Casa Noble Tequila Reposado

I tasted this using a medium size snifter. The nose is mostly that of cooked agave with nuances of caramel and a light smokiness. The first sip reveals an up front agave flavor profile, with a touch of vanilla and a light dose of smoke. This is nicely balanced with very little alcohol burn. A few more sips bring out lot's of agave flavor with hints of cinnamon and vanilla. The mouth feel is creamy and silky at the same time. I was looking for some hints of caramel but none came forward for me during this tasting. The finish was fairly long, mostly agave, with a hint of spice and a whiff of smokiness. This is a very drinkable reposado!

It took a quite a bit of searching to find a bottle of this in the suburbs of Chicago. I bought it for around 50 bucks, which is a little more than I would like to spend, but believe me, it is worth every penny. Hands down, probably one of the best tequilas I've ever had. Even some of my friends, who have never drank tequila that wasn't chilled or served with lime and salt, agree. They now ask for it by name, "Casa Noble".

There is a slight hint of caramel. Goes down smooth. No funny aftertaste. The ceramic bottles, which have now been discontinued, are beautiful.

I am a fan of a good reposado, I feel it can be the best representation of a fine sipping spirit if you have a good balance between the wood from the aging and the spicy flavor of agave. Casa Noble has done a wonderful job of providing that balance. I had a sample of this in one of my favorite tequila bars in Chicago at a price that was very reasonable.

The body of this tequila was amazing as it slid down the sides of the snifter as I swirled it in the glass. The flavor was sweet, smoky and smooth. A pleasure to drink.

I have not tried doing a rating on this web site before, so we will see how this goes. Casa Noble was very hard to get in this Washington, DC market until recently, but seems much more readily available now at a generally much lower price than when it was truly scare, or even what it used to be nationally on various web sites. I am paying $38 for the CNR at the Montgomery County, MD liquor store. (The county operates all liquor stores in the county.) I had been very anxious to try this tequila for years based upon what I had read on-line. I have been drinking it frequently in every possible manner lately. I do not think it disappoints in any way and is clearly among my top three or so reposados. I really do not see how it could be any smoother. Seems very well-balanced to me, with the full and complex complements of tequila and especially "pure" agave flavors. To me, good citrus (I would say orange and lemon), earth, vanilla (light vanilla, the way I like vanilla tones) and other spices in the nose, taste, and finish, with that singular agave sweetness in there, too. I am not usually big on anejos, and the wood here is just about perfect for my tastes. It adds nuance and complexity (a little leather, a little cedar maybe, a tiny bit of tobacco?), but in no way overwhelms or distorts. (Tequila should not be whiskey.) I agree with other re nice body and excellent, long finish. In my experience, finish separates the great from the merely wonderful. If there was anything more or different I might like in this tequila it might be more intensity, maybe even a little "burn" in there somewhere, which might add a note of complexity without throwing it all off. Something like some of the best bourbons have even when they are not over-proof. Patron to me, for instance, is just too darn "smooth" and light. CNR does not err nearly to that extent re smoothness. I wonder, for instance, what this would be like double rather than triple distilled. Casa Noble seems to use really high quality agave. I wonder what it would be like if they used an even more stringent selection criteria for the agave quality. I would not want more wood or age. Just more agave intensity. It would be more expensive, naturally, but it would be amazing. To me this reposado is truly a real McCoy. Whether it is someone in particular's favorite reposado or not, I think Casa Noble is structuring a really wonderful tequila within the bounds of what truly remarkable tequila is supposed to be.

After having a small glass of the Casa Noble anejo, I decided to buy a bottle of both the reposado and the anejo. Especially after reading great reviews on the reposado.

My initial review of this tequila was a bit harsh because I decided to make it directly after drinking it side by side with the Casa Noble anejo and Los 3Garcias reposado. There is no doubt that the initial taste was certainly among the best reposado tequilas I have had, it had a "back of the tongue hit" I would not expect from a slightly mid/higher end reposado. However, this is a mild deterant and not something you notice continuously.

While the Casa Noble anejo is definitely worth the cost, and while the reposado certainly had no shortage of outstanding flavor, it's finish can easily be matched with a smaller price tag tequila.

I have no regrets buying this tequila, but it is one I plan on keeping on the shelf for sampling purpose rather than buying bottle after bottle.