Is This the Best Tequila in the World?
A chat with master tequilero Tony Salles of El Tequileño, “Mexico’s best kept secret.”
As someone who has created a number of “best of” lists, I can tell you they are subjective at best. Who is to say this restaurant or that bar is really better than the one down the street? Sure, there’s criteria that goes into picking a top 10 or 17 or whatever number list, but it also comes down to taste, popularity, and, frankly, the person or team’s choice.
So when it comes to ranking the best wines or spirits or handing out awards at competitions, taste and subjectivity do come into play. That’s not to say those places or products awarded the top spot or a double gold medal don’t deserve it. They most often do. So when I was invited to meet Jorge Antonio “Tony” Salles, the third-generation master tequilero — or master tequila maker — of El Tequileño tequila from Jalisco, Mexico, a few weeks ago when he was in Chicago, I was curious. Why? In 2023, El Tequileño’s Reposado Gran Reserva was named the best tequila in the world at the International Spirits Challenge while the brand was named agave producer of the year — and I wanted to know why. If I’m being honest, I was also curious to taste this line of tequila.
Salles’ grandfather, Don Jorge Salles Cuervo, whose great uncle was Jose Cuervo — yes, that Jose Cuervo, started El Tequileño to honor the people of Tequila, Mexico. Yes, it is an actual place and you may recall I wrote about it when I was there in the fall of 2023 with Reserva de la Familia, Cuervo’s premium tequila line. Don Jorge started his own brand in 1959 and now, 65 years later, his grandson continues to carry his legacy while building upon it. He experiments with aging, created a rosé tequila, and even partnered with Scottish actor Sam Heughan and his Sassenach Spirits to produce a double-wood reposado tequila aged for two years in American oak barrels before finishing for four months in French oak.
The following conversation took place between Salles and me when he visited Chicago in late May of 2024 to continue promoting what has been considered by some as the best tequila. I did get to taste through the line and can tell you, it is a quite complex, layered, and delicious agave spirit.
Hi Tony. So what is El Tequileño – what’s behind the name?
A tequileño is somebody that was born or is from the town of Tequila. We were so successful because when my grandfather decided to launch the brand, it was an honor of the people. So it wasn't just his brand, it was the brand of the people. So that way it was well taken by people. It became a part of the culture.
With so many other established tequila brands and families that were already in Jalisco, what was it about yours that really made it the favorite for people from there, other than being made in their honor or name for them?
Well, my grandfather has a history of making tequila. His name was Jorge Cuervo. So yeah, he was related to the Cuervo family. Jose Cuervo was his great uncle. My grandfather started making tequila in 1941 and he did not launch his brand until 1959. So he started in the town of Tequila and he basically hand-sold it and people liked the product. That's the main thing: People liked what he was doing — so that's an easier way to start when you got a good product.
So he started making tequila in 1941 for Cuervo, right? He didn’t launch his brand until 1959. How did he decide to go off on his own?
The story goes like this: He started making tequila in 1941 and all the tequila he made was for Casa Cuervo. And in 1958, at that point, one of the managers of Cuervo happened to be Enrique Ramirez, and he was the one that told him that they didn't need his tequila anymore. Ironically, he was my grandfather's father in law. So imagine your father in law kicking you out of your job. That's when he decided to do something and said, “I know how to make tequila. I'm going to launch my own.”
“One of the most important things that my grandfather taught me is that there's no bad tequila.” — Tony Salles
Was there any sort of like, “I'll show you,” or pride in the fact that his tequila became a favorite of the people of the town of tequila and the region when he kind of got kicked out of the Cuervo business?
No, no. He was always grateful. Thanks to Cuervo, he learned to make tequila and he had a job. So now he had his own brand. It’s not a thing of I can do it better or anything. We do it our own way and we have our quality standards. That's one thing. And we don't compete like, “I'm better than you.” Everybody is making good tequila. One of the most important things that my grandfather taught me is that there's no bad tequila. You'll never hear me say there's a bad tequila. It's always good tequila and all tequila is good. If I said something wrong about tequila, I'm also talking dirty about me. So there's always good tequila, but there's always better tequila. And we like to do better tequila
Do you have a relationship with the Beckmanns [the family that owns Cuervo] today? Do you do anything with them? Any collaborations?
Collaborations? No. But I know my father's a very good friend of Don Juan Beckmann and he really likes him. He really respects him and, well, he's one of the biggest guys in the industry. He's a good guy and we respect him.
So El Tequileño was known for a long time as Mexico's best kept secret. That was because you were primarily distributed within Mexico, right?
Yes.
When did you start coming into the United States and what was that transition like to have more exposure?
We tried it several times, but we weren't successful until 2017 when we were fortunate enough to get a group of Canadian investors (led by Wayne Henuset of Paradise Spirits) that helped us grow as a company outside of Mexico. He became the major investor in the company and had a very clear image of where he wanted to go and how big he wanted to grow. Since then we've been growing.
