Can House of Rare Make a Great Everyday Reposado?

[00:00:00] Can a brand known for special releases actually make a great everyday tequila? Because Hauserre has built a lot of excitement over the last few years and they've released some collaborations, they've released their Founders Cut blanco, they've released an extra anejo, and honestly, everything they've done has felt like a special occasion. Bottle today is different. It isn't a collaboration, it isn't a special edition, it isn't a collector's bottle. This is the House of Rare. This is their reposado, and. And this is their regular house expression. And here's what's interesting. I also have this House of Rare cascal ween sitting right here. And the reason that's important, both these tequilas use the same PX sherry barrels. Both are aged for six months. And the difference is the cascoine collaboration is bottled at 44% ABV, while this new House of Rare is only 40% ABV, and this is their own blanco. So the question is, did they save the magic for special releases, or does it carry into the bottle that most people will actually be able to? [00:00:57] Before we pour this bottle, let's talk about what makes it special. Most reposados spend time in American oak barrels, developing flavors like vanilla, caramel and traditional oak spice. House Herrera took a little bit different approach, spending six months in PX sherry casks. Px or Pedro Hermenez, is known for producing intensely rich wines, flavors of raisin, date figs, honey and dried fruit. Those barrels can bring tremendous depth and complexity to a tequila in a relatively short amount of time. The question is, do those flavors enhance or overpower it? We already know they enhanced it. So let's dive into this tequila. Today I did already get the opportunity to interview Miguel Ortiz and talk about House of Rare tequila, about the distillery that they bought, about the way they produce this. So if you can go back and check that interview out on YouTube. And today we're going to dive in and see if all of the flavors of their Founders Cut come through into this reposado, which is their just normal house brand. This is the one you're going to be able to pick up at a normal price, not like the Founders Cut. Let's see what we got here. Right away. Great cooked agave. There's a nice dried fruit. There is maybe some fig, because I was already thinking of that from this nose that I know the barrel gives out. There's a little bit of caramel, and there is something uniquely House of rare that I pick up. I know this because of their blanco, but I do pick up just a nice hint of eucalyptus. All right, let's dive into the taste of this one. Nice cooked agave. There's like a honey sweetness, a little bit of caramel. I think that's citrus. A little orange got eucalyptus is lightly there. Not as much that's in this founders cut. This thing has like massive amount of eucalyptus in it. This just has a light taste of it. Probably because it's in my mind as well. That oak is there, that raisin fig fruitiness is there. I want to say as I go into the finish, I do pick up a little cinnamon, but I also pick up almost like a brown sugar note. I don't know that I've got that before on a tequila like this. This is really nice. Now, does it have the deep complexity of this one? No eucalyptus of this one? No. But an everyday sipping reposado, absolutely. I will say that some of that PX sherry comes out of there with kind of some stone fruit in the finish. Maybe like a peach apricot with a nice hint of cinnamon. And it does hang on. There's like this nice, like barrel spice note. I. I don't want to say pepper. I probably want to say a little bit of cinnamon. It just hangs on. This, I'm going to say is a unique reposado. It is really nice. It's easy to drink. For me, this one kind of stands out a little different than a normal repo with a little bit more of those sherry influences and that nice vegetal eucalyptus type note that's there too. I'm curious what you think. Are you looking for a reposado that has a little more of that dried fruit and honey and PX sherry influence, or do you prefer more of just a traditional oak reposado? Let me know in the comments. If you like honest reviews about tequilas, if you like distillery visit and interviews with owners and master distillers and actually learning what goes in the bottle. Hit that subscribe button. Hit that like button. Thanks for watching. Until next time. Sip wisely, drink responsibly, and make sure you're drinking good, clean tequila. Cheers, my friends.