Arette x The Tequila Report Single Barrel Reposado Review | Is It Worth Buying?

[00:00:00] One of the coolest thing about tequila is every once in a while a single barrel comes along that you'll never get to taste again. Once it's gone, it's gone. And today we're looking at one of those bottles, this Arete Tequila Report Single Barrel Reposado. And first off, I want to thank J. Bear and Matty Jagger for sending me this bottle to review. And I have to be honest, the very first pour I jumped on to sip tequila and I ordered myself a second bottle. So that's a pretty good sign that this is a great tequila. Before I get started on the bottle, let's talk about this review. It is Brought to you by The Tequila Report 62,000 people are excited about getting a weekly email newsletter about tequila, reading reviews, information about master distillers production deep dives. I'm telling you what, you get more information from the Tequila Report than anywhere else on the Internet. So you've got to go over and subscribe. It is free tequila report.com subscribe. Go check it out right now. Now let's talk about this bottle. If you've been around tequila for a while, you've probably heard of are it's produced at the distillery nom 1109 right in the town of Tequila. It's one of the oldest continuous family owned distilleries in the industry. Dates back to 1900. It's still owned and operated by the Ordine family today, and the history alone makes Arete a special brand. And this isn't your everyday bottle of Arete. After reading Jay's story on the Tequila Report about this project, what really stood out to me was that he and Matty weren't trying to make a reposado that just was a little different than the regular lineup. They wanted to find a barrel that told its own story, something that Tequil fans hadn't experienced before. They found exactly that in an American oak barrel that had previously held Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm not sure if I say that right, but that's my best shot. Here's what's really interesting. The regular Arete artisanal reposado spins close to a year in the oak, but this barrel only rested under five months. Even with that shorter aging time, the Cabernet seasoned barrel added this incredible amount of character without taking away what makes Arete arete. That's something I really appreciate because too many barrel finished tequilas end up tasting more like the barrel than agave. This one still has cooked agave. It shines through adding some layers of complexity. Now, this is a true single barrel release. Only 258 bottles were produced. Each one has a handwritten label, and it is in recycled glass. And it's bottled at 46 ABV, which I think is a fantastic proof for this. It brings out more flavor, more texture without it being overpowering. And the really cool part is there is another batch waiting behind this one. Once these 258 bottles are gone, they're gone. And that's why I bought another one, so I can drink one quick and sip on one for a little bit of time. Let's put it in the glass and dive into this one. [00:02:40] As you'll see, nice color, but not a lot of color on there. So starting the nose arete Coca. That's what I love about this. Now, there's definitely some different things going on. I get a little bit of roasted pineapple. I get a little bit of caramel. There's a nice sweetness, almost a little orange peel. There's even a little bit of, I don't want to say grassy, but herbal Note. And at 46 ABV, you know, it's not really blowing me away with a lot of alcohol. But I will say the bott bottle has been open for a while. I've drank a lot of it, so there's a lot of air in there. So a lot of that heat and alcohol has dissipated already. Nice dive into the taste. Cooked agave. There's a little bit of caramel, A little bit of vanilla. Nice sweetness. A little bit of, I want to say, like, black pepper. And then it changes. It turns into, like, an orange, citrusy note. A little bit of grassiness, a little bit of herbalness. I want to say clove, but I don't think clove. It may be more bay leaf than clove. Or, you know, it might be a light fennel. Anyway, it's a grass. You know, the barrel, it doesn't change it in to taste like a wine. Instead, there's a richness. There's like a really nice mouth feel and a complexity in the taste. The citrus gets a little brighter. There's a little bit of pepper that comes out. There's a little bit of cinnamon in the very end. And each time I have to say, each time I taste this, I. I do pick up just something different every time. It's just another flavor. And I know what I eat and what I drink before this affects it. But it just has so much complexity and so much great flavors. It's a reposado that has quickly become probably one of my repos of 2026. So sometimes I ask myself about a bottle that I taste is would I buy another one? Well, this one I already did, so I think that says a lot already. So anyone who enjoys single barrels, they're looking for something that different casks can influence. Tequila. If you're already a fan of arete, this is something that you should be experiencing. If the bottle is still available. I'm not sure. By the time this video was recorded it was, but by the time it comes out it may not be sip. Tequila.com is where you get it. As always. Let me in the comments. If you've had this Arete single barrel Tequila report, let me know if you've had this one and what your thoughts are. Let me know what your thoughts are about other barrel finished tequilas. I like to hear what people say. Again, thanks to Jay and Maddie for sending this out. This is one of the reasons why you should have the tequila report coming in your email so you would know about a bottle like this one. Cheers. Have a fantastic night. I'll see you at the next review.