Thursday Club with TalkRadio: Tequila Special

This week it’s all about Tequila! We’ll be discovering some top serves to get the very most out of your bottle. Forget shots, this week it’s all about smooth sipping and appreciating some of the finest liquid known to mankind!

Tequila Dobel Diamante

Made with 100% pure agave and formulated using a blend of Extra-Añejo, Añejo and Reposado tequilas. This complex spirit gives you a mix of sweet flavours – caramel, honey and maple alongside a nutty vanilla finish. An indescribable smoothness and a long finish that leaves you wanting more.

ABV: 40% // Size: 700ml // Find here: £54.95

Spicy Margarita

50ml Tequila Dobel Diamante
25ml Lime
4 Slices of Chilli
10ml Agave Syrup

Herradura Reposado

The Original Reposado. Tequila Herradura introduced the world to Reposado in 1974 and has been setting the standard ever since. Aged longer than industry standard for 11 months, Reposado has a rich amber color with notes of cooked agave, vanilla and butter. This additional time spent resting in charred American White Oak barrels creates a smooth, sweet finish with a slight taste of spice.

ABV: 40% // Size: 700ml // Find here: £43.64

Chocolate Orange Margarita

50ml Herradura Reposado
15ml Grand Marnier
20ml Lime
1 Dash Chocoalte Bitters
1 Dash Vanilla Bitters

Storywood 14 Year Speyside Añejo

Bottled at cask strength, Storywood Double Oak is at the top of the range of their Cask Strength Limited Editions. Raised over 14 months in single malt Scotch whisky casks and Oloroso Sherry casks. Honey and caramel merge with cherry and dark fruit notes for a radically rare tequila. Limited to around 500 cases a year.

ABV: 40% // Size: 700ml // Find here: £53.20

Tequila Old Fashioned

50ml Storywood Double Oak Anejo
15ml Agave Nectar
1 Dash Angosturra Bitters
1 Dash Orange Bitters

Top Tip: When making margaritas, use Grand Marnier to hit that cocktail up a notch!

To see more of the bottles we’ve featured on Thursday Club click here!

The Best Tequilas To Buy For Christmas

Words by Aidy Smith

I do love a good tequila as Winter rolls around. This spirit is so versatile, you can sip with tonic, completely neat or in a more adventurous style with your own margarita recipe. Truth is, I’ve always looked at tequila as a ‘coming together’ drink, which is exactly what Christmas is all about! So without further anticipation - here are some of our absolute favourites to check out this Christmas!

Storywood Tequila 

Just as you thought the tequila space couldn’t get any more exciting… WHAM! Storywood enters. And when I say exciting, this is going to blow your mind. These guys have taken an oath to do exactly what their name suggests… tell a story, through the wood. That’s why their range is so innovatively curious. Okay, so what are we talking about? Reposado Tequila aged in Oloroso Sherry Casks, check. Double Oak Añejo? Yep. How about a selection of Reposados and an Añejo aged in single malt Speyside casks? Got that too. If you know people who love both tequila and scotch, they’ve got you covered. If you know people who just like discovering something new that is damn tasty – well, they’ve got you there too.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% - 53%
Find here: £39.99 - £48.99

Casa Dragones Blanco

These guys create another one of the ultimate sipping tequilas and arguably one of the ‘purest’ looking bottles I’ve seen too. I love to use these as water bottles once I’ve finished the nectar inside. Small batch, 100% blue agave which has been around for 7-9 years ripened to perfection in the rich lands of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The water is pretty neat too, beneath the earth’s surface in hundreds of 70-meter natural aquifers straight from the Volcano of Tequila! Perhaps that what gives it such a pure and distinct taste…

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £90 // $69.99

Vivir Blanco

One of the best Blancos on the market right now. This 100% agave beauty is produced from 9-year-old Weber Blue Agave on their estate. One smell gives you fresh clean agave with a floral burst. Super easy drinking and premium in nature you can sip or turn into one of the best margaritas you’ll ever have. Just avoid the salt-rim, this is a tequila you WANT to taste.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Find here: £34.95

Pancho Datos Reposado Tequila

Don’t you love it when people do something and do it really bloody well? Enter, Pancho Datos with their Reposado. We’re talking 100% Blue Weber Agave aged in American white oak barrels that had previously held mature bourbon whisky. The result is an ultra-smooth sip-worthy tequila with a pure agave, vanilla-caramel flavour. Perfect either by itself or enjoyed in the form of cocktail creativity such a Tequila Old Fashioned.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40% ABV
Find here: £50 

Casamigos Añejo

If it’s got George Clooney’s face on it, let’s not beat around the agave bush, you want that in your mouth. No, but seriously, this is an outstanding tequila. It may be widely available but their master distiller (who’s never actually been named) is working wonders. I have as much confidence in this as I do in Clooney’s acting career. Strong game. They use 100% Blue Weber agave with an age of 7-9 years, slow cooking the piñas for 72 hours in their traditional brick ovens. The 80-hour fermentation process coupled alongside a signature yeast blend gives this tequila its refined flavour. The Añejo then sits in American white oak casks for 14 months to elevate its game even further. Pure agave, soft caramel, gentle vanilla and a sweetly spiced oak fill your mouth with joy. If only it came with a side of George…

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £58 // $48.99

Gran Patrón Platinum Tequila

I love a good tequila, it seems to be one of the spirits I’ve really found an appreciation for over the last few years. If I was to name one house that consistently delivers quality across its whole portfolio, my mind takes me straight to Patrón. It seems there’s a little something for everyone and while I’ll happily get my hands on a Reposado for my margarita needs (quick tip, avoid the salt rim, it ruins the drink), I love nothing more than to sip on something of premium quality. That brings me to Gran Patrón Platinum, arguably the world’s first ulta-premium tequila. With each bottle taking around 30 people to create, quality is of the utmost level. Agave is individually sourced for its rich sugar content before being harvested, triple distilled and left for 30 days in oak tanks to create pure elegance. The result is a smooth and seductive nectar of agave, orange, vanilla, lime and white peppercorns. Pure bliss if you ask me and don’t even get me started on a Mexican Martini (google it, you won’t be disappointed).

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find here: £225 // $199.99

Looking for other gift ideas? Don’t forget to check out our vodka, gin and no-low gift guides!