Escalón La Tahona Blanco Review: A Stunning Bottle with Serious Tequila Flavor

[00:00:00] Can you make a tequila that belongs in a high end nightclub, looks incredible sitting on a shelf, and still delivers the kind of flavor that a serious tequila enthusiasts are looking for? Well, that's exactly what the team behind this tequila set out to accomplish. And here's what makes this review a little different for me. I actually had a very small part in helping select the flavor profile of this tequila before it ever made it into this absolutely beautiful bottle. This is tequila Escalon selection Tejona Blanco. And just take a look at this bottle. I mean, holy cow, I have to tell you, the presentation of this is absolutely stunning. But there's a really interesting story behind the tequila. One of the founders, Alex Jones, invited me to be a part of the process while they were developing the flavor. You know, what really caught my attention was the fact they were leaning strong into a tequila that aficionados would really like. I didn't really know about the bottle, the club scene, and the other things they were trying to go for. I just knew they were trying to genuinely make a great tequila to that any aficionado or true tequila enthusiast would really get behind and get excited about. We tasted a lot of different proofs and a lot of different profiles, a lot of different sample bottles, and the one they landed on was absolutely fantastic. Gold starts out with 100% blue Weber Agave grown in the highlands of Jalisco. You know where that rich red clay and those fabulous tasting agaves come from? They're cooked in the traditional stone ovens there. Now, instead of using the roller mill like they use at 1414 a lot, this time they're using a traditional tohona. It's a brand new massive stone wheel that slowly crushes the agave. It's much more labor intensive. It's much harder to extract those juices out of there. So what they do next is pretty cool. In fermentation, the juice is then loaded into the wood tanks called pones, where they undergo open air spontaneous fermentation using only natural occurring yeast. They're fermenting this without agave fibers. And here's something cool about 1414. Classical music is played during fermentation. From there, the tea is twice distilled in the copper pots, and the finished product is bottled at 41% ABV or 82 proof. Now, one other thing before we jump to the tasting that I wanted to share. When this bottle arrived, it did have a handwritten note from the team. Before the bottle, before the tequila, you believed in our story while it was still taking shape. And then it Said, every step of the ascent carries a part of you. And I have to tell you, that meant a lot to me. I have got the opportunity to actually go down and help create with a group of people a proof for a high proof Tequila. So all the years of drinking tequila and tasting tequila, to actually get to help somebody create their profile, to me is just really cool. Let's talk about the name Escalon means step in Spanish. And the philosophy behind the brand is that every step is part of the ascent. Even the golden triangle on the top of the bottle has meaning. Representing the land and the human element behind the production and the spirit itself. I have to say, when it comes to presentation, these guys hit it out of the park. This also was put into the Agabalos Awards and did win a double gold medal in the 2026 Agaves Awards. So now let's get this what's in this beautiful bottle into my mouth. I can't wait to taste it and smell it. Man. It's just got really great cooked agave on the nose. There's citrus, there's some minerality. There's a little bit of pepper and almost like a buttery note as well. [00:03:06] All right, let's taste it. [00:03:09] Nice Coco da Gabe. A really nice little bit of pepper, some citrus. That butter that I got in the nose is there. There's a little orange in there. It's a little floral, and there's a lot of minerality. And honestly, it's that minerality of 14. 14. [00:03:23] Let's take a second sip. [00:03:26] I really like the finish. The finish highlights the agave flavor. This nice pepper note that kind of heats up with a lot of minerality to it. This is absolutely fantastic. If you're looking for a great bottle to have on the shelf and just kind of show off, this is a bottle that does that. Everybody's going to ask you about this bottle when it's on the shelf. And this is proof that you can have really, really good tequila in a really, really fancy, pretty bottle. Then I'm sure this will do great in clubs and people doing bottle service. It'll really stand out and bring somebody an original traditional tequila flavor versus some of those other fancy bottles where the tequila doesn't really taste that fantastic. Well, I think the team accomplished its goal of making a great tequila in a beautiful bottle. I want to say thanks to Alex and Sergio Cruz and the entire team at Escalon for allow small part of this journey. It's one thing to hear somebody talk about their vision for tequila, but it's something completely different to watch that vision become a finished product. I genuinely appreciate the opportunity. Now, I want to hear from you. Have you seen this bottle yet? Have you tried this brand yet? Do you think it's okay to make a great tequila in a really, really fancy bottle? Put your comments in there. Let me know what you think. If you want to learn about great tequila, go to the Tequila report dot com. It's completely free. I'm going to have this for the rest of the evening. Cheers. Have a great night.