House of Rare Blanco Review | Does the New Blanco Live Up to the Founders Cut Hype?

[00:00:00] Everybody remembers the tequila that put House a Rare on the map. The Founders Cut it won Best of Show blanco@adi and honestly, it was one of the most unique tequilas that I've had because of the unmistakable hint of eucalyptus. But today we're going to look at something completely different. It's their brand new house blanco. This is a bottle they actually want people to be able to buy, drink, replace and enjoy anytime. So the big question is, does it stand up to the House of Rare DNA? One thing that I really appreciated when I met Miguel in our interview was he talked about how they're trying to produce a great tequila and now they're doing it at their own distillery. Now, I'm 1648 in El Renal, it's in the Tequila Valley. And their goal is to create a house blanco that can be an expression that everybody can drink anytime and have the traditional craftsmanship behind it. If you watched my Founders Cut review, you probably remember me talking about their cooking process was actually a mistake, but they went ahead and completed it. Now they've refined a cooking process. You'll also remember us talking about the hints of eucalyptus. It wasn't because they added something, it came from nature. During their open air fermentation, the wild yeast in the surrounding environment includes eucalyptus trees all around the distillery, helping influence the aroma and giving that unique cooling, herbal character to it. It was one of the most fascinating things I found about that tequila. And sometimes environment itself is part of the terroir of the final spirit. Now, one of the things that was different about the Founder's Cut was small amount of bottles that were available. And it was because of that unique cooking method where their oven shut off in the middle of the night. And when they came, sure what to do. So they turned it back on and they continued cooking. Now, all of the things about their distillery are still there. So they just refined the cooking process so they can make more than 700 bottles and they put it in a similar bottle, but it's not quite as fancy and as expensive as what that Founders cup bottle was. So let's get this one in the bottle and let's take a taste and see if we pick up some of the same notes that I got out of the Founder's Cut. [00:01:55] Now this one is bottled at 40 ABV, so let's dive into the nose. Now, right away I get a nice sweet cooked agave, I get some fresh citrus, almost like lemon peel. It's also like a touch of a lime note. There's a little bit of like a Black pepper. There's a nice wet stone minerality and then there is those green herbal notes, but it's not quite the same like eucalyptus hit that I got in Founders Cut, but it is very green and fresh herb notes. I actually like the minerality of this one. And around the top of the glass you do get a little bit of eucalyptus, almost like that menthol cooling type note. Let's, let's dive into the taste. Great cooked agave, nice black pepper. There's a citrus zest. There's a really nice earthy minerality to it. Almost near like a wet, a wet stone like Petracore. It still is very fresh. There's a lot of salinity, like a, like a briny salt. The mouth feels not super heavy, but it coats it nice and it lets kind of the agave flavor a little bit develop. And maybe there's a little eucalyptus in that finish, but that could maybe just be in my mind so much of looking for it, knowing that it was going to be there in the Founders Cut. For me, this is what House of Rare needed in their lineup. Something that I can purchase at a regular conservative price. I can find it all the time and it doesn't have to be one of 700 bottles where I'm afraid of opening it and using it as a daily pour. This House Blanco is one that I could use as a daily pour. And I'm really excited to see how this distillery develops and what they have that's going to come out of this place next. And one of the ways to learn about what tequilas are doing is to sign up for The Tequila Report. 62,000 people get it in their emails once a week for free and you can too. And it's a great place to find out information about brands like this, traditional brands and even the big brands of what's changing throughout our industry reviews, industry insights, all of that. Check it out. It's tequilareport.com subscribe if you're looking for an agave for tequila, something that has great agave flavor that you can pick up and drink and use this on a regular basis. I do believe this is one. As always, a house blanco is one that is going to give you the core flavor of the distillery and also usually come at a price where you can drink it on a regular basis. If you like reviews or you like learning about tila, hit that like and subscribe button. If you have had this House of Rare, put it in the comments, let me know what your thoughts are. Cheers. Have a fantastic evening.