George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila reviews

After spending a couple hours with Casamigos Tequila, we decided that although it was pleasant and sippable, it really didn’t live up to its price tag.

Best in Category wrote:is someone drinking tequila for the taste of it?

Katiedot wrote:

Best in Category wrote:is someone drinking tequila for the taste of it?

Hell yes! The good tequilas (the expensive ones at least) can age into something like cognac and are definitely for sipping, not shooting.

Best in Category wrote:Atalante: I so wish you would have wrote ex- girlfriend current wrestler...

I would have been more impressed with him doing this if he put it out anonymously or at least not banking on his celebrity so much. That would tell me (and this is JMO) that this is more than just another celebrity endorsement and gimmick.

party animal - not! wrote:Just saw on Mother Nature Media Blog that GC has been quoted on E! as saying that all profits from Casamigos Tequila are going to pay for Satellite Sentinel...........

Did we already know that? It doesn't surprise me, but it's wonderful to read. And utterly admirable...........

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George Clooney's New Tequila Is Actually Quite Delicious

By Victor Ozols , February 25, 2013

Celebrities. They're so good at, well, being celebrities, with the acting and the smiling and the making people like them, but when they step out of that realm, the results can be mixed.

Celebrity-owned restaurants have flopped, celebrity-designed clothing lines have been mocked, celebrity-driven charities have been exposed as farces.

And yet they keep at it, because you've got to do something with your spare time. And so actor and humanitarian George Clooney has come out with a tequila which people will no doubt buy just because of his involvement, regardless of its quality.

It's called Casamigos, and I tasted it last night while watching celebrities celebrating themselves at the Oscars. But here's the thing about George Clooney's Casamigos Tequila: It's excellent.

I'm not surprised, because he partnered with the right people to make it. Casamigos is a group effort, with Clooney hooking up with his longtime pal Rande Gerber, who owns the Gerber Group of bars (Whiskey Blue, Stone Rose, Lilium, etc.) as well as Mike Meldman, founder and CEO of Discovery Land Company.

Gerber's a serious authority on nightlife because his company has been successful at creating sleek and stylish bars, often found in W Hotels, that remain popular for the long term, while other nightlife operators are happy to make a quick hit before packing up and moving on. He's also Clooney's neighbor: they own vacation homes adjacent to one another in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The story goes that the two longtime pals loved tequila so much that they decided to make it for themselves, with their initial batches intended to share among family and friends. But the feedback was so positive that they expanded it into a proper enterprise, and now bars and restaurants across the country are beginning to stock Casamigos.

Casamigos, which is made from 100% Blue Weber agave, comes in two expressions: blanco, which is the clear stuff, and reposado, which is "rested" in oak barrels for seven months before bottling.

I poured myself a small glass of the reposado as Seth MacFarlane started his monologue and gave it a swirl. It's a gorgeous, light amber color, and it smells divine, with aromas of sandalwood and vanilla. On the palate it's pure pleasure: smooth, smokey, and mildly sweet, featuring the vegetal note of the agave without the bitter ick factor found in cheap tequilas. I tasted faint whispers of artichoke and honey, as if the savory and the sweet were doing a sexy dance together. I gave my wife a taste. Her observation was that it tasted like George Clooney, by which I hope she meant it tasted smooth, sophisticated, complex, and fun.

It's not Gerber's first foray into the spirit world. He partnered with Roberto Serralles to launch Caliche rum last year, which is also quite tasty. With Casamigos, he's building a spirit empire to supply his nightlife empire. Sounds like synergy to me.

Casamigos Blanco has a suggested retail price of $48 a bottle, while Casamigos Reposado goes for an even $50. I've tasted tequilas that cost three times that, but they're nowhere near three times as delicious. Nice job, guys. Maybe we can hang out and drink tequila some time. Those vacation houses in Mexico must have some guest rooms, right?

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George Clooney’s Tequila: How Good Is It?

We tried the debonair actor's talked-about Casamigos tequila and tasted it against the competition

Apr 18, 2013 @ 11:35 AM

Say the word "tequila" to just about anyone over the age of 21 (actually, probably over the age of 16 these days, but never mind), and you’re likely to find an array of reactions: Disgust. Joy. Nostalgia. Horror. Everyone has that one story, that one experience, that one (too many) shot of tequila that lives on as legend in their minds. Either it’s the best drink you’ve ever had, or the worst. You either never want to even smell it again or you can't wait for your next one.

We're in the latter category, so naturally we were interested in the new Casamigos tequila, produced to the specifications of George Clooney and his friend Rande Gerber, which has been getting lots of buzz and rave reviews (we think those commercials starring Cindy Crawford — Mrs. Gerber — may have helped).

