor, and garners instant respect.
Over the years this premium tequila has gotten more marketing muscle behind it, so it’s easier to find outside of Mexico as well, but the quality has stayed consistently good.
Don Julio has been out as premium tequila since long before that was a trendy thing, around since 1942. What’s also not trendy is its singular focus. While the likes of Cuervo and Sauza produce multiple brands in one facility, “La Primavera” distillery only produces this one. No crappy mass-market cocktail swill coming down the same bottling line. They also avoid the shortcuts some others take: the agave fruits are steam-cooked in traditional masonry ovens for three days to release the sweet agave juice slowly, without rushing.
Don Julio Gonzales was a real guy too. He founded the company at the age of 17 with a dream and a loan.
Production and Tasting Notes for Don Julio Tequila
Don Julio is considered a premium tequila brand, even if you don’t splurge for the 1942 version, but many feel that it is more agave-forward than some of its oak-heavy competitors. Depending on your taste preference, that could be a good or bad thing.
The key difference between the reposado and añejo versions is the time in white oak barrels. The smooth highland reposado is aged for eight months. It emanates quality from the first whiff to the last finish, a complex and well-structured mix of spice (especially cinnamon), citrus, and agave sweetness. If you ask many experts what the yardstick should be to measure other tequila brands, Don Julio’s reposado comes up more than most others combined. It has become a kind of gold standard. Fittingly, it has won lots of gold medals too in tasting competitions.
The añejo version is aged for 18 months, but you wouldn’t know it from its looks. Coming out of its brown bottle, it’s surprisingly pale for something aged this long. There’s a reason for that though: the brand bucks tradition in another way by using the barrels they’ve already used rather than fresh ones from the bourbon folks.
In other words, the barrels holding this version for a year and a half have already hosted the reposado tequila for eight months at least. This makes Don Julio radically different than most others in the sense there’s a lot less influence from the wood. There’s also no possibility of residual bourbon from Kentucky influencing the taste of a spirit made from 100% blue weber agave. This is an unusual attribute in the tequila world since nearly all other tequila brands use reclaimed barrels that have mellowed out for four years or more with Kentucky bourbon inside.
If you prefer a heavy, oak-forward version to sip after dinner, Don Julio anejo is not your best bet. It’s one of the most interesting though, with more butterscotch, honey, and spice notes up front than you usually find, with less of the leathery, tobacco kind of notes you normally encounter with tequilas aged this long. It’s an intensely pleasurable drinking experience, but can throw people for a loop at first pour. Bartenders have been known to have an order sent back, the patron thinking they got the wrong version.
You can see that in the photo above, which I shot after getting a pour of both while staying at The Towers at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica on the beach in Los Cabos. You have to look closely to see that the one on the right has been aged longer.
Luxury Tequila Brands From Don Julio
If you’re willing to drop $100+ on something fancier, there’s a Don Julio 1942 Tequila aged for at least two and a half years. This ups the ante even more, and the second time I got to try it I saw the light: this is clearly one of the top bottles you can buy at any price. If you’re at a high-end all-inclusive resort like La Casa de la Playa in the Riviera Maya, take advantage of it and get a sipping glass of this one.
That’s still not the most expensive choice from the brand though. I doubt I’ll have a chance to try the Don Julio Real bottle anytime soon: with some of the fanciest packaging you’ll find anywhere and a “If they’ll pay it, we’ll make it” attitude, this version lists for an eye-popping $399 at retail. Spring for this when you have a really big deal to celebrate or a key client to impress and tell me how it went.
For some reason, that one is not listed on the official website anymore. Instead you’ll find the strange but popular 70 Cristalino that has all its color artificially stripped out and a few premium items like the Rosada aged in port barrels. Then there’s what may be the most expensive tequila I’ve seen at retail: the Don Julio Ultima Reserva, a limited edition version that can go for $699. Maybe if you’re celebrating a house sale or something equally high-dollar…
For more everyday purchases to fill out the home bar, the regular reposado and anejo versions will make you and your guests happy and they won’t cost more than your monthly car payment, but it pays to shop around. I’ve seen the reposado for sale for as little as $28 in Mexico and as much as $70 in an independent U.S. liquor store. It’s usually in the $45-$60 range at the big liquor store chains. The añejo is often less than 10 dollars more, making it a relative bargain if you’re looking for a sipping tequila with some additional aging.
If you’re coming to Mexico on vacation, Don Julio is one of the easiest premium brands you’ll find, even at places that aren’t very fancy otherwise. I’ve seen it in convenience stores and at swinging-door cantinas. If you go to a high-end all-inclusive resort on the coast somewhere, there’s a very good chance they’ll have this brand. Set up your own tasting and check it out.
(If all this is too much and you’re just looking for a bottle to bring to a party for mixing or shots, a reliable bet with Mexicans is Cazadores Tequila, which is one of the best values on the shelf. Or see our other tequila reviews here.)
Article by Timothy
Timothy Scott is the founder and editor of Luxury Latin America and has been covering the region as a travel journalist since the mid-2000s. He has visited each country we cover multiple times and is based in a UNESCO World Heritage city in central Mexico, where he owns a home. See contact information here.
