Luna Nueva is a fairly new brand...and it has an interesting twist. At NOM 1558, it is made with both highland and lowland agave plants. I'm not positive what the purpose is, but I would assume that it is to attempt to harmoniously combine the trademark aspects of agave from both areas. I enjoyed the blanco, so let's see what two kinds of blue agave do when they hit the barrel for over a year.

Price: $40-45/bottle

Aroma: Light cooked agave with a big nose of vanilla and oak compliments.

Initial Taste: Vanilla, baking spice and a hint of ripe fruit.

Body: Medium bodied. Not too oily, but definite a full mouth feel. Still lots of sweetness from the vanilla/caramel notes with just some light spice and ripe fruit (apple/pear).

Finish: Pretty short for an anejo. The desserty sweetness lingers for a short while, but it's not the long finish that you're looking for in most anejos. Definitely easy to drink...very smooth.

Luna Nueva anejo is a nice dessert sipper. It has the trademark aspects of a good anejo in that it has vanilla/caramel, spice and oak. It's very easy to drink and goes down very smooth. If you are looking to introduce someone to an anejo, this is a pretty good option because of the profile and the easy finish. Tasty.

The nose on this anejo is not bad, but it's not really that special either. Like its younger siblings, it's just kind of weak. I even poured a different brand in an identical glass just to make sure my sniffer was working properly, and it's fine. I do get a little fruit in the anejo as compared to the repo, which is nice since the repo is kind of a caramel bomb. The anejo still has plenty of caramel, and enhanced oak tannins, too.

Taste is very similar to the nose. Mostly sweet, but doesn't scream cooked agave. There is still the caramel (and vanilla), but as with the nose, some fruit flavors also come through. I would call it a mixture of tropical fruit and maybe some red apple. I also get a tinge of the charcoal coming through from the barrels. It's a nice flavor overall, but I don't get much agave. The body is medium-to-slightly-heavy, progressing even a bit more from the younger expressions. It doesn't coat my mouth very much with oiliness, but it does have weight - maybe even chewy by some definition.

Finish on this is like the nose and like the silver and repo...kind of weak - not offensive or hot - actually pretty smooth in that regard. But it's nothing exciting or remarkable. There is a very quick burn, and the aftertaste that does remain is the basic sweetness with caramel, vanilla, and a hint of fruit. Nothing lasts very long in the finish.

Overall, it is a fairly enjoyable experience, but will probably leave a tequila aficionado unimpressed. I think it would be a good intro tequila for new sippers, but it lacks complexity for a refined palate.