The Tequila Crafted Entirely by Women | Leyenda de México Review

[00:00:00] Today we're going to have a tequila that's not only made by a female master distiller, but the entire facility is run all by women. We're going to review La yenda de Mexico Reposado. This tequila is made by master distiller Meli Barajas, 1533 Liquors di Azdaka. What's awesome is she made this tequila for her father, and she wasn't really, at that point in time, a tequila maker. Father wasn't a tequila maker either. She was in fashion design and teaching and decided to make her way into the tequila tequila world. After making a small tequila for her father, she ended up turning it into a very large business. So this distillery that she owns is a fantastic traditional distillery. Melee actually goes out and chooses each agave to be harvested, looking for the red spots on the agave, knowing that they're ripe and really, really ready. After finding those agaves, they bring them in and they're cooked in a stone oven. From stone oven, they go into a roller mill for crushing. After crushing, open fermentation in stainless steel tanks, and then twice distilled in stainless steel pots with copper coils. From then, the tequila is rested for quite some time before being bottled. And in this tequila, it's rested in an American oak barrel. And this tequila is rested for nine months. [00:01:15] So let's dive into the nose on this one. I opened this up a little bit ago and let it set, and I've already had some as well because I wanted the bottle to open up when I first got it. When I first tasted it, there wasn't a strong nose on it, and the flavors were different than they are today. After it opened up, I got a lot more flavor. So on the nose now I get a little bit of a spiciness, some cooked agave, little bit of anise, and now a little bit of vanilla with a touch of the barrel note that that musty barrel smell that I like so much. Dive into the taste. Okay. I definitely get a nice cooked agave. I get a nice natural vanilla note and a little bit of caramel. And the barrel spices really kind of kick up once it gets into your mouth. I also pick up a little bit of cinnamon. And that anise that I picked up in this mouth is right there in the finish. The finish is not really super long, but it has a nice anise sweetness that just kind of hangs on. And the barrel note kind of comes out a little more too. With that, the only way I can explain it's the smell of the inside of a barrel house. This is a very sippable tequila. It's not a tequila that's overly complex. You get the cooked agave, you get some of those barrel notes. It's just a nice tequila to sip on. I'm sure it'd be great in a cocktail as well. Leyenda is really spreading out across America. Let me know in the comments if you have ever had Leyenda. I did get the opportunity to interview Melie Barajas just recently. It's on my YouTube channel. She explains the entire process of creating this brand. So check it out. If you want more reviews and you love learning about tequila, hit that subscribe button. Cheers.