Pantera de Oro Extra Añejo Review | Cask Strength Blind Tasting Standout (#2 Overall)

[00:00:00] This tequila finished second in an agave matchmaker extra anejo Blind testing for me and I had no idea what it was when I tasted it. After sitting down with one of the founders, everything about this bottle suddenly made a lot of sense. This is Pantera de Oro extra on yo. It is a cast strength tequila. It's built on balance, not just oak. Pantera de Oro was created by Scott Baird, an industry veteran with more than two decades in in spirits and hospitality. Scott helped launch Tequila Ocho in the US So this isn't someone that's just guessing their way around how the market works. In 2021, he seen a shift that was happening in tequila. More transparency, more respect for the people growing the agave and a consumer that cared about authenticity. Pantera de Ora was built from that moment. Pantera de Ora is produced at NAM 1608, located in the Tequila Valley. And the tequila wasn't meant to be an extra anejo. I just got the opportunity to interview Scott. Check it out. He tells the whole story and he deep dives into some industry secrets. It's on my YouTube channel. I'll put a link at the end of the video. Num 1608 has a lot of methods of making tequila. For this tequila, they used a traditional stone oven and an autoclave. So 60% stone oven, 40% autoclave. Just another way of combining a couple of techniques to change the flavors of tequila. I believe the extraction on this one was a roller mill. Fermentation happens in stainless steel tanks. It's twice distilled in stainless steel pots with copper coil. And the water source is deep well water. From the start, the goal was a no additives, no shortcuts, no compromises. Clean, good tequila. When it came to the agent of the tequila, instead of just leaning heavy into bourbon like a lot of companies do, Scott chose to do a 50, 50 barrel program. This is 50% French oak and 50% American oak, mostly first and second fill barrels. And it has some great color to it. [00:01:53] His decision was meant to soften that whiskey dominance, let an extra anejo push the file towards a more elegant Armagnac than bourbon. What began as an anejo simply needed time. Three and a half years, it naturally crossed over into the extra anejo territory. And at that point, bottling at 53% cast strength was the only choice that he really wanted to make. Let's get this one in a glass. You'll notice I'm using a new glass today. This is a glass by a company called Glassvin and I'm trying them out. They have a really good way of giving you a different nose on the glass than what I get with the some of the other ones. So I thought I'd give it a try today. All right, let's dive in. Cooked agave. There's like a baked apple, pear and apricots. Like a lot of stone fruit. There's a little bit of like a nutmeg and cinnamon. Light vanilla, of course, the toasted oak. And you get some floral like honey notes as well. [00:02:47] That's a nice nose. It is very complex. Let's dive in on the taste of this one. [00:02:53] Really nice mouthfeel. [00:02:55] It has a nice heat to it. There's a lot of sweet roasted agave. There's some caramelized fruit, some orange peel, a little bit of toffee. The oak is like right there too. Let's try it again. Almost get a little bit of that musty barrel taste with this fruitiness around it. And the orange. The orange peel is a lot stronger than the second one. [00:03:18] Cast strength really brings out a lot of extra agave flavors with that barrel. The finish is long, it's warm. The agave is there all the way through. There's a gentle spice, a little bit of a minerality, kind of lingering, and also a little like cocoa with just a hint of tobacco. This tequila is sold all over California in the Costcos in California. But you also can go to their website and get it direct to consumer. I think it's running right around $150 for a three year extra on Yejo. That's cast strength and also it's a liter. So this is definitely an anejo. An extra anejo to have on your shelf. This is one that would convert, I'm pretty sure any bourbon drinker to drinking tequila. You're going to feel a lot better after you drink this than you are bourbon. And it has a really nice barrel Note with that ave in the in the forefront. If you want to find out a whole lot more about this tequila and one of the owners, Scott Bear, check out the full story. There should be a link right here to click on it as the next video. If you're on Instagram, jump over to the YouTube and watch the full interview there. If you've had Pantera de Oro, drop it in the comments. Tell me what you think of it. Cheers. Have a great night.