According to the company press releases, Clooney and Gerber have often blind-tasted the Casamigos tequilas (there are two, a blanco and a reposado) against other brands, and the results suggest that theirs is "a truly special tequila."

So does the Clooney tequila live up to the hype? We conducted our own blind tasting of the Casamigos blanco against some of the biggest tequila names on the market: Patrón, Don Julio, Milagro, and Cuervo Tradicional (a dark horse in the competition, as everyone has memories of Cuervo).

Taste test results in reverse order:

5. Don Julio
What we said: Don Julio, which is sold right up there in the ranks of Patrón, was one tequila that prompted a range of opinions, from sweet to rough. Some really liked the sweetness of the tequila, but others thought that the aroma was "off," or even a bit vegetal. But, as some of our tasters noted, it may not be the ideal tequila for sipping, but rather for mixing.

4. Milagro
Milagro’s smoothness and lack of sweetness was both loved, and hated, by our group of tasters. Some appreciated the agave aroma and the clean flavor, but others thought it was "medicinal" and not smooth at all.

3. Jose Cuervo Tradicional
The dark horse in the competition was a surprise to a lot of our tasters. Some noted that it tasted "different" from the others, and that it had more of a plant-like smell and bite to it than the other tequilas; one person wrote that it was a "quintessentially good, but not amazing, tequila."

2. Casamigos
It looks like Clooney wasn’t fooling us — the majority of our tasters really liked how sweet the Casamigos blanco tequila was. Noted for its vanilla aroma and taste, plus its smoothness going down, the Casamigos tequila was a crowd-pleaser. One person noted that it was "definitely more unique" than the other tequilas tested. However, not everyone was won over

1. Patrón
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Patrón won over our crowd of tasters, who noted its smoothness, distinct agave aroma, and complex flavor. It "maintains a classic tequila flavor," said one taster (who, in retrospect, may have had too much tequila). Some were fairly neutral on the tequila, but the majority ranked it as no. 1 on the lineup.

What the Experts Say
After our blind tasting of these five tequilas, we then talked to Mat Resler, the head of the bar program at Empellón Cocina and Empellón Taqueria, for his take on what to look for in a blanco tequila, and to find out what he thought of each of the competing tequilas.

Resler said when he tastes a blanco tequila, it has to taste of the plant it’s made from: agave. "They say that blanco tequila is the truest expression of agave," he said. "When distillers get together, when they bring a bottle of tequila to dinner, it’s usually a bottle of blanco tequila, because it tastes the most of agave."

What exactly does agave taste like? Resler says you’ll taste a bit of honey sweetness, or a "green," vegetable tone that comes from a younger agave.

Resler noted Don Julio for its unique florals. "Don Julio is nice," said Resler. "[It has an] interesting floral characteristic that’s good for cocktails. I don’t usually drink that neat."

And about Milagro, Resler said it’s a very clean tequila with a lot of flavor, more so than its select barrel counterpart. "The select barrel tequila is distilled to be cleaner [than the blue bottle Milagro]," said Resler. "I prefer the blue bottle Milagro."

The Tradicional label from Jose Cuervo is an interesting tequila, said Resler. It’s definitely the attempt by the brand to rectify the bad rap the Jose Cuervo Especial gets — and perhaps rightfully deserves. There are two types of tequila, he said; blue agave tequila that’s made from 100 percent agave, and mixto tequila, that’s made of 51 percent blue agave. Typically, Resler said, that 49 percent that's leftover is made up of sugar or sugar cane — which explains some wicked hangovers you may have had. The Especial label of Jose Cuervo is a mixto, but the Tradicional label we tried is a true 100 percent blue agave tequila. "I don’t think it’s bad," said Resler, who prefers the reposado Tradicional Jose Cuervo.

But as for Casamigos and Patrón? Resler is actually not a fan. He noted a "weird, fake sweetness" to the Casamigos tequila that he thought was masking a certain sharpness. "Maybe it would work in a spicy margarita," Resler said.

And Patrón? Although Patrón may be responsible for the tequila "boom" that happened five years ago, he said, it’s not as full-flavored as some of his other favorite tequilas and mezcals. "[Patrón] distilled it so much to the point that it didn’t taste like agave," he said. "They made a tequila that drank more like a neutral spirit. So for the American palate that wasn’t accustomed to a more flavorful tequila — that wasn’t Jose Cuervo or what they drank in college or high school — everyone loved it."

It may be no surprise that people (and ourselves) flock to Patrón like a bird flocks to water, but Resler says that in comparison to other tequilas and mezcals, Patrón just doesn’t stack up.

So now we know just how we like our tequila — while it may not line up with the pros' opinions, we're all in pursuit of a tequila that makes a night out just a little more fun. And who knew that Clooney would win us over, after all. Oh wait, it's Clooney.