So in 2017, how many cases were you distributing within Mexico and then where are you today?
We were at about 30,000 cases. This year I think we can easily reach 150,000, if not more. I was doing about 200,000 liters. This year would be almost a million and a half liters. So yeah, we've been growing a lot.
When your grandfather started, he was only doing the blanco, right?
When he started, he only did blanco and the blanco mixto (tequila mixed with non-agave sugar like cane sugar). It was till the end of the late 1980s/early 1990s that there was a shortage of sugar in Mexico. And that's when people started to change to 100 percent agave. Why? Agave was way cheaper than sugar. But my grandfather decided to keep his blanco, which was his lead product. He kept it as it is. We changed the agave to 100 percent and that's the way we stayed since those years.
So who expanded into the number of tequila you have today?
My father started in 2004 and then in 2009 we moved to platinum. We did our first at our 50th anniversary, which was 2009. Recently we've been doing the rare, the select and the crystal and another a different type, so we've been growing and every year we try to bring new products into the market.
What excites you about expanding and experimenting and aging in different ways?
We have our core products, which is these three [blanco, reposado, and cristalino], the platinum and grand reposado. Those five, we make them all year. Then we have the seasonal product, which is, the unique or special issues one like the Rare and the Sassenach. And every now and then we have other special issues like we've done a rosé. It's fun looking at new ways of doing things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work. But when it works, it's really fun.
When you do the rosé, is the base the blanco?
No, the rosé is a reposado we did. We aged for four months in pinot noir barrels from Kendall Jackson. It was an experiment, which turned out to be really, really good. We aged it for four months. I think we overdid it a little bit and it was darker than it should have been. So in order to bring down the color, we added some blanco. So if you have reposado and you add blanco, what you get, you get joven. So that was the first joven ever.
When you do the joven, it becomes pink. We didn't add any coloring, so it was even better. And we only did two barrels. By adding the Blanco, we had about 600 bottles. So we decided to give something back to our community. We decided that all the earnings we got from those bottles would go to a nonprofit organization. There were a hundred cases of the rosé and all the earnings went to a breast cancer association [in Tequila]. It was pink, it was launched in October. Everything kind of matched and we did a little bit less alcohol, 35% because we could do that in Mexico.
That’s great. So did it sell out immediately?
We were expecting to sell it in six months. We only sold it in our tasting room in Tequila and we sold it in less than three months. I think it was $7,000 that we were able to donate to this breast cancer association. So it was a great Christmas gift for them.
I know that you were named the best tequila of the year and the best agave producer in 2023?. What sets El Tequileño apart from other tequilas?
The most important thing is our flavor and our quality. We can do different things, but that has come first. Quality and flavor. That’s the number one thing.
And I assume you never have and never will use additives?
We've always done our product the same way. If you do things right, you're going to get a good product. Some people do it and their product tastes good. Some people don't and it still tastes good. It's the way you like to do things. We fall into that category, not because we were aiming to, but because we've been there 65 years already. We're not going to change our way of doing it.
“The most important thing is our flavor and our quality. We can do different things, but that has come first.” — Tony Salles
How have you innovated since taking over the business — or are you pretty much doing a lot of the same things that your father and grandfather did?
The base of the product is the same they taught me, and that's my main accolade that I've earned. I keep doing a quality product that tastes the same that people enjoy. So the base is the same with experimenting or with new ways of aging. That's the only thing we change — the way we age it to give it a different flavor. But the basic way of doing things, it's still the same.
I know that this is asking somebody to pick a favorite child and they always say, I don't have one. But do you have a favorite of your tequilas?
Since I'm in the distillery, I have to go and taste the tequila when it's coming out of the still. I say that's the hardest part of the job and somebody’s got to do it. When it comes out of the still, everything is blanco, it's white. So normally I go with the white. I'm used to drinking that. That's what I normally do.
Are you drinking it neat on the rocks? What's your preferred way to drink your tequila in general?
I am not a very big fan of on the rocks. I'd rather it be neat, the way it comes natural.
Do you have a go-to cocktail that you like?
It would be a margarita or a Batanga [from La Capilla in Tequila], just tequila and coke.
It's no secret that tequila has exploded over the last 10 or so years. And now it seems every celebrity seems to have one. You’ve even made one with Sam Heughan. What are your thoughts on celebrity tequilas?
Some people say, “Oh, celebrity tequila is bad and they're taking advantage.” I see that another way. And I've talked to other tequila makers and I think most of us think the same way. Let's say that there's pies and we're the tequila pie and thanks to people like George Clooney, Kendall Jenner, or name any celebrity that has a tequila. They brought and they took people out of the vodka pie out of the rum pie and brought them to the tequila pie.
