DGL Destiladores
El Mayor
40%
3 months
Released in September, El Mayor Café Reposado is the latest launch from the Luxco-owned Destiladora Gonzalez Lux. The expression begins with used bourbon barrels that are filled with dark-roast Brazilian coffee beans and rotated for four to six weeks. The beans are then discarded, and the barrels are used to mature El Mayor tequila for three months. We'll repeat it again for the folks in the back: This is *not* a coffee liqueur. Most bottles billed as a "Café" these days tend to be agave-based coffee liqueurs, and El Mayor has evidently chosen to go in a different direction, akin to what Quintaliza is currently doing.
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Classic reposado with a sticky edge. Roasted agave, caramel, orange zest and toffee pudding float out the glass with a thick, palpable aroma. Dense but not terribly complex.
Hints of vanilla, buttercream, dulce de leche and mocha. The coffee character is barely noticeable at first, but let it linger, and the roasted coffee notes begin to build and build and build.
Everything hinted at on the palate crescendos on the finish. Loads of dark, smoky coffee grounds settle in to every nook and cranny, alongside barrel char, mocha, singed agave and lemon blossom. Delicious stuff, and easily the star of the show.
Rarely do reposados have so much to offer on the backend. The Brazilian coffee influence, though subdued at first, ends up pulling through in full force with a smack of morning cup of joe flavor. All too easy to imagine this inside an Espresso Martini or Carajillo.
85
Disclosure: The producer provided this sample to review free of charge, and without expectation of review or rating.
