Life is short. I see that all the time in my work, and I have seen it far too often in my own life. Life is too short to fill it with worries about the small stuff, and it is too short to fill it with bad people, bad experiences, bad food or bad drinks.
Speaking of drinks; I have long been a scotch drinker, but just as often as not I enjoy relaxing while sipping tequila. Recently I decided that, except when making margaritas, I would begin drinking higher-end tequilas, and I decided to have some fun with it. Each time I buy a new bottle of tequila, I’ll try a different brand and, along with enjoying it, I’ll write it up here on the site.
First up, a tequila that Judie and Kev recommended to me years ago, Tres Generaciones Anejo.
Tres Generaciones is a super-premium tequila produced in Tequila, a municipality of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The brand was first created in 1973 by Don Francisco Javier Sauza. His goal was to honor the three generations of the Sauza family of tequila makers beginning in 1873.
The History:
In 1873 Don Cenobio Sauza founded Sauza at La Perseverancia distillery. He was, in fact, the first person to distill spirits from the blue agave plant and refer to it by the name “tequila”. He was also the first one to export the beverage to the United States. Don Cenobio Sauza’s son, Don Eladio Sauza took over the business from his father and grew it by opening branches in Monterrey and Mexico City and a concession in Spain. In 1931, his son, Don Francisco Javier Sauza took over the business.
Thus three successive generations of the family started, expanded and then further expanded the business.
In the 1970s, ’80’s and 90’s a series of takeovers resulted in the brand eventually becoming part of Fortune Brands.
Tres Generaciones Tequila comes in three variants:
Tres Generaciones Plata is 100% blue agave, is triple-distilled but is bottled unaged.
Tres Generaciones Reposado is 100% blue agave, is triple-distilled and is aged for at least four months in American oak barrels.
Finally, Tres Generaciones Añejo is also triple-distilled 100% blue agave that is aged for 12 months in toasted American oak barrels; that’s what gives it the dark, rich color.
I priced Tres Generaciones Anejo locally, and it ran between $40 and $50 for a 750 ml. That’s in keeping with most of the other premium tequilas I’ve considered but is substantially more than the pedestrian Jose Cuervo Gold I use for margaritas. Everything about this tequila says “premium”. The bottle is beautiful with a nice copper-colored accent around the neck and the cork stopper topped by wood adds to the premium experience.
Add in the hand-numbering on the back, and this is every bit a $40-$50 tequila.
One of my issues with some higher end tequilas is that they are so refined that they lose the “tequila flavor and edge” that I enjoy in a sipping tequila. Fortunately that’s not the case here. The agave comes through the rich, smokey flavor of the tequila as does the oak and, what others have described as, citrus. That smokiness also comes through in the aroma when you first open the bottle which allows the experience of enjoying the tequila to begin before it is even poured.
If you are looking for a sub-$50 sipping tequila, then you’ll want to check out Tres Generaciones Anejo. There’s a reason Judie and Kev brought a bottle to the lake last summer, and we needed to find another rather quickly!
You can learn more about Tres Generaciones Tequilas here.
Have a tequila you think we should highlight next? Email us here with the subject “Check out this tequila next.”