So is it good or bad? I don't know. But maybe one day they say, “Oh, I'm drinking tequila now,” and maybe that might be mine. That's the jackpot for me because they brought some people that I wasn't looking for, I wasn't aiming for, and that helped us a lot. That's what I think that the celebrities have done great and helped us a lot.
Well, why don't we stop chatting and start tasting tequila.
Tasting the tequila: From Cristalino to Reposado Rare
After the interview, Salles set me up to taste through the line. First, he explained that tasting tequila is different from tasting wine. When you taste wine, you aerate it in your mouth before swallowing. With tequila, he told me, you take a sip and let it coat your mouth. Then you swallow it before exhaling through your mouth to get a true essence of the tequila.
Salles also explained that they source their agave only from the highlands Los Altos de Tequila and use volcanic water rich in minerals during the distillation process in copper pots. Using highlands agave, he said, offers more floral, fruit, and citrus flavors (while the valley produces more herbal notes).
Here are my El Tequileño tasting notes.
Cristalino: A resposao has to be aged for 60 days in a wood container and theirs is a four-month reposado. It’s filtered through activated charcoal and they leave a hint of yellow color. There’s pronounced agave note.
Platinum: It has lovely fruit notes, pepper, and citrus – you smell more wood from the right nostril and more herbs in the left. Really beautiful expression of agave. Very smooth. We rubbed this in our hands and it left behind a smooth feeling on my hands and smelled like cooked agave and nothing like alcohol.
Resposado Gran Reserva: This was an invention of their former tequila master who worked with them for over 60 years and worked up until about a week before he died. He lived a block away and would come to work in a wheelchair. This is aged for eight months and then gets blended with añejo, which is aged at least a year in a large wooden container that’s less than 600 liters. This is 75% reposado and 25% añejo. It’s bottled after blending. They age in three barrels: American oak from chardonnay, American oak that held bourbon, and French oak that also aged chardonnay. This has a nice spice from the barrel along with fruit notes.
Anejo Gran Reserva: The first one they did was to celebrate El Tequileño’s 50th anniversary. They now do them every six months. A group of five of them makes this by tasting tequila from 100 handpicked barrels in a day to find the right tequila for the añejo. Every year is a different product. This one is blended from 1-, 2-, and 4-year tequila aged in barrels less than 600 liters. Working with French and bourbon barrels for a sweet elegant fresh flavor with orange and apricot. It’s quite smooth.
Reposado Rare: (special edition) – This is the one and only Reposado Rare. It was aged for six years in a 25,000-liter American oak barrel called a pipón. Wood flavor is not overwhelming. It has honey notes, spice, and is incredibly smooth. Only about 50 cases exist and each bottle sells for about $220.
Sassenach Select: (special edition) – This tequila is made with actor Sam Heugen. It’s aged for two years in pipón made from American oak then rests in French oak for four months. This is 42% alcohol. Heughan wanted it to be barrel strength. This has spice and wood on the nose, leans almost like Scotch nose without it being too strong or peaty. It’s so smooth, has a little more heat, spice, and some vanilla on the back end.
SG List: Things I’m high fiving this week
20 quintessential summer foods in Chicago
Now this is a list! My friend
Fulton Market Pride Power Hour
From June 24 through June 30, seven Fulton Market restaurants will once again participate in Pride Power Hour. Each day, a different locale will host a two-hour happy hour with 50% of the cocktail special proceeds benefiting Brave Space Alliance. The schedule:
Alla Vita: Monday, June 24 — 4:30-6:30
Beatrix: Tuesday, June 25 — 5-7
BLVD: Wednesday, June 26 — 5:30-7:30
Aba: Thursday, June 27 — 5-7
Proxi: Friday, June 28 — 4-6:30
Rose Mary: Saturday, June 29 — 5:30-7:30
Cabra: Sunday, June 30 — 5:30-7:30
Spilt Milk Family Meal Monday
I wish I lived around the corner from Spilt Milk, a great corner bar in Logan Square. Why? Because starting at 5 p.m. every Monday evening throughout summer, it hosts a different restaurant for a $25 culinary takeover (food and beverage pairing) on its back patio (or inside if it’s raining). Upcoming restaurants include Monteverde, Pompette, Brasero, Galit, Diego, Andros Taverna, Hermosa, Kasama, and more.
Erick Williams is a Food & Wine Game Changer
As if winning a James Beard Award, earning countless accolades for his Hyde Park restaurant Virtue, and being a damn amazing chef weren’t enough, Erick Williams now holds the title of Game Changer. In addition to mentoring numerous young chefs including Dave Beran, Damarr Brown, and Jenner Tomaska, Williams is now helping revitalize Bronzeville with housing and retail. He also started the Virtue Leadership Development Program to help young people of color learn entrepreneurial skills.
Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” (Mark Knight remix)
This is what you get when you disco-fy the legendary Curtis Mayfield. You know you want to get up and dance.