First up was the Patrón silver, the un-aged version. There are gentle earthy aromas but these are swiftly overtaken by fresh and vibrant citrus; tangerine, and I got a hint of sweetness, perhaps butterscotch aroma. On the palate it's dry, with only a very slight alcohol burn. The agave flavours are noticeable but they are really fresh, backed up with lemon and a touch of almond. Overall a good, light, pure spirit without any harshness or feinty notes.Next, the reposado, or rested version (aged for a couple of months). It pours a pale gold colour with green hints. On the nose there's citrus again; lemon, with a hint of woodsmoke and vegetal agave aromas. It's dry on the palate but the agave flavours are backed up with vanilla sweetness, lime and a lifted orange blossom finish. The short ageing process has allowed the alcohol to integrate into the spirit, giving it a superb balance of sweet oak and savoury vegetal flavours.
Finally the anejo, fully aged over a year. I didn't get much oak on the nose, but it has contributed in a toffee hint, with the vanilla and smoke that I found in the reposado. On the palate it is very dry from the oak influence, the alcohol is well-integrated but I found it to be a little too drying - there's lots of sawdust and oak flavour and the coconut and smokiness dominates the fruit a little, although it does make for a very mellow spirit.
In short (no pun intended), if you think tequila is a rough spirit that only deserves to be fired down with salt and lemon this is the tequila to try to disavow you of that impression. For me the reposado was the best of the three, getting the right balance without allowing the oak to provide character without dominating what is quite a light spirit - although it might just be because I'm not a massive fan of oak flavours in the raw.
All three are 40% abv. Patrón silver is selling for £43.49 at The Whisky Exchange, the reposado for just a pound more and the anejo for £49.49.
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